Scratches!

Where i live trails are often tight and overgrown. Anyone have solutions to the paint scratch problem? I often bow out cus i dont want 6' scratches down the side of my "new to me" truck...

 

I have this saved....https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/how-to-remove-trail-pinstriping.504693/ I'll be trying it so I can remove some from my last adventure!

 

Vinyl wrap the whole truck!

 

Yeppppppppp

 

Better yet, Line-x it. If you're worried about it.

The paint does seem a bit fragile, though. Scratches a lot easier compared to my older Tacoma.

 

Paint does get harder over time.

OP you also could ceramic coat your paint. It is pretty scratch resistant.

 

Pinstripes give your truck character.

 

I've never worried about pin-striping. You're using your vehicle for its intended purpose... own it. I buff every year or two to keep them to a minimum.

 

Trails are tight where I'm at too.

I wax every three months, 3+ coats on the hood and doors. I don't mind the pin stripes but it's nice to keep them to a minimum on a new truck. The c-quarts stuff is the ultimate but hard to apply or expensive to have done.

One day I won't care anymore.... Until then wasted Saturday's lol

 

My truck hasn't been the same since it sat on a dealer lot for 2 months. Definitely needs a full wax, but I've only done the hood for the time being.

 

I used to be worried about it. Now when I’m in a parking lot, we can all tell which of us has seen action at the mall vs the trail.

 

I use Pinnacle Black Label ceramic paint coating on my truck. I've found it works well.

What I use to get scratches out is McGuiars 105 compound then McGuiars 205 to polish out the compound haze. Then Pinnacle Black Label Surface Cleansing Polish. Then the ceramic paint coating.

You can do it by hand, but it will be a lot of work. I use a Flex XC 3401 VRG Dual Action Orbital Polisher. If you don't want to spend that much on a polisher you could get a Porter Cable

$140 7424XP PORTER-CABLE Buffer Polisher, Car Polisher for Car Detailing, 6", Orbital, Variable Speed (7424XP)

7424XP Dual Action Polisher, which is a good polisher. I have both.

 

I’m in the same boat. I went hunting a few weeks ago and drove through one area that was a little overgrown. I thought after I washed my truck the pinstripes would be gone… boy was I wrong. Now I’ve been spending way too much time on the detailing threads.

 

Just so everybody reading this is aware - 90% of what you're seeing in this picture is dust, pinstripe scratches to not look NEARLY this bad in reality. If Darth M took a wet paper towel and ran it vertically down the side of his truck, perpendicular to the scratches, they'd barely be visible in the clean area. My truck is covered in pinstripes from years of narrow trial running (i make zero effort to prevent them) and it's currently sitting in my driveway with a fresh coat of wax and you can't even see the scratches unless you get within a foot or two and angle your view just right. It looks good as new to 99% of passersby.

 

also helps to have a white truck too.

 

This is a very accurate statment. Just look at the area that @Darth M. cleaned with his findertips closing the door, magically the scratches seem to be gone.

 

If it's worth anything: the damage done by the papertowel would be quite comical.

OP: sell it. You're clearly not emotionally equipped for offroading.

 

This is true. The photo was shock and awe... mostly. That 10% looks like this after clean.

 

Haha, I saw this in a parking lot the other day. It looks very good!

 

And the majority of those won't even be visible after a polish (which I do every couple years) and wax (which I do a couple times a year).

I'm always amazed by how minimal pinstripes are compared to the sounds they make. It's like nails on a chalkboard x10 and I'm thinking "holy shit that one HAD to go down to bare metal" but it's rarely more than just a scratch.