Lovin' live in my 04 but yesterday when I detailed it, I noticed small specs that resembled overspray from my liner but they were all over the truck and very noticeable on the hood. The guys at Supertruck were nice enough to go over the bed but showed me what they called "raildust" needless to say I stopped by my selling dealership and next Wed I'll be dropping it off until Thurs after lunch. I guess life can't always be perfect but I still LOVE my truck!!!

Q. Will the raildust permanetly stain or damage my paint and how do the dealerships remove it, do they use any harsh chemicals that would damage the paint in the future? Any replies are welcome. From what I've seen this is kinda common just depends on if your dealership fixes it when they prep them.

 

Hi blacklariatfx4,

Rail dust is very common and is usually noticed on white vehicles. Proper use of a clay bar will remove it. There is plenty of information about rail dust and clay bars availalbe in the General Care forum.

I'd ask the dealer exactly what they are going to do before you drop it off, just to make sure you understand what they plan on doing before they "have at it".

I definately recommend checking out the General Care forum. As your truck is black, welcome to the wonderful world of "spider web" scratches, "swirl marks", water spots, and very visible paint chips. It's not all bad, you just have to be prepared to do the work to deal with them if you want a "perfect" looking truck.

Good luck,

 

What is rail dust and where does it come from?

 

JohnandDar,

Thanks for the info. I do have to clarify that my 04 FX4 is Silver ant that's why its noticeable. My mustang was Black ang that 03 FX4 that I was looking at trading was black so that's where the username came from. Definately didn't want to get another black car. Living on base w/o a garage is horrible when you're **** about keeping your vehicles clean. You wouldn't happen to know how to fix this? I will be updating my sig to reflect the new color.

 

blacklariatfx4,

I know what you mean. My truck is not garaged, and I do keep busy trying to keep it clean. Silver is a great color to have. My last truck was a Silver '97 F150 Supercab. The only reason I didn't get silver again is because I wanted a Lariat.
I saw you found the thread in General Care I would have referred you to. Depending on where your car sits most of the time, it may or not be exposed to rail dust or similar metal dust. If so, you would probably want to take care of it with a clay bar once a year (or twice) as part of your detailing plan.

John

 

I had rail dust on my white 04. Didn't notice it for a couple of weeks after I got my truck. I used a clay bar on it and it took it all off with no problem.

Scott

 

Scott,

Did you have it all over your truck like I do. I would claybar but I'm just going to be a p.i.t.a. I guess I just figure that's something the dealers should take care of or at least Ford could put some of those protective plastic sheets over their vehicles during shipping. I'll be clay-barring every couple of months but I let the dealer get me started and at least if I do end up with a paint problem it will be documented. One thing you learn in the military, get it documented. If you don't you'll find it never existed......

 

blacklariatfx4,

It was all over the whole truck but the worst of it was on the top areas of the truck. The sides had less but it was still there. I never noticed it until I washed my truck. Even then it was hard to notice unless you got really close to the truck. I thought about letting the dealer do it, but I figured I wanted a really good wax job anyway, and knew the dealer probably would just use halfa$$ wax. Using the claybar is certainly a way to get to know your truck well. It was not quick but did the job. You would think that Ford would try keep it off or the dealers would make sure to get it off. But I bet many people don't ever notice it's there. So they don't bother to do anything.

I have had my truck for 6 months now and just used the claybar again. Alot easier this time to get everything off.

Scott

 

I would think twice before letting a dealer, actually in most cases one or two young and inexperienced lot boys, take a crack at detailing my truck. There was a small almost un-noticeable scratch in a door on my screw when purchased that I allowed the dealer to address. When I picked it up the small horizontal scratch became a 14x6 inch series of swirls from them using a compound on a dirty applicator. I clayed, polished and waxed the entire truck the next weekend with stellar results.

 

My wife's ride is a white Odyssey. The school she teaches at is right beside a set of railroad tracks that get used quite often. The van picks up alot of raildust from this. I also use the clay bar approach. I don't know what you guys are using in conjuction with the clay, but I use this .......

http://www.meguiars.com/store_meguia...roduct_m34.gif

It does take some time, but it definately works.

 

I know how some of the dealerships can be. Belive me I've already spoken with the service mgr who knows me by 1st name due to dealing with my mustang. He knows exactly how **** I am. I plan on walking around the truck with the Paint/Body mgr and showing him the Lack of scratches and reiterate that I don't expect any when I pick it up.

 

BlacklariatFX4

"Living on base w/o a garage is horrible when you're **** about keeping your vehicles clean. You wouldn't happen to know how to fix this?"

Looks like there's 3 possible solutions:

1. Move
2. Build a garage
3. Become less ****



Sorry, it's been a looooong week!

 

Maine,

1. Can't move, locally or at least I don't want to due to getting out in a year and I don't want to deal with a lease/sale of prop.
2. Can't build a garage, can't even get directtv w/o housing approval
3. I'll always be ****
Don't appologize for being a wise-***, I'm one too. Only thing is that I'll be 10 years down the road when your bottom end is rusted out and I'm looking like new in south Texas.

Sorry, it's been an even looooooooooonger week.

 

I gotta plead ignorance on this too, I've never heard of "rail-dust".

What is it?

Can my truck get rail dust when I am snipe hunting?

 

Moved to GENERAL CARE...