I have noticed that after washing off Bird droppings there's a faint transparent yellow demarcation, the same shape as the dropping... has anyone had this happening to them or is it just an issue with the silver metallic color? It seems that after waxing it helped a bit but a couple of washes later and the problem resumes.
Is there a good quality of wax that has good longevity? thanks in advance Greg

 

i know silver has a lot of problems in real humid areas. doesnt last real long.

 

Sounds like a question for StickerSteve.

 

You might want to try some very fine polish like Finnesse from a body supply shop. It is made by 3M, and should remove whatever it is that's making this yellowing appear. Something to keep in mind when dealing with bird crap, and bugs. You really want to make a point to not let bugs or bird crap to sit on your paint for any length of time. In general, overnight is too long. Any how, when that stuff bakes in the sun it will etch your paint, however staining should not be one of the symptoms but is also not a symptom of your silver paint deteriating.

Here is what i'd do. Either clay the truck or try Finnesse to get the stain off. Then follow up with a good high quality wax like Mequires NXT or Zaino Bros. I'd steer clear of the Carnubas. The problem with silver paints is when you look at silver there are tiny little reflections going on within the metalic flakes. This reflection magnifies the sun and sort of accelerates the affect the sun plays on your paint. Protected with a high quality wax and frequent washings will help you keep the paint in like new condition as long as possible. Wax every 6 months at the bare minimum will extend the life of your paint.

One other product i've been using is Tar and bug remover. I believe it is made by Turtle wax and is a wax like spray that you use after wash to clean up the grill/bumper to rid those bug guts. I have not been impressed with this product, but something may be out that works better. I have a weekend house that I have to travel along a bunch of alfalfa fields. If i hit this at the wrong time (sunrise or sunset), the bugs hitting the truck sound like rain and it goes on for miles at a time. That spray does a decent job of getting the goop off my truck.

RP, you might want to move this to GC to get some of the other guy's thoughts.

 

I will follow your advise and get the products you mentioned , I do garage my truck and so far my paint is flawless and am trying hard to keep it that way. I had it waxed one time so far by the carwash and they used the wax you said is not that good, I will get the good product and do it myself... thanks again my friend for the great information Greg G

 

Good deal, if you want to stay on top of your truck and keep it looking it's best, stop by the general care forum and keep up on what to use on your truck. There are guy's over there detailing all the time and know the good products to use and where to get them at a good price.

 

Not being an *** here, but just a little info from another owner. I haven't had any problems with my silver and I live in Florida. Not aware of any paint problems. Hope you can solve yours.

 

im also in florida w/ silver. i get the yellow aswell, it just wipes right off. must be something different

 

Bug And Tar Remover works great for me. Except that I don't have Silver. But ***** is *****.

 

I wish I had know that Silver wasn't the most durable color before I bought mine, I was really torn between the dark shadow gray and the silver metallic.

 

The DSG has more of a pearl base to achieve the metalic look than the silver does which makes it a little more durable. All colors that are not solid are more prone to getting sun fadded, clear coat peeling, etc.

Good news is i've seen the manufacturers warranty these paint jobs that the clear lets loose on even after warranty's expire. Mid 80's through the 90's were notorious for silver paint killing clears, there were also many improvments made with the Clear coat's during that time leading us where we are today with the Acrylic urethanes leading the way through the 2000's. I remember back when black trucks were not cleared, but a solid black paint. It is also the reason for all the orange peel we get today when buying a new vehicle.

Best advice I can give you is to keep it washed, waxed and in the garage when at all possible. I've seen a few of these paint jobs where the clear was peeling, it always seemed that the clear would have a cracked look that appeared to be scratches in the paint itself and I always felt like it was the way they were washing these vehicles. Brushes, brushless car washes are all contributing factors in my eyes. Hand wash it yourself with the right products and you will more than likley never see any of this.

 

Why is that? All the detailers threads on the web religously say to use them.

 

Carnubas break down very fast under high heat. The new polymers like i mentioned above are the wave of the future. There are guy's using Carnubas over the top of there polymer waxes and having great results but Carnuba alone is 20 year old technology at work.

Run by the General Care forum and read up. It's all in there.

 

Sticker Steve,

Thank you for the insight. I will look into it for sure. I just spent hours clay barring, and topped off with Mothers Pure Carnuba and the results were unbelievable. I do not want to do it again very soon so I willl look into the polymers as suggested. Thanks again.

 

I have a metallic silver '01 Flareside and live in Santa Barbara.

We have some seagulls around here the size of small horses that can poop a half pound in one shot.

I made the mistake of letting a seagull poop stay on the roof of the cab for two days in the sun and the acids in the seagull poop ate the clearcoat off like you wouldn't believe.

Now when I see a seagull standing on the ground in the parking lot at work I hit the gas and try to run it over I've heard that they are protected by federal law but I say to hell with them after seeing what they did to my clearcoat and I'm willing to take the risk of doing the time. There's plenty of them anyway IMO and it ain't right that they can go around pooping on good 'Merikun trucks regardless of the color.

Nothing to help it - the clearcoat's gone and the paint surface underneath it wrinkled.

My only relief is that it's on the roof of the cab and you can't see it very easily.

I use carnuba (Zymol) and it seems to do OK though it doesn't last long at all. No other problems with the silver metallic paint that I know of yet.