Dark Red Toreador Metalic has to be a close second anyway.....

 

Once again, what does this have to do with 04+ F150's??

 

About as much as your comment does....

 

Zaino Brothers makes a line of waxes, cleaners, and polishes specifically for black vehicles. My buddy in the detailing business says he would never use anything else!

 

After owning a dark blue truck for 13 years, I've gone to white. White is only second to silver in ease of maintenance. I had a girlfirend with an Indigo Blue '02 Chevy, and Zaino made it absolutely beautiful. We showed it at Slamfest in Tampa. We got a second and third before we broke up.

 

I'm pretty darn happy with my truck. I think Dark Shadow Gray hides dirt and dust pretty darn good. Very easy to keep looking good also. Used NXT wax during the summer and it looked like liquid glass. Even when my truck is completley coated with winter-time road grime you can't tell its dirty until you walk right up on it, no way you can get away with that with a white or black truck. But when its washed and polished, man does it look nice.

 

I have to agree that Black is a pain if you give a rats *** how it looks. I have had a few and i was the most **** with my Lightning but it got big time props when she was all clean and shiny.
This is now why I have a Silver truck because one 1. I like how silver looks and 2. easier to keep clean looking and a litle more forgiving with blemishes and swirls.

 

+2 on the True Blue

 

The Dark Stone Mettalic is a beast to keep clean. Well, it never is clean uless right after a was.

You can pick up the same Porter cable Orbital Meguiars uses for about $120+ tax here


Here she is with a clean hood:

 

I second that. Any darkish colour will show scratches more then the lighter colours. One bad move with the buffer last summer and I'm forever reminded of it.

 

As a guy that has a small 'side-business' detailing cars that used to work another 'side-gig' with Meguiar's Wax company out of Irvine, CA, I can tell you that there's no silver bullet for keeping a vehicle in 'show car' shape. Additionally, unless you're wanting to go with a 'colored wax', you're not going to find a manufacturer (Zaino, Meguiar's, Mother's, 3M, Poorboys, 4-Star, Klasse, Collinite, Turtle, etc... etc... etc... ) that makes a product SPECIFICALLY for a dark vehicle; they just don't do it -- unless it's a gimmicky product.

The bottom line is this... if you take good care of your vehicles with quality products, you're going to get pretty good results. If you take care of your vehicles with proper PROCEDURES and good products, you're going to yield better results. If you take care of your vehicles with proper procedures, good products, and COMMON SENSE, your vehicles are going to be nearly show car quality.

Here's my opinion -- any "Joe Blow" can smack a coat of wax on a vehicle... use a rotary buffer, an orbital, a dual-action, Makita, Porter Cable, Cyclo -- whatever... It doesn't matter.

It takes a true 'enthusiast' that is SERIOUS about paint care and the procedures that are associated with it to really make it set apart from the rest. Again, there's no silver bullet... no silver bullet product... and no silver bullet procedure. Every finish on every color with every blemish is going to be unique. This isn't to say that you can't yield killer results from the comfort of your own garage but, it is saying that you need to read up, learn about, and practice what the guys that do this for a living or do this as a business are saying.

It's similar to tearing down an engine... me, for one, not knowing that much about engines, I'd NEVER go ripping in. Again, any 'Joe Blow' can unscrew bolts and disassemble it. I'd have to have a game plan and some 'know-how' before I even laid a finger on a socket wrench to rip in to anything that's under the hood.

With regard to products and polishers:

<CONTINUED IN NEXT POST>

 

There are THOUSANDS of products out there. I've tried my fair share of them and have the bottles and a bank account dent to prove it. While I'm not the most versed across the 'universe' of products that are out there, I do take some time to read up on what's coming out, the results people are getting and their opinions (the ones that I respect) on what they think about products.

The bottom line is this... find a product or two that you like and stick with it. Use it often -- Yes, this is something that is hijacked from another prominent detailing message board member but, in my opinion, there's a LOT of truth behind it. A lot of companies out there are making very good products -- Zaino, Meguiar's, Mothers, Collinite, etc.. etc.. etc.. -- find something that yields the results that *YOU* want and stick with it... it's pretty simple.

When the time comes to 'polish'; be it abrasive polishing or simply for depth, do it the right way and never proceed to the next step until you've completed the previous step. Swirl mark removal is, in fact, more difficult on darker colored vehicles but, by the same token, you're accomplishing the same thing by doing it to a white or silver vehicle -- the procedure is IDENTICAL. The difference is that black and other darks show these blemishes easier due to optical reflection and such -- the sun doesn't put out black light ... or burgundy light... or dark green light nearly as much as it does 'white' light.

Polishers come in several different flavors. The general choice for most shade-tree detailers is what's known as the Porter Cable Dual-Action Polisher. There are oodles of places that sell them -- as a tip, for a few extra bucks, the Meguiar's branded polisher (which is a Porter Cable 7424 model) comes with a lifetime warranty -- no questions asked. In all honesty, THESE DEALS are TOUGH to beat. Again, these deals are for the dual-action polisher. This type of polisher oscillates and spins (hence, dual-action) and makes it a VERY safe product to utilize that is very effective in swirl removal and some oxidation removal. Again though, common sense is a main ingredient!!

Another type is the orbital -- this is the type that you can pick up at Wally World or Sears. These are fine, in my opinion, for wax application but, much beyond that, you're going to struggle to achieve much 'removal' capabilities and, with simple one-way movement by the head (spinning), you have a little more capability to cause specific problems (swirls, scratches etc...) -- think of it this way... you're spinning something, albeit weak, in one place over a period of time.... dual-movement would, in turn, not focus in on one particular spot over that period of time. -- this is why I would ALWAYS recommend the $150 Dual-Action machine over the $30 orbital. You do get what you pay for -- additionally, there are more pads, weights, backing plates, etc available for the DA (dual action) -- I simply wouldn't trust the sears pads or wal-mart bonnets (as a hint).

The last type of polishers that I'll talk about (and this is by no means an all-encompassing list) is the rotary. I utilize a Makita but, there are oodles of them out there (dewalt, Makita, and the list goes on). This tool should ONLY be used by someone who has some training. This is a tool that has MUCHO power and doesn't give a damn if it screws your paint -- and it can in a heartbeat. In the right hands though, this is the most effective tool for paint problem removal. -- again though, unless you've really worked with this machine, I wouldn't attempt to 'learn' on your two-year old truck (or your wife's vehicle either -- expect to sleep on the couch if you do -- and maybe hear from her attorney).

<continued in Next Post>

 

Any one of these three types of polishers -- or any other type -- can cause problems in the wrong hands... it's user beware but, in all honesty, if you use that key ingredient that I mentioned earlier -- COMMON SENSE -- you can use the Dual-Action with great success.

So, there's a long ramble on some of the topics that have been discussed within this thread.... bottom line on color is that there's no easy color in my opinion but, with the use of proper procedure, products, and a lot of common sense, you can keep your vehicle, no matter the color, in top-notch shape where all of your friends, co-workers, and family are always noticing that your vehicle is three-steps above the average guy's paint!

Feel free to ask questions if you have them... again, I don't know it all but I've been tinkering with this for a while as a business and much longer before hand as an obsessive compulsive.

RP

A coulple of photos:


This is out in Irvine at Meguiar's. I'm *NOT* the bald guy... That's a rotary polisher - Dewalt obviously.


This is in my neighbor's garage. That's a Dual-Action Polisher.


And this is Terry Tate, Office Linebacker, reminding you to use COMMON SENSE when you're tinkering with a power polisher -- HAHAHA!

 

White is hard to really pop but, it can happen!



Meguiar's #82 followed by Clearkotes Vanilla Moose topped with Poorboy's EX-P. Kudos to MaxTorque02 for his work on his Navi -- btw, that Navi has over 100,000 miles on it and still looks that good!

 

wow! I'm loving that white!