Hi all!

I recently purchased a Green Gem F150. Unfortunately it's too long for my garage, so I have to park it outside.

I plan on owning this vehicle for 15+ years, so what are the best steps I can do to keep the paint looking nice? I will use the truck as a daily driver, with the occasional ski trip and 4x4 excursion in the woods.

Thanks!

 

IMO, washing your truck regularly and waxing occasionally should protect the paint just fine.

 

The best thing you can do is to wash your truck regularly with a car soap (NO dish washing soap) and keeping it waxed up. I would also suggest that once a year you perform a claybar routine to it to get all contaminates off the paint and apply multiple coats of wax.

Head on over into the detailing area of this site there are tons of guys who can help.

Here is a link to a great site with loads of info to help you get started.

http://www.autogeek.net/detailingtips.html

 

Vehicles today have clearcoat on top of the paint. That's pretty durable. Wash and wax regularly .
What about underneath ? Washing off dirt and roadsalt there is important. Some of the truck drivers I know ,in this roadsalt area, do very well by spraying soy oil underneath the truck once a year !! Sounds weird but works very well and costs very little !

 

I found a hose-end spray wand (about 30-36" long) at Wally World that has a liquid soap bottle with a selector **** (water / soap), and a rotatable nozzle on the end, that I can use for soaping up / rinsing off the wheel wells and other surfaces underneath the truck.... want to try to keep things clean & shiny possible under there for as long as possible...

 

AQuartz

 

Thanks for the tips everybody! I'll make sure to wash and wax it often. I'll check out the detailer section of the forums to see which wax I should use.

 

Collinite #845...PERIOD! Do yourself a favor, ORDER SOME! Here is a link on feebay! http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_saca...olinite&_rdc=1

Start off with a dish soap wash to strip off any old wax. Apply Collinite...Wash for 6 months with regular auto soap using the 2 bucket method (simply google 2 bucket car wash). Dish soap, re apply and so on, applying the wax once every 6 months! This wax is amazing and you can even get it on the black trim and it wont chalk up! You can drag up this thread 10 years from now and thank me!

 

and try to keep it out of the sun like park it under one of the carport things
i have one 26ft long that i kept my 21ft bass boat under they are nice to keep the sun off

 

Asking which wax is best is like asking what oil is best. Everyone has their own opinion on that. Be prepared for some arguing with that topic.

 

Park it in an air-conditioned garage and never drive it.

Going 80mph down the highway means 'It can't stay a Rembrant forever'.

I once saw a guy tear up after spotting a stone chip on the front fender of his 35,000$ CVO Harley.

Wash it, wax it, then hope for the best.

 

No need to wash with dish soap.

 

Don't wash it with dish soap - if you want to remove wax use a clay bar. To do it right, you would want to do paint correction prior to wax application.

After every wash, I use a spray "quick wax" to boost the protection.

 

Agreed, I found a very easy way to clay the whole truck. Wash it as you normally would then rewash each panel and while the clean soapy water is on truck clarbar it using the soapy water as your lube then rinse and dry as normal and it will be ready for waxing.

 

Soapy water should not be used as a clay lube - it breaks the clay down. Wash and rinse the truck, no need to dry it. Use the proper clay lube - any good brand of quick detailing spray is fine.