Truck was built in Kansas city and shipped to Austin.


Think it was shipped by rail or truck? Any insite on this?


I dont feel like claybaring the truck and wanted to ask prior if anyone had any info on this.

 

Rail dust is kind of a common term for crap that falls out of the air, it is very common around rail yards and trains hence the name. If you want to make the paint look real good I would go ahead and clay it then a good coat of wax.

I'm sure that some of the detailing guru's here could tell you if I'm full of it, but that is the way I understand it.

 

"Rail dust" is a term used to describe the fallout one finds on some vehicles transported by rail as a result of friction between steel railcar wheels and the steel tracks. As you might imagine, as a train rolls down the tracks, there is a certain amount of friction and thus wear of both surfaces. These particles can settle on the paint of vehicles transported by rail and then oxidize (rust) forming very small brown patches on the vehicles. The condition was actually much more prevalent when the railcars were open. Almost all of them are now pretty much enclosed to avoid kids throwing rocks at new vehicles.

So getting back to your original question, your new truck might have some rail dust on it when you get it. Given the relatively short transport distance and the use of enclosed railcars though, I doubt you'll have an issue. If you do, a clay bar - used properly - will remove it and then a coat of wax will protect the surface. If you've never used a clay bar though, you run the risk of creating more / new surface marring through improper technique.

Another alternative is one of several products out there that chemically dissolve iron and allow you to wash it away. These are much less likely to cause surface marring, but you really need to rinse them off completely or they too can cause damage. And again, a good coat of wax is required after drying.

Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about it. If you do think you have a rail dust issue, do some searching through the General Care & Detailing section here for corrective action.

 

Yeah i will just examine the truck real good.


I definately need to claybar my tuxedo black f250 so I was thinking about doing both at the same time. The f250 is rough, needs love.

 

As 2Stroked already states, probably not gong ot be too much of an issue. You can do the "plastic baggy" test after a good wash and see what the paint is like. Check all the panels as some may be worse than others.

I've started to use Ferrous material removers (like DoDo Juice Ferrous remover) and it works very, very well. I still follow up with clay, but it's to get additonal things like tar off the paint.

Good luck!

 

It's easy to tell if you need clay.

Get a piece of saran wrap. Get the simple plain stuff, not any of the fancy stuff.
Wet surface to be tested with soapy water. You need enough soap to eliminate all the friction between the wrap and the surface.
Wrap the cellophane around four fingers (single layer) and gently glide it over the wet surface. If there are surface contaminates you will feel them. You can validate the technique by doing the same test on a clean car that hasn't been clayed for at least a year.

 

What i found to work the best is Iron X by CarPro works great.