Well I have been taking extreme care of my truck and preventing swirls but after wheeling a little this weekend I attempted to clean her up and somehow managed to use a poor pad during waxing. Well aside from the terrible water spots all over the damn thing that I cant get off, I now have a killer swirlled body similar to a 1990 F150. Great. I would put picks up but its too painful. Tried colorX and some scratchX but seemed to make it worse. Gave up, looks like I need a professional at this point.

 

D'oh, that sucks Eddy!! I'm sure RP, Boss, or others will swoop in to help.

Got any pics to see just how bad it is?! I think since your truck is black is looks worse than it really is.

Got a PC or buffer or are you doing it all by hand? For a dumb-**** body newb like us, the Mothers three-step system has served me very well for wiping out fine swirls and scratches.

Godspeed!!

 

We need pictures... as painful as it is...

Also, on the ColorX etc... I have a hunch that you didn't allow the diminishing abrasives enough time to properly break down so that they could do their work. This is a very common problem with many of Meguiar's products...

Pics por favor...

RP

 

ah, just drive it through some dried up thorn bushes and call it good! j/k

 

Heres what happened. I finally got the thing offroad and added about 100 pounds of mud to the truck. After going to 2 different car wash areas (do it yourself ones) that said the truck was too tall to be washed there (BS!!!) I went to a touchless (didnt do a damn thing but strip all my wax off). So then I went to a buddies and borrowed his driveway and hose to clean it up. Of course I didnt think it through enough and after I washed it, I drove it straight home to dry it up and wax it. Well by time I got home the truck was COVERED in water spots. I havent had much experience with them but these spots are etched so could I couldnt even get them off the glass. I did what I could then decided to try phase 1 of the 3 step first....that didnt seem to do anything (maybe I didnt wait...directions arent explicit enough on these products for morons like me) so then I took ColorX to the side of the bed. Whiped that down and found what almost look like finger prints in the paint or blur marks. Confused and panicy since I have been keeping the truck extremely well detailed and watching out for this sort of thing, I decided to do a small test area with ScratchX to see if I can clear it up...well instead now in the midst of all the blur marks I have some perfect pad swirls in the exact pattern I applied the ScratchX. After freaking out I quicikly moved the truck about 10 times to see the sun hit other spots and the truck and found water spots and more minor swirling all over the truck. All I can think of that could of done this was the pad. Maybe there was some mud or something that got on the pad and I just rubbed it all over the truck. At this point I dont know what to do about it besides suck it up and take it somewhere. I dont want to make it any worse, now that it has the paint damage I dread. It is a black truck so of course it looks way worse than it is, but its bad enough that when the sun hits it it makes you wanna boot. You cant even follow the smooth lines because you get stuck on all these blurr marks down the side. Between this and the Yanks last night it was a very depressing night. Hope the sun isnt coming out today, I dont think I could take it. I tried taking some pics yesterday but it was hard to do. Maybe tonight. Any ideas?

 

We'll take care of the water spots... I don't anticipate them being a problem.

On the pictures, you need to either get it under some 'white' light at night or in sunlight. Flourescent lighting and sunlight will bring out the blemishes the worst.

RP

 

Thanks I will be a ahole outside with a camera and a Flourescent light tonight or tomorrow. RP, you need to set up a Mid Atlantic shop too, I would be at your door today to let you do your work on this thing. Looks like hell and I am not sure of who to trust in the area if I cant do it.

 

It's just a 10 hour drive!

 

And that's 10 hrs in F150 heaven! I'll mosey down to show rock my yet-to-be-completed door handles and buy you clowns a beer.

 

What it sounds like EddyG88 all is not lost, you can bring back the look of your truck, it not that hard. There is different ways to do it, first there is the easy way of using a glaze to fill in the light scratches and there is the best way of using a scratch removal and using a polish, both have cleaners in them, If you take it to a pro detailer you tell them you want it done in ether the two ways, in using a glaze or polishing it out, polishing it out cost more. Don't forget to clay it first.
NXT Tech Wax from Meguiar's is great for black paint that covers up light scratches and gives a high gross to dark colored paints
You can do it your self using a porter cable polisher, search the net (how to polish your car) tons of stuff. hope I was of some help

 

I did end up going with a Show Glaze and Tech Wax combo to fill in the swirls. It didnt do as much as I would have liked, although that product is amazing.
I tried to get the swirls out with ColorX and Scratch X but both ended up doing more damage. I am afraid to hit that section with Scratch X again for fear of making it worse. Without pictures the best way I can explain it is as though there are repetetive blur/smudge marks down the side of the truck in the motion of my applying the wax. It almost looks like I didnt get it all off but its in the clear coat. It looks great till the sun hits it, then you are thinking "What the hell happen to the side of the truck!". Ugh this sucks!

 

Eddy dont fret we have the same truck XLT and black and I had some swirls here is what I did to remove most of them...

1. Washed truck Gold Class Meguires.

2. Clayed with Quick Detailer Meguires. (Gets rid of water spots too.)

3. #83 Swirl Remover Meguires with a PC speed 4. Do a 2' by 2' section and then remove the product.

4. #7 Polish Meguires with a PC speed 4. Same as step 3.

5. NXT tech wax 2 coats speed 4. 2 coats 24 hours apart.

This combination took a while to do so commit a weekend day to do it. Over all the entire truck looked extremely awesome the paint job looked like wet glass. However a freak rainstorm rolled in 2 days later and promptly trashed my hard work!

I plan on doing this every 3 to 4 months and wax once a month with NXT tech wax for maintenance. Alot of the swirling was removed except for a few spots which I will get next time!

It may not take away all of your swirl issues but it will take away alot of it.

Of course we were silly and bought black trucks and then raised them 6" so washing is a bear and waxing is even tougher but its worth it.

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for the tips, thing is I dont have a PC and do everything by hand. I dont mind the time or the labor since I usually take a whole day to detail my truck anyway. I am thinking it was the pads fault not the scratchX so I am going to work a small section of it again maybe next weekend and see if I can clear it up. I am thinking I cant really do much at this point and will have to take it in. If it were just minor "webbing" in the sunlight I could live with it till next season, but its the rub marks that look like hell. All clear coat and minimal I am sure, but on black its like a beacon. I just hope it was what I applied it with that did the damage or else I am sure to do more.

 

I have owned black vehicles all my life. After years of trial/error, meguiar's ended up being my choice. Use a clay bar followed by the show car glaze/polish (maybe two coats if needed), and your swirl marks will be mostly (if not all) gone. Once you apply NXT, swirl mark will no longer exist.

BUT, swirl marks WILL return unless you wash properly! I have found that a good car wash sponge and a car wash with wax in it work perfectly (I use KIT). The sponge WILL NOT give swirls, just keep it rinsed out. The wash/wax also prevents swirls by protecting the paint as you wash and extends the wax protection. Do not dry with a terry towel or leather towel!! Use "The Absorber"! It takes a little getting used to but dries faster and leaves absolutely NO swirls. It has been a year since I last waxed my black dakota and there is not one swirl in the bright sun and water still beads on it.

 

Well since the screw up, things still look like crap. A few new additions to my truck have been added as well. I hada rock wedged under the wiper and put a good scratch on the windshield, and after getting stuck once and having some guy push the truck out, there are a couple nice new scratches from mud being ground into the paint from his hands. And finally my favorite, a very nice little ding in the tailgate left of the emblem from what looks like a dumb a$$ elbowing it or dinging it with a 2x4 or something. I called up the local detailers thinking I have to bite the bullet here and get a professional to clean everything up, but they quoted me $250-$300, so it looks like I have to sit on it for a while. In the mean time I think I can handle the windshield scratch and give the truck the best detailing I can until I can spend the cash. At least the $250 for the detailing includes interior, exterior, engine, tires, wheels, etc.
I was thinking of giving the Meguiars Scratch X one last shot on the tailgate, anyone have any opinions on how to apply it. No detail is too small (since last time I just added to the damage). Looking at the truck in the light right now shows tons of little "dull" rub marks in little circles as if there was still wax on it. In other words...it looks like complete *****. I used to look forward to sunny days...