Need some help!!!! I've got an 04' Ford F-150, Lariat 4 door 4X4, 47K miles, white paint, and I live in one of the worst spots for winter, Salt Lake City, Utah. Every winter I get these small rust flakes on my paint, they usually come off with some tough scrubbing but sometimes they can be a real pain to remove. This winter has been horrible and I've got them again??? I'm a cleaning fanantic with my truck, it still looks brand new but I can't seem to find any cleaning products that just take these spots off, other than using rubbing compound (which I hate to do), can anyone offer some suggestions. And moving out of Utah is out of the story Please HELP!!!!

 

Edited b./c of poor public school education....

 

Sorry... But the name stands for Copper from the Periodic Table, I'm a Copper Miner so, 'CU' stands for the metal copper and 'miner' stands for me, a miner, and 2003 is the year i created the address in yahoo. So, cuminer2003, sorry for the confusion, where's your thinking???? Now, any help???

 

Well that does make a lot of sense put that way....sorry that I jumped the gun on that one. We do get some interesting folks around this forum...

As for the rust sports, pictures would be helpful but I suspect it has a little to do with your work location and job and or rail dust from in and around your parking lot. Do you have a lot of trains near by?

Rail Dust is a common problem, and when it gets wet and sits, it will rust. Best thing you can do is wash throughly, then clay the truck. I would also recomend using a Megs Blue Clay rather than the white clay that comes in the kit picked up a the local megalow marts.

After you do clay you'll prob need to polish or wax the truck until it gets warm enough for a full detail.

Lets start there.

 

Don't worry about the name, I get that alot, some day i need to change it. I've heard something about some clay?? I'll see if our local AutoZone, Checker, or even Wal-Mart carries it. Thanks... We don't have alot of rail around, just tons of salt dumped on the roads during winter. I even thought it might be brake dust??? Tried getting away from heavy metallic brakes to, no luck. I'll try to some clay and see if that works. Thanks again.
I'd send a picture but you can barely see them up close in person, nothing comes out in a picture.

 

I am confident that using a clay kit from Megs is going to solve 90% of what you are seeing. To take care of the other 10% is going to require a little more effort and products. For starters this is what I would do.

Go to Autozone, pick up the Megs or Mothers clay kit (Most prefer Megs) and some DC (Deep Crystal) Paint Cleaner/Wax (I good 1 step product)

Then wash the truck, clay an area (using lots of lube) and check the clay, do the entire section (like the hood). then apply the DC and work it in by hand, then remove with a MF (Microfiber towel). See if that does the trick.


If not, do you own an DA (Dual Action Polisher like a PC-Porter Cable 7424)?

Check out the Sticky listed in the C&D section, read it through and you'll get a good idea on what we are talking about in this area.

Cheers CU-Miner.

JP

 

Thanks.... I'll check it out and hopefully get started Monday, if it doesn't dump another foot of snow on us. Yuck.....

 

My paint is white and I struggle removing these same rust-looking specks every spring. I'm not sure what the specks are, but spend at least 3-4 hours every year wearing down my fingernails getting ride of them. There is not really any rail traffic here so rail dust is not likely. My best guess is it's something put in the sand-salt mix for road ice control in the winter...because seems to be more severe on the tailgate (road turbulance). Might give the clay a try this year and see if that works better than the fingernails!

 

you need to spend some time reading the detail sticky.

 

Hey, that Mother's Clay Kit worked like a charm, awesome!!!!! It took off the rust flakes with ease, the paint looks like new, the entire truck. I threw on a bit of wax afterwards and that trucks shines.... Paint is smooth, looks great. Thanks again.

Anyone else with these problems I definitely recommend that clay kit. Bit of advice, buy it at Wal-Mart, $14 vs. $18 at checker.

Have fun!!!!

 

Sounds like a classic rail dust or industrial fallout situation. Glad you got it taken care of!

-RP-

 

Railways are not the only source of this dust. Just about any process where metal moves against metal will produce fallout. Even your own car's brakes and engine produces fallout thumbsup: The biggest problem area's are on the lower panels behind the wheels.

Nice articles here: http://www.clean-image.co.uk/articles/fallout.htm

http://www.claymagic.net/whatisclaymagic.htm

http://www.properautocare.com/creatsmootpa.html

 

Totally aware of that...

Metal friction generates it... rail dust is the generic term for it.

 

I have the same problem on my white 2005 f150. Every winter I get those specks. My dealer told me it is from the brake dust of the cars around me and my own. It floats in the air and sticks to your paint and then gets rusty from the winter grunge on the roads. It is happening on most all light colored cars and trucks.

 

rail dust - Brake dust

Same thing. they all have brake pads that throw dust everywhere.