I live on a dirt road and had rocks flying up and hitting the front of my bed. 12 days after buying it new, the paint was gone. Bed was built off center so it stuck out and caught the rocks. After fighting with the dealership for 2 months (btw it's not a ford) but finally they painted it but couldn't move the bed over. So I asked about clear bra. They use it on some duallys to help protect for this sort of thing. Well they didn't want to do it for 2 to 4 weeks for the new paint to cure. I wasn't waiting because the paint came off before 12 days. So I went to autozone....they have 3M brand clear spray on rock protector. Used this on my truck. Spray can was $25 and I used it on both sides but did more coats on the side the bed stuck out. Been 3 weeks now and it is holding up great. I did from the bottom up to the body line on both sides and also bought weathertech mudflaps. The mudflaps help but I still hear a good amount of rocks hitting. The old sound was rock to metal of course but now it's a quiet thud. I have gone 60mph down the dirt road and checked on the it and it's holding up awesome. I will be buying this stuff over and over again. Instructions are for an actual bra type protection but with the way I did it, the can is still at least 75% full. Try it if you have problem areas with debris hitting.

 

Use this stuff on any repaint; it's fantastic. Used it on my Lightning front fascia 5 yrs ago, and still not a single rock chip. But it online and take it to your painter.

Jim

 

Slowing down would help too. Going 60mph on a dirt road is just dangerous.

 

As strange as it may seem, a good set of running boards / tube steps will seriously cut down on the number of rocks actually making it to your bed.

 

Yes. But I am 6'5" tall. Step bars get in the way actually. My girlfriend has them on hers and when I step out, I have to step farther out and still sometimes get a big scrape of mud down my jeans. I would like them for the protection but I also don't think I should have to buy extra stuff to protect certain areas. They add protector strip on the bumper and they stopped putting mudflaps on vehicles so they know stuff will kick off the tires now. Even more so than before.

 

I had great experience with Opticoat. Its way easier to apply and much tougher.

 

Sorry, but Opticoat does not protect your paint from rock chips any more than a coat of wax does.

 

Yeah I'm talking about driving MAYBE 40 miles on dirt roads and having it take all the paint off in about a 1 inch by 8 inch area. Not a single spec of paint left. I'd rather have a few layers of medium or hard rubber covering the area. I'm guessing clear bra would be expensive, and if it isnt, they said they can't sell it by the sheet and have to install it themselves.....so then there is installation charge too. $25 can that I can just tape off and spray once every so often an put it on thick. It's been on for about a month and still not even a dimple. Only thing I'm worried about is washing the truck and having the water pressure wash it off.

 

If your looking to correct/repair the chips I would suggest Dr. Color Chip. I've had good results.

 

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