Cleaning and Detailing section?

[whtrapta]

I wish I had gotten it. I already have a few chips on the front of the hood above the grille and the flat spot by the headlamps.

 

[swoop1156]

Does anyone have clear protection film installed on the front of your trucks? I've never had it on any of my vehicles, but I think I'm going to get it put on the Raptor when it arrives. The installer I know does a great job covering the full front end including about 12" up the hood, the side mirrors, A pillars and roof line just above the windshield. He even puts a piece below the gas filler door to catch any fuel spills. Any thoughts or experience with these films?

There is NO PLACE around me that I can find that does a good job. Was considering doing it myself, but haven't yet.

 

[Reptar]

Does anyone have clear protection film installed on the front of your trucks? I've never had it on any of my vehicles, but I think I'm going to have it put on the Raptor when it arrives. The installer I know does a great job covering the full front end including about 12" up the hood, the side mirrors, A pillars and roof line just above the windshield. He even puts a piece below the gas filler door to catch any fuel dribble. Any thoughts or experience with these films?

We had it done on my finace's 2011 Mustang GT 5.0, and I'll definitely be getting it installed on my Raptor.

Two things, Get it installed ASAP as soon as you get the truck! Resist driving it as much as you can. We drove the mustang 700 miles before getting it done and had 2 tiny rock chips on the bumper just enough to **** you off knowing the rest will never have a chip with the clear bra on.

Second, only get the essential pieces on. Over 1/2 the kit is really unnecessary. How often do you get rock chips above the windshield? And without a fuel filler cap to ding against the paint, you shouldn't get any chips below the fuel door either. All those extra pieces make a clear bra more noticible when there's patches of it all over the vehicle. When it covers a full panel like the front bumper, its pretty much invisible, you can't see anything because the seam is all the way at the very edge of the panel about 1/8" in from the edge. Now you do things like the hood, front fender edge, below the gas gap, etc. you have all these partial panels that you WILL notice a seam on since it's smack in the middle of the panel, catches the light there, and looks like a key mark.

My advice, and what we did on the 5.0 and I have NO regrets, ONLY get the bumper and headlights done. And maybe the dumbo ears on these trucks (we didn't do mirrors on the stang). We didn't do the hood or fender tips. 90% of your rock chips are going to be on the bumper anyway. So by the time you accumulate enough on the edge of the hood or fender, it'll be 9x's longer than what it took to get bumper rock chips without a bra, and it'll easily cut 50% of the cost of the install.

So....essential parts only....eliminate 90% of chips, looks 100x's better with no partial panels, and cuts 50% of the cost on install.

 

[DubbsFaris]

Ive got two rock chips....both on the hood leading edge.

 

[Raptoyd11]

Yup, mine gets a clay bar, polish, and wax average 1-2 months

Never tried the clay bar. Does that work good?

 

[Raptor62]

I would get everything that is painted on the front. End the clear bra just behind the headlight pockets and include the front of the hood. These are the area most prone to rock chips. I have the clear bra on my Shelby and I am glad I did. Yes, get it done as soon as you can. You can get a rock ship in the first 20 miles of having the truck.

 

[rstarr]

Does anyone have clear protection film installed on the front of your trucks? I've never had it on any of my vehicles, but I think I'm going to have it put on the Raptor when it arrives. The installer I know does a great job covering the full front end including about 12" up the hood, the side mirrors, A pillars and roof line just above the windshield. He even puts a piece below the gas filler door to catch any fuel dribble. Any thoughts or experience with these films?

Ive had clear bra on all my trucks. Yes its well worth it. As soon as my Raptor comes in next week it will be the first thing to go on! I do the whole front end and up the hood about a foot and then have my guy go about 10 inch's high all the way down the rocker panels to the rear bumper to prevent rock chips. Its easy to maintain also, just wax like you do your truck.

 

[WHYUMAD]

It'd be a good idea to get your door handles done too if you have them painted. Maybe even the fender flares if you have them painted since they protrude so much. When mine comes in I'm getting the front & rear bumpers, skid plate, fender flares, mirrors, & door handles color matched. Then I'm going straight to my buddy that does the 3m protection pieces & getting my front done along with any parts he feels needs some protection from daily usage & driving (i.e. door handles, edges of doors, etc.)

 

[Boss Hoss]

I have a 2011 Raptor and a 2012 GT500 both black. Kind of funny that the Raptor is worth more than the Shelby but that happens. My Raptor gets Pinnacle Souverän put on every 3 to 4 weeks. Every 3 months use #7 (I use the Makita BO 6040) then when perfect a coat of #21 which I let sit for a few hours then remove and apply the Pinnacle!

Do the same for the Shelby but it sits in the garage under a car cover 9 days out of ten in the winter. There are people who are very picky about how the car or truck looks—I am one of them.

When you keep the paint protected it is easier to get the first and second picture to look like the last lol.

 

[whtrapta]

Never tried the clay bar. Does that work good?

YOu thinking brand new paint is smooth? this will turn it to glass. Its unreal. I didn't believe it until I tried it.
I lost all my photos on my last phone. this is one to give you an idea. White is probably the hardest to pull a bright reflection out of and it does this.

Terrible pic but you can get the idea