Hope this is the right section to get good replies... Looking at a new truck, but the orange peel is pretty bad, borderline horrible and unacceptable!! New car manufacturers aren't going to do anything about it either. Cause if you tell a dealer you're not going to buy a truck because of the orange peel in the paint they don't care...the next dude in line will buy it. So...what can you do on your own to properly deal with it? I've done enough research to know wet sanding it out on a factory paint job is sketchy at best. What is the process for clearcoating the truck?? Would you simply prep the surface, have a body shop add a few coats of clear, then wet sand/polish? Or should you wet sand the orange peel out of the current factory clear before spraying new on?
First thing you need to do is get a paint thickness gauge and see what you have. If you have readings in the 120 - 130 range consistently around the truck then sanding with 2000 or 3000 is not out of the question. Respraying the truck is out of the question because of the cost. To respray it properly, then you will have to remove everything off the truck so that the only things taped off are the holes where the windows were. If you just mask off things like mirrors, trim and glass, I promise you that your new clearcoat will peel back eventually and your truck will look worse than the factory orange peel. My advice, live with it.
paint on trucks is pretty thick, on most american trucks i have worked on it was in 300 micron range, which truck you getting and what year?
May want to recalibrate your PTG. In the last month I have had too many new trucks from Ford and Chev in my shop and almost ever Ford was under 80 microns below mid door. GMs were quite a bit better with some coming in close to double that. Not sure about Dodge.
I just worked on a Ford F350 and the tailgate was under 60 microns. You could see through the basecoat to the primer under certain lighting. Also, lower pannels had lower readings. American paint leaves much to be desired.
I'm somewhat familiar with GM factory paint systems and I'm pretty sure the inconsistencies that everyone is reporting now is caused by newer paint booths that reduce spray & curing time. Ken have you to noticed that the readings on lower panels are higher than top panels? If I recall right, paint consistency (thickness) is not constantly monitored ... it's a once-in-a-shift check kind of deal.
Looking at the 2011 Ford Raptor, but all Ford trucks seem to have this problem. I've looked at a few white ones cause that's what I wanted, but white seems to be the worst color. Believe it or not, I have also noticed inconsistencies between white trucks...to me some (white ones) seem worse than others. Very aggravating. Of the limited colors the Raptor comes in, the Molten Orange one I inspected is by far the best quality paint job from the choices. It still had some orange peel, but was much much better...good for you if you want an orange truck. Regardless of where we end up on this debate, new paint jobs suck (as far as the orange peel goes) and there is no consistency between trucks and/or colors. 911Fanatic...respraying is not out of the question because of cost...I was just trying to learn the process and the best way to go about it. Aggravating?? Yes, but not out of reach. Hard to beat the factory paint sometimes when it comes to durability, IMHO...if it's properly cared for. Factory paint on my '02 w/ 110,000 miles on it!!
That is a very clean F-150! Nice big garage, too. Looks that even with the lift, it fits inside nicely. What flooring do you have?
Awesome looking truck! I think you missed my point though. For the average guy, respraying the vehicle would be out of reach because of the labour dollars involved. Up here, bodyshops charge upwards of $80 to $100/hr and even after that, most jobs would still need to be sanded and polished to get rid of orange peel. If you have the cash to do it, then by all means have at it. I would as well. You are correct in that factory paint is typically a better finish than aftermarket.
i get alot of work from bodyshops, I just wouldnt count that as a sure fix. You could easily and more than likely end up with bigger problems than orange peel. Not to mention you will substantially alter the value of your brand new vehicle. Take it to a good shop and have them sand it, if it bothers you that much, and if they make a mistake it wont be on you to pay for it either.
It's actually one of those D-I-Y kits from Home Depot. My second house with it. Turns out great, especially for the money invested. Garage (whole house) is custom built actually...my floorplan. Built the garage with 8' doors just for the truck and what ever the future may hold.
