Vehicle paint protection?

SDHNTR

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Aug 30, 2012
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I’m in Nevada getting my butt kicked on a tough hunt with lots of really rough and narrow roads. Typical Nevada. I’m totally destroying my vehicle’s paint. Not a huge deal as this is a 6 yr old vehicle and what it’s for, but I’m also about to buy a new truck and I’d be crying if I had a new rig on a hunt like this.

It got me thinking… does anybody make temporary stick on paint protection film or flexible material for this purpose?
 

mxgsfmdpx

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Oct 22, 2019
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Central Arizona
We call it desert pin striping here in AZ. Anyone who actually uses their trucks, jeeps, etc out here has desert pin striping aka faint scratches in the clear coat.

You can get the “clear bra” stick on material to cover panels if you need.
 

elkguide

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Vermont
Just back from hunting in Idaho and hoping that the buffing job is going to help my black Denali!
(my wife was not impressed with my new pin stripes!)
 

Outhunting

Lil-Rokslider
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Feb 25, 2014
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Any particular reason you want a tempory solution? I use to install Paint protection film on all of my vehicles if I cared about the paint. I am in Reno as well and there are quite a few businesses that do it.
 
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I’m in Nevada getting my butt kicked on a tough hunt with lots of really rough and narrow roads. Typical Nevada. I’m totally destroying my vehicle’s paint. Not a huge deal as this is a 6 yr old vehicle and what it’s for, but I’m also about to buy a new truck and I’d be crying if I had a new rig on a hunt like this.

It got me thinking… does anybody make temporary stick on paint protection film or flexible material for this purpose?
Embrace the scratched paint as a sign you're using the truck as intended and it's not some mall crawling, pavement princess. Make the dealership shudder when you bring it back in for its first service and they see what you've done to it.
 

SonnyDay

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Jul 22, 2019
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I’m just waiting for my pin striping to get bad enough so I can paint the whole rig flat black…
 

Sevens

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Apr 14, 2020
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Dallas, TX
Any particular reason you want a tempory solution? I use to install Paint protection film on all of my vehicles if I cared about the paint. I am in Reno as well and there are quite a few businesses that do it.
I’ll second this. Had it installed on my vehicle, works great for prevention of rock chips and such.
 
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SDHNTR

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Embrace the scratched paint as a sign you're using the truck as intended and it's not some mall crawling, pavement princess. Make the dealership shudder when you bring it back in for its first service and they see what you've done to it.
Yeah I used to feel the same way, and do with my 4runner I’m on now, but have you seen what new trucks cost lately? You wanna go scratch up $75k+?
 
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SDHNTR

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Any particular reason you want a tempory solution? I use to install Paint protection film on all of my vehicles if I cared about the paint. I am in Reno as well and there are quite a few businesses that do it.
Temporary, because I can’t imagine it looking good long term. Maybe I’m wrong, but I’ve had that clear film stuff on my lower panels before and it yellows and looks like hell with time. I was just thinking of something to slap on there for hunting trips. But then take off for normal use so it didn’t look fugly.
 
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amassi

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I’m just waiting for my pin striping to get bad enough so I can paint the whole rig flat black…

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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

def90

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Aug 12, 2020
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Colorado
If it's scratches from brush it will usually buff out. Take it to a detail shop when you get home.
 
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I refuse to buy off the lot for that reason. Certified pre-owned and the Rocky Mountain pin stripes don’t sting as bad.
 

CorbLand

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Mar 16, 2016
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I just buy ones that are rusted to hell. Pretty hard to scratch paint that isn’t there.
 
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Yeah I used to feel the same way, and do with my 4runner I’m on now, but have you seen what new trucks cost lately? You wanna go scratch up $75k+?
Honestly, yes and yes. I didn’t buy it to resell, it’s going to depreciate, and the desert sun will probably ruin the paint before I’m done with it anyway.

If I lived somewhere rust was an issue, I probably wouldn’t have the same flippant attitude because then it becomes a function problem.
 

Braaap

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Jul 10, 2018
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NV
Welcome to NV lol! Most of it should buff out. I had a buddy detail my old Tacoma before selling it and I was shocked how it all buffed out.

I’ve been wondering about vinyl wrap as a way to protect paint if I were to get a shiny new truck. I don’t think it’s cheap but I imagine it would work and I think you can get any color you want. There are places that will wrap the entire vehicle.
 

Fowl Play

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Oct 1, 2016
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If you find something that works let us know. I have looked into the magnetic paint protectors, but never pulled the trigger. Full body PPF wraps get expensive quick -- to the point you could spend thousands on paint / clear coat repairs and still come out ahead.

Have a buddy who line-x'd his entire hunting rig. Looks cool, but honestly it attracts dirt, pieces of tree branches and stuff get stuck in the grit and are surprisingly hard to clean out. Kinda like tryin to clean wood dust out of a used piece of sandpaper.

After looking into this a while back, my plan was to actually just take it to a shop and get a few more coats of clear put on. That way I could buff out deeper scratches.
 
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