OK, I've heard people complain about the finish on their RAM. They will get swirls and look old in a couple years if you dont take care of them. Here is some advice if you really care about keeping your truck looking new.

(from another post)

Red is one of the worst for showing swirls. If you baby the paint it wont get swirls, they are caused by abrasions going through car washes and hand drying your truck. NEVER hand dry the truck because if you didnt clean off some dirt -- even tiny specs of dirt -- you are just grinding it in to the finish when you towel or shammy dry. Its better to let it air dry on the high way or use a leaf blower. NEVER go to one of these DIY car washes and use the bristle brush on your truck!!!

When you wash, spray off ALL the dirt with a high power spray and then gentle hand wash with terry cloth and lots of suds.

Wax only once a year. Use a polish first, then a good cleaner wax. Be gentle when buffing off the wax. Take time with it, not muscle.

Its worse to wash your truck every week the wrong way than it is to let the truck get covered in dirt and wash it twice a year. The dirt sits on top of the wax but doesnt cause swirls like washing it the wrong way..

If you do have to go through a car wash, only go through touchless car washes. They use high powered jets.

You can get rid of the swirls if they are not too deep, but you need to go to a show car detailer. Someone with experience restoring old finishes and prepping cars for shows. There arent many of these guys in business. Expect to pay 4-500 for a huge vehicle like a pickup to get out all the swirls. This is hard work. Never use a car wash detailer.

If you take care of the finish, it will look new in 5 or ten years. At the five year mark you may need to get a light buffing to get rid of the surface oxidation and brighten it up.



OTH, its a truck and if you offroad it and haul stuff, who cares about swirls??



(I do)

Good luck!

 

Easy way to avoid swirls, don't wash your truck.

 

just keep 7 layers of **** on it like me and the scratchs and what not dont bother

 

hand wash it once a week and wax once a year as I do my 02 looks better than some 04-06 trucks
mine is silver with NO swirls at all

 

Wax on...wax off !

 

imo wash your truck once a year and it will look as ****ty as if it was sitting in the junk yard. i dont know what kind of road conditions you guys have, but damn, unless its sitting in the garage covered and not driven, f that...and if you so happen do get a swirl, there are many products that get them out. i wash my truck religiously and ill bet its in better condition thanone that hasntbeen washed in a year...you dont want swirls, use the correct methods and products to clean your vehicle and you wont get swirls. you drop your little spunge, pretend your in prision and leave that **** on the ground and use something new till that oneis cleaned properly...i do agree with the "dont dry your vehicle with a towel" comments. you can use a chamios if you like or one of those silicone blades. i do like to air dry mine though

 

I keep my truck in show condition most of the time.

And it has won the Mopar Atlantic Nationals in 2005.

I take it to a local car wash, bring it home and towel dry it.

BTW, I clay it once a year.

Then use Liquid Glass on the paint finish and mother's back to black on the black plastic..

 

there you go, someone that knows what they are doing. glad to hear someone else takes care of their vehicle

 

I don't get why people don't want to protect a 30k dollar or more investment. I drive atm a 97 jeep wrangler that I wash religously and once I buy a new truck i plan to keep it that way.

 

Ok, I'm confused, are you agreeing with the original post or disagreeing? Ifdisagreeing what do you do different, because it sounds ok to me.