I spoke to a body shop this week about a couple blemishes on the truck, and he suggested letting him wet sand the whole thing. I am concerned as my truck is lifted and has to sit outside year round. He sold me on the job with examples, show cars, etc. that he has in his shop and portfolio, but again can this be a risk with the truck basically never protected from mother nature? What kind of extra maintenance may be needed afterward?

 

wet sanding will just bring the life back to the paint and remove minor scratches. I detail cars and trucks on the side, normally use mothers clay bar and buff the paint. I dont trust myself enough to wet sand someone elses vehicle. As far as maintenance just keep up on it, wax will protect it pretty good or maybe get a truck cover to protect it

 

Wet sanding if done right is fine for your clear. Now it will make your trucks paint look showcar quality but will not get out anything past the clear. But it's okay for a car that sits outside. Think of your paint like a rolling set of hills and valleys and the wetsanding just levels that out.

Factory clear is super thin and can be sanded through quickly though so if you're going to pay someone $800+ they better know what they are doing

 

Wet Sanding is a very effective and powerful way to get rid of surface imperfections on your truck BUT in the wrong hands it can be dangerous.

The process actually removes a small amount of the clear coat so care must be given to not remove too much of the clear.

I won't attempt to wet sand anything short of head lights or tail lights to remove the oxidation layer. I will usually stick to compounding if I were doing it myself.

If this guy does it for a living and has samples of his work I'd be inclined to let him do it as it can do wonders.

As for after-care, the normal procedure is Wet Sand/Compound with a rotary buffer/Polish with rotary buffer/Apply first coat of wax/apply 2nd coat of wax/Final wipe with micro-fiber towel.

I have no idea what the deal is with the rotary buffer and why you are not supposed to use an orbital, but I've been told/read by more than one that you need to use a rotary.

Keep in mind that the protective clear coat is now slightly thinner from the sanding, so keeping a good coat of wax in the vehicle is important...

 

Thanks guys. I trust this gentleman and his shop. He's been around here for 20 years, and has done some other work for me. He explained it pretty much the same way Hammer described, but not only did he stress keeping a nice coat of wax on it, he also said to be careful when washing as too much soap can cause problems. I would imagine breakdown the wax and expose the clear coat?

He agreed to do it for $600 because he's doing a couple other things as well, so I have 'til Friday to decide.

 

Hmm it will look good after he does it

I've never heard of the soap issue. I've wetsanded parts of my truck but mainly things I've painted since I throw some pretty thick clears on. Dodge's clear is so much better than Fords as far as orange peel though.