Mojave (or otherwise) pinstripes - what do you do??

[PauldF]

Ok, ok, I know it's a badge of honor and all that, but my baby is only a few weeks old and I'd like to keep her looking nice for as long as I can! I'd love to find something that could be easily put on the doors/fenders before an expedition and then removed after. The best of all worlds would be something reusable. I've seen some mentions of magnetic guards and there seems to be a company in France that makes some, but I thought I would ask the collective what they do to minimize scratching.

 

[El Matador]

Ok, ok, I know it's a badge of honor and all that, but my baby is only a few weeks old and I'd like to keep her looking nice for as long as I can! I'd love to find something that could be easily put on the doors/fenders before an expedition and then removed after. The best of all worlds would be something reusable. I've seen some mentions of magnetic guards and there seems to be a company in France that makes some, but I thought I would ask the collective what they do to minimize scratching.

I just buff it out with some sort of rubbing compound.


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[steven_cochran]

Color sand and buff it out if its not too deep.


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[Arailt]

You could do a clear wrap. They aren't cheap though and you wouldn't take it off. I'd be leary of putting any kind of magnet on and then wheeling. Dust and dirt will work its way under the edges of the magnet and do more harm than not.

 

[slomatt]

One time I saw a Land Cruiser with the sides covered in blue painters tape on the Deer Valley Trail. I'm not sure how effective this would be, but it's fairly inexpensive.

 

[genera_lee]

the other thing you may look at is a ceramic coating, like cquartz, cerakote, or 9h ceramic pro. i've not seen many testimonials or whatnot from offroad guys. but it puts a much harder "extra" cleat coat on top of yours. i would imagine it would really cut down on trail striping. plus i've seen multiple videos of guys using it on jeeps and whatnot and having mud and trail dust come right off much easier than if not coated.

i'm certainly interested in doing my truck, after i do some major correction to the paint.

 

[Square Foot]

Magnetic roll and some white gaffers tape might do the trick. I've been thinking of doing the same.

 

[smritte]

I just wax real well then buff out when I wash it. Some of them can be deep which means more work. I normally get those when I'm not paying attention. For some reason their mostly on the passenger side.

Scott

 

[Ruckup08]

White is the best color for hiding them. One of our first trips out in the our white jeep was on a very tight trail and I thought it would be destroyed but in fact the only pinstripes I could find after washing it was on the black hard top. Unless your pushing through limbs I bet you'll find that it isn't as big an issue as you think. Dark colors ...now that's a different story. I'll never have another black rig or car for that matter again.

 

[Etoimos]

Don't use magnets. As Arailt said, sand/dirt will work its way under it and scratch the paint even worse. You could buy vinyl in bulk and cover the sides of your rig in that each time you go out. The cost of both time and money would add up though.

Ultimately, what are you saving your paint for, butter resale or just so your rig looks nice rolling to the mall (nothing wrong with that at all btw)? The duration you want protect it could have a bearing on how you protect it.

 

[MBroenkow]

I leave mine dirty.

Don't let pinstripes keep you going and doing the things you bought your truck for. Its going to happen, don't fret on it.

 

[Graeman]

It would be best if you just wrapped the sides if you are that worried about scratches. You could also pick wider trails drive down. If the trails are that tight then you might want to rethink what you are doing on the trail or is this what I really want to be doing with this brand new truck... just $0.02

 

[PauldF]

Good and sage advice from all, thanks. Yea, I'm kinda picky about keeping things nice but I'm no prima dona. I will do the best I can to choose appropriate trails, but I've been in riverbeds before that narrowed down and unless you wanted to just turn around you had to push on through - not big thick limbs, but branches. This rig is not a overland-only vehicle, it is my daily driver and I keep all my gear in nice condition - just the way I was brought up and later trained elsewhere too.

 

[icant4x4heretoo]

As it was mentioned full on clear bra for the SUV or get color change (or same) wrap. if you do go with 3M not avery...it just thinner material.

 

[toxicity_27]

I'm kind of the same way. My rig is my DD, and I like to have it looking as nice as possible. I have a coating on it, and will be doing some wax, etc. The coating helps, but doesn't stop it. Eventually as you stated, I just see them as badges of honor. Thankfully with silver it's tough to see, but the mirrors and hardtop make it quite easy. Since it's 3 years old, I still like to have it looking as nice as possible, but I know it's not going to be perfect. I won't do the correction, because eventually it will be retired to just trail riding.

 

[Ashton]

spray plasti-dip, like people use on wheels. Doesn't stick great, and I don't know if it faded his paint after the trip, but it does work.

Clear contact paper. I've heard of someone using that.

I was really tempted to just make the joke "you aren't going to risk pinstriping driving around mall parking lots, so whatcha worried about?".

 

[icant4x4heretoo]

spray plasti-dip.

NOT TO BE AN ASS!! BUT PLEASE DO NOT PLASTIDIP CARS!

Look up plastidip cars gone wrong.

Im in sign/wrap industry. At first great more opportunities to make a buck. I have since and will decline cars that are plastidipped wanting for removal. (don't care for your $$) why because to spray the dip properly you'll need a paint booth and over 5 gallons of it imagine the wieght of that alone on your car and that if you need primer too. Cause if goes wrong it will peel off, bubble, fade off, easily rub off and the worst it doesn't come off by just peeling it.

ok sorry...

 

[phxdsrtrat]

We call that AZ pinstriping because these desert plants (trees, bushes and cacti) all have sharp thorns. Best defense is a white vehicle (all my off roaders from my '66 Jeep to my '16 GMC Canyon have been white). Short of that, a good coat of wax helps. Rubbing compound buffs out the minor ones but at the cost of your clear coat. I don't know about the ceramic treatments. Seems like something you might do brand new. Eventually (and this wasn't until I was in my 40's because I'm a serious car guy) I came to the realization that my off road vehicle was just that and won't stay perfect and concentrated on my other "city car" to stay pretty and satisfy that detailing urge.

Where them as a badge of honor.

-Curtiss