Heres a question for the guys that like to keep their trucks looking show quality.

What do you do to keep the frame looking clean, Its painted from the factory, but after the first month of driving it looks like it's on a 10 yr old truck. I use my truck, but don't want it to look used up...

I've been eyeing up Silkolene Pro-Prep to help keep the crud from sticking to the frame's paint. Any other ideas or homemade solutions?

 

I spray my underneath about every 3-4 months with either paint or 3m undercoating, also always wash your and dry your truck horizontally the circular motion gives you those tiny scracthes it goes against the grain. And I use a filler wax on my truck every six months.

 

i have my truck sprayed annually carwell. my frame looks brand new!!! ups,usps,marine corp,etc,etc use carwell as well!

http://www.carwell.com/

 

Great advise, I always wash and dry the body paint in the same horizontal direction, def helps keep the scratches to a minimum. My old 97 F350 had better paint condition than trucks a 3rd of it's age because of using that technique. So far on the body I've been using Turtle Wax Ice in the paste form, been having great results with it, the usual road grime and tar just wipe right off, nothing seems to stick to it.

Now as far as the frame, not quite the good luck there. It looks old and the truck is still a baby...only 6 months.

I know, Its a work truck, but I'm a neat freak with my trucks and it doesn't have to look like a work truck.

 

That carwell stuff looks appealing being that I live 2 blocks away from the Atlantic... IE extremely salty environment, that might help fight off future rust problems.

 

the product works- i have had my truck done yearly-looks brand new underneath. n.y state uses road salt in the winter too! when i park next to newer fords or chevys (when at the store,etc) i glance at their frames. the amount of rust and scale on them kills me!! give them a call!

 

That'll be quite a hike to have it done though, all the dealers are in NY state. It used to take me 4 1/2-5 hrs to get to Lake George from here.

Ok, I see that you can order some of their products online, probably not as good as having it sprayed though.

 

i would still call. i know they have dealer/mobile trucks that go around and spray fleet vehicles- may be a dealer/owner that does it not too far away from you?? worth a call.

 

I use Mean Grean and a pressure washer. To bring her back to new I spray on a light coat of Krylon "semi-flat", this matches exactly what Dodge origionally put on there.

So far so good on the frame, not rust at all, and still fairly new looking with over 200k on the clock.

 

the easiest and best way i've found to keep the frame and undercarriage looking nice,clean and black is to just spray some no touch or other tire foam spray directly onto the frame/undercarriage. it's so easy it's ridiculous!!!! when the tire foam melts and runs off, you're left with a perfectly clean and shiny surface which looks better than new!!!! it'll last for weeks depending on the conditions you live in. if it doesn't rain hard here, it'll last me for almost a month!!! then it's is cheap and fast ot do over and over again!!!! sounds lame but just try it!!!! no need to buy special products....you should already have this in your garage!!!!

 

im with darrenb i always used armoral or any tire shine, and had great results.

 

I used to use armoral on my old truck and it worked wonderful, I tried the armoral deal on this truck a month after I bought it and by the 2nd day it looked old and worn out already. I'll give the tire foam a try and let you know how it works. Its going to be tough to clean the truck due to the clock change, I'll get home from work with a 1/2 hr of daylight left.

 

When I got my truck it had 72k on it and all I did was use Rustoleum in a gallon can and a couple of brushes. That was 1 year ago and 1 winter. It still looks glossy. The Rustolium is very thick paint and it can be a messy job but worth it!

 

Dioes that tire foam keep it shinh up under the fender wells too?

That stuff aint cheap!

 

Yeah, brushing it on would be the only way I'd go, don't want to mess with spray cans and risk of overspray on the body.....don't ask me how I know, just wish I knew how it got under that darn tarp....