My beautiful truck ruined :(

[flyboyron]

Sunday, I got my truck washed and waxed.

 

It looked brand new.

 

I drove it to work and somehow, somewhere, the only thing I can think that happened is a vehicle on the freeway in the lane in front of me was spilling paint and I drove over it, and never saw it until I got home.

 

It is all over the right side of the truck and as high as the bottom of the extended cab rear windows.

 

It is 2:30am and I can't sleep. I am so upset.

 

Any ideas on cleaning this up?

 

 

[POS VETT]

Let's find out what it is first. Is it really paint? Is it water soluble? Soluble in milder oil-based solvent like gasoline or kerosene?

[flyboyron]

I peeled some off of the front fender well and it is like house paint.

 

 

[POS VETT]

Well, try a pressure washer first. That way the loose parts would fall off. I tend to go with a solvent than using something that requires rubbing the paint like a clay bar. Make sure the solvent doesn't attack the finish of your truck. Try 3M multi-purpose cleaner in a spray or if it's soluble in alcohol, it might be a cheaper solution nust as effective.

[sahls01gmc]

I'm wondering if your wax has put enough of a layer on there to let the paint come off easily. Try "Goof Off". That's what I use to remove emblems off of vehicles. Use a clean rag, and make sure to not swirl the new "paint" around. Should come right off. Then you will definitely have to put another good coat of wax there since the Goof Off will take everything off.

[sahls01gmc]

^^^^^ What he said, try the power washer first. The wheels, tires, plastic and running boards should be fine with the power washer. Maybe hit up a detail shop and see what advice they have!

[Stevens03]

I had this happen with PennDOT road paint before. I was able to get alot off simply with a clay bar. Since there where no signs for "road paint", PennDOT was responsible and paid the insurance claim for the rest of the removal. Check with your local body shop, they've dealt with this kind of thing before.

 

I know the feeling. When I got "nailed", i didn't even make my first payment yet. All Yellow paint on one side and under. i was sick.. like you.

[KMGZ400]

I got some yellow paint on one of my vans, mostly on the body though and I used a 3m eraser wheel and it worked very well. The plastic steps might be kinda hard as well as the tires. Maybe paint thinner for the exhaust tip

[Jernik]

I peeled some off of the front fender well and it is like house paint.

 

 

 

You should be able to take that paint chip to Lowe's or Home Depot and have them duplicate it. Then you can just paint the whole truck so it all matches again!

 

Looks like a good thing you had the mud flaps, otherwise it probably would have been worse! Some good advice already given in the thread, so I have nothing to add there. Your truck isn't ruined, but it'll take some work to get it cleaned up again.

 

I had a dark red truck, and someone in the neighborhood must have been spray painting their house... I found little white paint specs all over it! Fortunately, they were small enough a clay bar got the job done. Still a mess and a pain, but nothing catastrophic.

 

Just take your time and be careful, it should come out OK.

[BRay'sGirl]

Oh no - that sux.

 

If this is usual house paint I would soak it in / with warm water and try to wash it off - real gentle. Will take some time but it's gonna be okay.

 

Good luck!!

[RonC5]

Use a clay bar before anything else. It may take a couple passes, but it will come off.

[flyboyron]

I stopped by a client of mine's business that is a body shop and discussed it with them.

 

It seems that if you rub the spots, the paint spots seem to come off fairly easily. I think that being the truck was waxed the day before has saved the paint because they say it looks like it should come off with just a pressure washer.

The tires and running boards have Amoral or something like that on them and that may allow the spots to come off from them also.

 

I have a pressure washer at home my wife is always wanting me to use on the patio or driveway, now is a good time to put it to use. When I get home from work, I am going to work on it and see how far I get tonight on it.

 

I will keep you posted on how it goes.

 

Thanks for all the replies.

[sahls01gmc]

RIght on! Does your pressure washer have an attachment for a soap dispenser? I bet that could do some good to have some soap in the pressure washer.

[RonC5]

I will never, ever use a pressure cleaner on my cars. Any contaminants on the paint will cause the result about the same as using a sandblaster. The affects are heightened or lessened with how much PSI your machine puts out. If you use the pressure cleaner, use as little pressure as needed to remove the paint. If it were my truck, I would use the clay bar to remove as much as you can. If it does not completely remove it, soak a soft cloth in mineral spirits and see if that will remove the rest. After removing the paint I highly recommend a cleanup of the area with a good paint cleaner and then polish with a orbital buffer and a good coat of wax/polish/sealer of your preference.

[flyboyron]

Well......I started to clean the truck last night and used a pressure washer I have at home with just plain water only. It did not take the paint off. It did work fairly good on the tires, but they are still needing a lot of cleaning. It did work well inside the fender wells where the paint was real thick and just peeled off. Those will require a lot of detail work to get them clean also.

What I had to do was use a microfiber cloth and rub with some effort to get it to come off. Of course all of the little paint pieces sticks to the cloth so I had to keep cleaning the cloth and also keep rinsing the area I just cleaned to remove any other paint debris.

It did not seem like it was as easy as I thought and after an hour or so, I gave up and and I am going to stop by my client today and have their detail guy work on it.

I am hoping it doesn't cost too much.