Goal Complete!

My goal was to get as close as I can to making my truck look like this one.

And other than the wheels and headlights. I feel like I got pretty close. Happy with what I put together.



Upgrades :
-tint
-chrome wrapped white
-Jansen touch screen
-kicker speakers
-amp
-clear/chrome headlights
-Black emblems
-white plasti dip front emblem
-LED swap
-wheel spacers 1.25”
-Eibach front coil overs
-Bilstein 5100 rear shocks
-rear camera in tailgate handle
-amber/white flood pod lights

when costs go down I will upgrade wheels to black rhino or method .

Let me know what you fellas think.
Does it look good? Fan of the headlights?

 

Looks great to me. I think the rattle can on the grille and bumper cover may come back to bite you, but regardless - sweet truck.

 

I actually wrapped the chrome grill, bumper and mirrors white. Not sure if that is better than rattle . I plasti dip the emblem. But thank you. Honestly the paint on the truck is pretty shot. Idk if I will let it ride out or wait a few years and wrap it professionally

 

Ah - it must be the subtle color difference I see. Lighting and camera could be in play. Regardless, great work!

 

The non-metallic painted trucks like all-black and all-white are single-stage paint. You can easily polish them back out to a mirror finish. Just takes some elbow grease.

Are you 2WD? I looked at the Eibach coilovers, they didn't show anything at the websites I shopped for 4WD Access Cabs, nor at their website IIRC. Thought it was weird.

I personally dislike all-black wheels on white trucks. I'm glad yours at least has chrome rivets, but ... I dunno. I'm apparently totally in the minority on that one.

But overall, great job.

 

It’s a SR5 4wd.

my buddy whose 2nd gen owner of a tire shop had an issue putting the Bilstiens on the front because previous owner had something else in there. So he installed the eibachs on the front .

the paint has lost its clear coat on the roof, and various areas around the truck . So I gotta figure something out . I don’t have the money for a paint job cuz I live in Northern California and chasing the expensive dream of saving for a house .
I was curious if anyone has experience painting the truck on their own… or any suggestions . Haven’t searched threads on that yet

 

If your truck has clearcoat, that's not the original paint. All-white and all-black 1st gen Tundras didn't come with clearcoat.

Click the link in my signature. These trucks' original paint will chalk out without regular care. All it takes is a little polish (I used Meguair's ultimate) to get it to shining again.

 

yeah I’m pretty sure it’s original . Well the paint on the roof seems flat and rough and I spray painted over the area and a little rust around the 3rd brake light. The plastic fenders are peeling clear . It was stored outside all its life

 

And sorry I’m not sure how to find that link in your signature . Still new to this site

 

https://www.tundras.com/posts/1821749

 

Wow that is a huge difference . What do you suggest for the peeling plastic fenders

 

Peeling = clearcoat. Single stage won't (or shouldn't) peel.

That's one thing I've noticed about my truck. A lot of the plastic trim parts are not single stage painted. Grille and nerf bar are the two big ones. But my (skinnier/smaller) access cab fender flares actually are single stage.

The double cabs have larger fender flares than access/regular cabs, so I'm guessing they clearcoated those also, they (and the grilles, mirrors, and other larger plastic parts) were probably painted in a separate area of the factory than the bodies.

I dunno how long you've had your truck, but it's totally possible someone had it repainted because the original paint chalked out like mine! Can you share some pictures of what you're looking at? Is the roof area just hazed out, or is it bubbled and flaking?

One way to find out if you can polish the paint out: Take some polishing compound, any light buffing compound you have on-hand, even something like Simichrome or Mother's Mag & Wheel polish would work, put a small dot of it on your finger smaller diameter than a pencil eraser. In an inconspicuous hazed area, continuously rub it in a small circle the size of a dime with medium pressure for 20 seconds. Get a CLEAN cotton/microfiber cloth and wipe away.

Is it shiny? If yes, your paint is just oxidized. Buff out the panel with a correcting pad and, if it were me again, Meguair's Ultimate Polish.

 

I will give it a go now . And report back .

 

Regarding the paint, I have seen those that line-x the whole truck, it might be another option for you

 

It’s shiny, this is right behind rear passenger door. I used turtle wax chrome polish and rust remover . All I had .



here is roof

here is spot that is shiny now after polish on roof

 

It looks like your roof has been re-painted, and poorly. But only between the roof rack provisions.

I say that because factory single-stage would never have that much orange peel (talking about the roof spot) and polishing would've smoothed the bumps out. Beyond that, I can clearly see a clearcoat peel line. Single-stage paint doesn't peel; there's nothing to peel, really, single-stage is pigment with embedded clear. Whereas other paints are base pigment covered with clear on top.

 

Take a close look and you'll see what I mean. Notice the difference between the paint left of the red line, and the paint right of it.

It's possible someone didn't understand the OEM paint was single-stage and all they needed to do was buff it to get it shiny again, and they did something stupid to "fix" it, like go to the store, get a can of Spray2K max, and cleared over the factory paint. Or it's possible they sanded it all out, hit it with base coat, then cleared at home. Thing is, you really shouldn't spray clear over old single-stage paint like that. (Your example is exactly why one wouldn't want to).

 

Last comment. Can also tell it was a DIY job, not professional. No professional would've done this in an environment where this many piece of dirt/sand would get stuck under the paint. Main reason I'm saying it's an at-home thing.

 

well I really appreciate all the detailed descriptions and help. Lucky me it’s on the roof and not easily seen. As for the rest of the truck . You figure a good wash and wax would bring it all back?

 

There's definitely oxidation haze in the paint, you're not going to get that out without polishing. You need to remove that layer of oxidized paint to expose the shiny paint surface under.

It's not horribly oxidized, nowhere near as chalky as mine was, so you could probably get away with wash, hand-polishing, then sealing/waxing. If it were me, that's the path I'd follow, although I have a random-orbit DA with 6" hook-and-loop base, so I'd take advantage of that with a mild- or light-correction sponge.

I see no reason you couldn't take it to a painter and get a sand-down with single-stage repaint on the roof.

 

@shifty` think OP was saying he painted over the rough spots in the roof here.

 

Ah! Yeah, I totally missed that one.

I can't imagine a shop would charge more than $300-400 to sand/shoot that section of roof with single-stage paint-matched.

 

yes I did do a light spray on the roof but not the whole area where I took the photo. Just break light spot.
Right on, we’ll do you have any product suggestion. I could get lost in a sales pitch on McGuiars site and end up buying 12 products the way they list stuff .

 

You really don't need a lot. Most of this stuff can be purchased at local stores, but I'm linking to scAmazon because they do have some extra product info other stores lack, and most people have an account with them.

My preferred single-stage paint polish:

https://www.meguiars.com/automotive/products/meguiars-ultimate-polish-g19216-16-oz-liquid

For hand application in tight areas you can't get a buffing wheel, I favor the Chemical Guys hand pad kit. Pads are color-coded. Orange for heavily hazed areas, white for semi-shiny areas needing less work. Read the "From the manufacturer" section down the page for details on the product and how to use it:

$25 Chemical Guys BUFX_204 Hex-logic Hand Applicator Pad Kit

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01IRQZVYS/

If you have access to a full-on random orbit DA/buffer, I prefer Griot's pads over Chemical Guys. For heavy corrections like my chalked-ass paint, I'd go with an orange pad. For something milder like yours, I'd go with a white pad:

Griot's Garage 10615 Orange 6.5" Foam Correcting Pad

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LJ3BQUU/

Some people would recommend a basic process: Full wash. Claybar to remove crap in your paint. Polish. Wax/seal after.

Whatever you do, if you do the work yourself, DO NOT let your sponges, pads, or claybar touch the ground. One spec of sand picked up on them will swirl your paint all to hell. Like, with a sponge, you can probably rinse it out. Claybar ... just chuck it.

That said, you can probably skip the claybar. Just a good wash, polish, then wax.

Wax is too religious of a topic. Whether you go with one of the new ceramic spray-on hybrids or a classic carnauba is up to you.

If you did choose to claybar, you're adding 1-2 hours work onto things. Watch videos on YouTube for more info on how to do it properly. I've used this product in the past and found it a good bang vs. buck:

$13 Car Clay Bars Auto Detailing 2 Pack 100g by TAKAVU, Premium Medium Grade Material, Auto Detailing Magic Clay Bar Cleaner for Cleaning Cars, RV, Boats and Bus (Red)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07V6T2WRW/

 

How do you like the eibach shocks?

 

i like them. The ride is smoother. Haven’t taken it off the pavement yet but will this weekend . Looks really nice that’s for sure