Diagnose my thrashed paint

[ThrillHo]

Hi Everyone,

Been here for a long time. Not a pro, just an enthusiast. Detailed my car today, and decided it`s probably time to do something about the top of my cab. Truth be told my car has been in a poorlylit underground parking garage for so long that I did realize the extent of the damage until today when I decided to detail my car outside in the daylight. Please see the following pics.

Car: 1999 Dodge Dakota (Black)
Treatment history: About 5 years ago I hit the cab with a GG RO 5.5" LC Yellow pad with M105. The yellow LC with M105 (yep, one step) worked miracles on the rest of the car, which was massively swirled, but the cab has proven to be a whole other ball of wax. I couldn`t get a great angle on the cab, and didn`t achieve the level of correction I was looking for. Since then I clay once or twice year, and wax (Collinite 476s) 2-3 times a year. I won`t deal with M105 anymore, so I`m open to suggestions for other compounds.

I`m not looking to get this car into showroom condition, but I do want to try to deal with what appears to be clearcoat failure. Thanks guys!

[TheMeanGreen]

As far as compounds go, I too once used M105, but now have M101 and love it. M101 creates less dust, you can work it longer, and is much easier to remove. As far as the cab is concerned, the first photo shows what looks to be rust staining/clag deposits that have come from the upper floors. Clag is a term used to describe basically any type of dirt that a vehicle produces, i.e., oil leakage, mileage dirt, old age dirt, dust, fluid leakage, brake fallout, accumulation of rubber. To rid the clear coat, you can try a diluted degreaser, but that won`t do much because it looks like the clear coat is fading, I`m sorry brother. There is good news though, you can now justify bed lining the entire truck!! That or just get the roof wrapped. I used to have a Honda that the clear coated failed on, there is no stopping it, you can either cover it up with a wrap, hit it with a rattle can, bedline it, or get it professionally repainted. I`m sorry about the roof, I too know how it feels.

[JaredPointer]

Just from looking at the pics, I don`t think there`s a whole lot that can be done on that roof. Polishing would probably hasten the inevitable. Maybe just tread lightly and keep some wax on it.

[ThrillHo]

Well damn, I knew it was in bad shape but I didn`t know it was that far gone. Thanks a lot to both of you for the info though! I did not know that about the clag. Is it just a coincidence that it happened to the cab? The rest of the paint on the truck looks like a dream (relatively lol) compared to what`s going on on the cab. Is there anything I should be doing preventatively to make sure this doesn`t happen to the rest of the car?

[rookiez]

Is it hazing? It looks like hazing to me.

[Bunky]

It`s failing. I have a 1997 Dakota and the paint was just thin. One touch (simple polish) and what is left will fail as well. I had mine repainted 9 years ago.

[TheMeanGreen]

Well damn, I knew it was in bad shape but I didn`t know it was that far gone. Thanks a lot to both of you for the info though! I did not know that about the clag. Is it just a coincidence that it happened to the cab? The rest of the paint on the truck looks like a dream (relatively lol) compared to what`s going on on the cab. Is there anything I should be doing preventatively to make sure this doesn`t happen to the rest of the car?

It may only be happening to the cab because the clear coat is failing, otherwise it is just coincidence, kind of like a bird pooping on a freshly detailed car, instead of a dirty car. For the rest of the truck, you can double coat your 476S, and keep on eye on the paint more often. Unfortunately we wage war on an enemy that is all around us, dirt.

[rlmccarty2000]

Sorry to say but looks like clear coat failure. Keep putting to Collinite wax on there to slow it down.