Paint Protection - Scratches vs. PPF vs Magnetic Armor

[tacoshawn]

My reality is when I hit the trails my trucks get scratched. My 550 is not an exception (but the paint polished out nicely).

So, I have asked the different shops around me about PPF (Paint Protection Film) and all of them have given a consistent response - it will help, but it is not designed for pinstripes and they can’t guarantee it will hold up. I appreciate their candor and direct answers. Given their feed back and $$$ of a full vehicle PPF I decided to go back and look for ‘Goat Armor’ which is a magnetic armor that I had considered for my Tacoma. Turns out they went out of business.

I’ve found another magnetic armor firm in San Diego (MEK Magnet) who has magnetic applied paint protection kits for Bronco, 4R and Jeeps. They do not have a kit for GX or LC250. But in talking to them they said tell us what you want and we will consider if there is enough demand. To show demand they asked me to register as a potential customer.

Request Your Rig Registration Form requesting vehicles not yet covered

Using MEK Magnet's Request Your Rig Registration Form you can officially register and request the next vehicle MEK will create Armor for. Each form registers as a vote.

www.mekmagnet.com

So, sharing here. I am NOT affiliated with them in any way. If it works out and they have good product, cool. If not, I might have to consider the PPF route.

Gratuitous paint violence photo evidence included.

MEK MAGNET - Removable Trail Armor

MEK Removable Trail Armor protecting your rig's paint from scrapes and scratches in overgrown trails so you can adventure on!

www.mekmagnet.com

I’m open to the solutions others may have. No, I’m not ready to hit the GX with Rhinoliner.

Post comment - Yes, the GX paint buffed out nicely. Yes, I will end up with more pinstripes, that’s just the reality of the trails where I live. Yes, my wife asked me why I bothered to buff out the GX paint when I will just scratch it again. Yes, she is right. But for now the paint looks fantastic (again).

 

[Corbet]

I put a full clearbra on my 250 for rock chips. My 80 looks just like your Tacoma. My 250 will also at some point. Comes with the territory, I don’t bother fighting it much.

 

[Rednexus]

I like the idea of the magnetic trail armor, and $800 for it is not too bad. My 470 had too many scratches, At some point, I'll get it repainted and would want to protect that investment. PPF on the plastic bits and magnetic armor elsewhere seems like it could be a good combo.

 

[NY2LA]

The use case for me for this kind of magnetic armor would be a pre-planned drive through narrow trails where I knew I was going to be gouged heavily. That certainly happened in my previous 200. But from my reading (admittedly not my actual experience), these panels are a pain to put on, take off, and clean after each use. So people either don't put them on or leave them on too long. In the latter scenario, that leads to more scratches, due to dirt building up at the edges and creating a sandpaper effect. So, while I've though about these myself, I've ultimately avoided them. But I maintain an open mind and hope to hear about more experiences with them.

 

[Rednexus]

^That would be all of my use as well. I don't do really any unplanned wheeling through areas with lots of scratch potential. Unfortunately living in an area with a wet climate, and where most people have parked their road-going trail rigs and now use side-by-sides, most all of our local trails have lots branches growing into them. My rig is not as bad as the Taco picks above, but is certainly on it's way there (and will get a repaint when it does get that bad).

 

[carboncycles]

I am also on the fence on which direction to go on how to best protect the paint.

In the manual, there is a yellow card that states the paint contains polyurethane. This is supposed to give it "self-healing" properties. It also states to use only carnauba wax or teflon (and not to use power applicators). Okay...so you're telling me this paint is going to be a pita and PPF might be the direction to go.