Orange peel?

[EJ84]

How much orange peel is normal/acceptable? I have a metallic gray 2020 crew cab that seems to have real noticeable orange peel? Maybe I’m being to picky, it was getting dark when I picked it up so I really didn’t notice at the time of purchase.

anyone else notice this?

 

[Scram1500]

Yes, I have a granite grey and it's pretty bad, a couple drips here and there too. My previous Ram was a 2017 in brilliant black and it was flawless. Luck of the draw I guess

 

[dts828]

Not sure how to quantify but factory paint has orange peel and noticeable when up close. Some colors are better ar hiding than others. The lighter the better in my opinion. My white is pretty ty good until I get up close as if I was polishing and silver tends to hide a lot but I suspect the darker colors will show more. That why the new craze is ceramic coating with paint correction but I'm not sold on it from the stand point the clear coat is thin enough IMO but plenty of folks do it so perhaps it's okay.

 

[EJ84]

Is there any point in talking to the dealer about it? Or is it to late to address now.

 

[dts828]

Is there any point in talking to the dealer about it? Or is it to late to address now.

No. Lol...

 

[SD Rebel]

Drips are almost always just on the clear and a good detail person can get rid of them. Orange peel is another issue depending on how deep the clear coat is. As a Ford person, they are notorious for a lot of orange peel. Luckily the coat was thick and I could get them wet sanded and buffed with plenty to spare.

My truck has what I would consider normal levels of orange peel, but we are all different on what we think is normal. If it bothers you enough, find a good detail person with a paint meter who will let you know how much clear you have to play with. If it's thick enough, then a wet/sand buff will fix it, you can then negotiate with the dealership on how to pay for it.

 

[BowDown]

Orange peel is a fact of life in the paint of most vehicles but that really depends on the manufacturer.
My 2015 Jaguar XF is slick, no orange peel but I wouldn't expect it on this make, my Z06 has some, my previous Ram didn't have as much as my current Ram. Its not a flaw i the paint so taking it to the dealer isn't going to net you anything. The only thing you can really do is measure the paint depth and then decide is wet sanding is an option.

 

[jth877]

Orange peel is normal in most cases. Just about every new car I've bought had some somewhere. My 2013 mustang GT has it pretty good on the front fenders and to a less extent on the sides on the car which I think is typical. It probably also varies on the type of paint of paint used, ambient temps and humidity when spraying, if it's a tricoat or not, the lot number of paint/clear being used, it's age, etc... there are a ton of factors.

My 2020 ram paint black pearl paint (besides surface scratches from bad dealership washing practices) is pretty good. Much better than my old 2017 express. I found about half a dozen pieces of lint stuck in the clear coat and a few bubbles. The 2020 does have some hardened drips on the rocker seam. They are basecoat too. Whatever, more paint on that area the better.

 

[SD Rebel]

Absolutely, all cars not wet sanded and buffed have some level of orange peel. However, when people say no orange peel or painting without orange peel, they just mean very little orange peel. I'm around some pretty expensive exotics and all of them have orange peel.

If you see a car fresh off a wet sand and buff, perfectly leveled paint, trust me, it's on another level when it doesn't have any orange peel on it. But there are some really orangey examples out there on production cars that shouldn't have passed inspection.

It's also possible they were fixed and spot repaired after leaving the factory. There is a whole industry that repairs vehicles during transit, even before they make it to the dealership. It's possible a panel was refinished but wasn't buffed properly due to time constraints in one of there transport repair facilities.

 

[Wsmith]

How much orange peel is normal/acceptable? I have a metallic gray 2020 crew cab that seems to have real noticeable orange peel? Maybe I’m being to picky, it was getting dark when I picked it up so I really didn’t notice at the time of purchase.

anyone else notice this?

I have the same color and in the right light it is very noticeable. I haven't seen a decent paint job since the robots took over.

 

[kdoublep]

Mine has it

 

[Rupp]

I have the same thing on my silver Ram. I almost wondered if it had been scratched and repainted during production. It's bad but the truck still looks good. It's hard to paint that much surface area and not get it.

 

[Dusty1948]

I saw a red Mazda this past summer that I thought had a custom paint job the paint was so smooth with hardly any orange peel at all. But orange peel is a prevalent thing on production vehicles, and the faster the paint line means its usually worse. (The tailgates on Super Duties seem to be heavy orange peel.)

Although the hood and tops of the front fenders had little orange peel, I had Ziebart Diamond Gloss applied to mine (package deal) and a good portion of the orange peel that was on the truck was eliminated.

Regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Laramie Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33 gallon fuel tank, factory dual exhaust, 18” wheels. Build date: 03 June 2018. Now at: 044077 miles.

 

[BowDown]

I have the same thing on my silver Ram. I almost wondered if it had been scratched and repainted during production. It's bad but the truck still looks good. It's hard to paint that much surface area and not get it.

No its not, its hard to paint at the production rate manufacturers paint at and not get it.
When I painted for a body shop, the panel size didn't matter as much as the speed of the reducer, air temp and gun pressure. Its not cost effective for OEM's to paint in a way that doesn't get orange peel.
High end OEMs paint in a slower more controlled environment AND do final sanding then re-buff out the paint

 

[BowDown]

I saw a red Mazda this past summer that I thought had a custom paint job the paint was so smooth with hardly any orange peel at all. But orange peel is a prevalent thing on production vehicles, and the faster the paint line means its usually worse. (The tailgates on Super Duties seem to be heavy orange peel.)

Although the hood and tops of the front fenders had little orange peel, I had Ziebart Diamond Gloss applied to mine (package deal) and a good portion of the orange peel that was on the truck was eliminated.

Regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Laramie Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33 gallon fuel tank, factory dual exhaust, 18” wheels. Build date: 03 June 2018. Now at: 044077 miles.

Ziebart doesn't remove orange peel, its a high build clear top coat similar to a ceramic coat, a type of leveler. As it wears, the orange peel will reappear. The only way orange peel is truly removed is by wet sanding as stated above

 

[EJ84]

I’ll probably just have to get used to it and live with it, not sure I want to get into sanding and possibly reducing the life of the clear coat.