Okay so I am getting the Ram I have always wanted. Super excited, but as the truck will spend the majority of its life outside...I have two questions: should I get a bra, which I can remove or keep on depending on use or have the truck ceramically coated? Also, is it better to just wash and wax your truck with a really good wax if it's going to stay outside or is ceramic coating better? I literally have ZERO understanding on this topic.
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Wrap/Coating vs Bra
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Ramroo
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Also, a bra will only fit on a 3.92 truck.
Okay stupid question but: can I do a full bra for the front [to protect from paint chips on my highway drive up north to the cabin] and then just have the ceramic coating applied to the hood and roof so that over the years that part doesn't get faded from sun light? Or does it not work like that?
You can ceramic coat over the clear bra. So any good installer will do paint correction on the truck first removing any defects, then the clear bra is applied then ceramic coating applied on the whole truck
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Ok thanks...again stupid question but how many Canadian dollars are we talking for all that protection?
Couldn’t tell you the Canadian rate but I would use what I paid for example. This is a sport trim so everything’s painted. Headlights, grill, front bumper, bumper trim (underneath the headlights), partial hood, partial fender, roof cap, a pillars, mirrors caps I think I paid around $1200 just for the clear bra. Ceramic coating after polishing work usually runs around that same price unless you do it yourself. Of course prices differ in different areas but that’s just what I paid roughly.
If it’s a non sport and you have the chrome you can get away from doing as much.
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If it’s a non sport and you have the chrome you can get away from doing as much.
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Awesome okay thanks. And you guys are for sure against the thick, old school leathery bras? I just like that I can snap in on for a 3 hour hike up to the Cabin or for the 2 days that it takes to hit Florida and then just unclip and go full frontal in the city??
BowDown
Spends too much time on here
Yes.
PPF the entire front, whole hood and fenders, partial looks like donkey
^ Not exactly but to each his own. Yep I’m against anything that can trap debris underneath and rub the paint aka a leather bra…. Looks terrible and ppf is protection all the time just not when you wanna snap it on.
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Biga
Ram Guru
I just did PPF on the Front bumper and the plastic pieces under the headlights, It's the highest impact area. I don't have any chips on my hood or anywhere else. I have yet to try ceramic coating, may try it on my next vehicle but waxing 3 times a year has always kept my vehicles looking new, and I've kept them up to 10 years.
My new truck has the ppf from the factory. Any tips for my first detail, I plan to use the synthetic clay bar and wax I’ve used in past, but not sure how to treat the ppf and definitely don’t want a ridge of wax to build up on the lines.
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Painters tape. Tape the the edges of the ppf to avoid the wax build up. I’ve never had this issue since the trucks cc so no need for me to wax anymore but it’s easier to prevent the wax build up then to have to worry about removing it after the fact.
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JustCallMeD
Active Member
Best way to prevent wax buildup is to avoid using waxes. Anyone installing PPF should offer a coating be it graphene, ceramic or polymer sealant. They are all better than waxes for daily drivers. Loads of options for diy as well. Griots 3-1 ceramic is highly regarded and seems to work really well with rams clear coat and is outperforming the manufactures claims.
Also did you know that you can buff PPF. you can use a very light polishing compound to most PPF films to get scratches out that wont self heal with heat. Just check with the manufacture before doing so. Learned that from obsessed garage.
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Depends on the level of protection you want. Most detail shops over varying price points broken down by how long they will guarantee the coating. The longer the guarantee the higher the cost. Anything less than three year guarantee they are using a lower quality product. Anything more than three years is all the same product, usually just has different number of layers of application. And a good ceramic coating should include full paint correction.
If you want clear bra PPF, it needs installed prior to ceramic coating or it won't adhere to the truck properly and will peel.
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If the shop knows what they are doing and uses a quality product. Plus you have ceramics coating applied rather than waxing/polishing it yourself, most PPF films are difficult to see, even with a partial wrap.
