Black TRX with Xpel Stealth

[soulsea]

Hi,

I did post this in my build thread and I'm not intentionally cross posting for attention, but I thought that it might get buried in there without members, especially newer ones been able to search for it. And as I think I'm either the first one or thereabouts to do this, I thought I would do a separate thread so folks can see what it looks like and if it's something they want to consider.

I'll take pics in the sun if it ever comes back, but for now this will give you an indication of what to expect if you wrap a black TRX with Xpel Stealth.

Indoors:

Outdoors:

 

[CatchMeOffroad]

Looks great! Do you mind sharing the cost to do this?

 

[Caliche]

As I said before that looks amazing. How long did it take? Also did they tint your headlights and fogs? And more importantly do you like the end result?

By the by how do u like the side steps or are you swapping them out for powered ones? Thanks

 

[soulsea]

Looks great! Do you mind sharing the cost to do this?

Cost is highly dependent on which part of the country you're at and how much of the wrap is off template pre-cuts and how much is custom cut. For example where I am in Charleston SC this kind of stuff tends to be relatively inexpensive, it can be up to double what I paid in other areas, not in just one shop but in all of them in that area.

In the end, because I wanted a few custom pieces, I paid around $5000 total including a coating of Ceramic Pro on top and ceramic tint the front two windows to match the rear.

 

[soulsea]

As I said before that looks amazing. How long did it take? Also did they tint your headlights and fogs? And more importantly do you like the end result?

By the by how do u like the side steps or are you swapping them out for powered ones? Thanks

I dropped it off Monday morning and I picked it up Friday afternoon, so it took five days including getting the ceramic coating on and letting everything cure.

They did not touch the lights in any way.

Do I like? Yes I really like it. But, this isn't the end of the vision ... I am now waiting for ADD to do off road bumpers and lights, and as importantly I am hunting hard for a new set of wheels that will break up all of the blackness. If I was going to keep it mostly stock I would have actually kept it gloss black, but I know it will look amazing once the whole vision is complete including the pop of contrast with the wheels.

I'm waiting for all that to play itself out before deciding on the power assist steps ... do u happen to know if there's a thread on them?

 

[Caliche]

I dropped it off Monday morning and I picked it up Friday afternoon, so it took five days including getting the ceramic coating on and letting everything cure.

They did not touch the lights in any way.

Do I like? Yes I really like it. But, this isn't the end of the vision ... I am now waiting for ADD to do off road bumpers and lights, and as importantly I am hunting hard for a new set of wheels that will break up all of the blackness. If I was going to keep it mostly stock I would have actually kept it gloss black, but I know it will look amazing once the whole vision is complete including the pop of contrast with the wheels.

I'm waiting for all that to play itself out before deciding on the power assist steps ... do u happen to know if there's a thread on them?

Thanks. I can’t wait for the end result my friend. And give me a sec and I’ll see about it.Cheers

 

[JumpSquadAuto]

You just have this thing about making your vehicles my desktop background lol. This looks amazing. I can't wait for your vision to finish out. The price you got is also really awesome and thanks for sharing. I might have to drive down there for my next corvette to get Xpel-ed. If you see a tent on the sidewalk with someone staring at your driveway through binoculars for a few days, just assume I am in town lol

 

[Nowwhat]

Cost is highly dependent on which part of the country you're at and how much of the wrap is off template pre-cuts and how much is custom cut. For example where I am in Charleston SC this kind of stuff tends to be relatively inexpensive, it can be up to double what I paid in other areas, not in just one shop but in all of them in that area.

In the end, because I wanted a few custom pieces, I paid around $5000 total including a coating of Ceramic Pro on top and ceramic tint the front two windows to match the rear.

I used xpel stealth on a Raptor.....held up remarkably well,....Gave the truck to a biz partner...still see it...5 years later....looks good still

 

[XTHRASHERx]

Your truck looks sick like that. Is it ceramic coating or is it a wrap. I plan on doing that to my granite truck as soon as I get it the expel but I thought it was a wrap not ceramic.Thanks for posting those pictures looks awesome like that.

 

[CatchMeOffroad]

Cost is highly dependent on which part of the country you're at and how much of the wrap is off template pre-cuts and how much is custom cut. For example where I am in Charleston SC this kind of stuff tends to be relatively inexpensive, it can be up to double what I paid in other areas, not in just one shop but in all of them in that area.

In the end, because I wanted a few custom pieces, I paid around $5000 total including a coating of Ceramic Pro on top and ceramic tint the front two windows to match the rear.

Thanks for the reply, that sounds like a good price for everything you had done. I'm trying to decide if I want to go xpel or custom wrap at this point...

 

[soulsea]

Your truck looks sick like that. Is it ceramic coating or is it a wrap. I plan on doing that to my granite truck as soon as I get it the expel but I thought it was a wrap not ceramic.Thanks for posting those pictures looks awesome like that.

Xpel Stealth is a matte paint protection film wrap.
Ceramic Pro is just a transparent layer of ceramic coating on top of the wrap that protects it and makes it less porous.

 

[Hellasaurus]

I dropped it off Monday morning and I picked it up Friday afternoon, so it took five days including getting the ceramic coating on and letting everything cure.

They did not touch the lights in any way.

Do I like? Yes I really like it. But, this isn't the end of the vision ... I am now waiting for ADD to do off road bumpers and lights, and as importantly I am hunting hard for a new set of wheels that will break up all of the blackness. If I was going to keep it mostly stock I would have actually kept it gloss black, but I know it will look amazing once the whole vision is complete including the pop of contrast with the wheels.

I'm waiting for all that to play itself out before deciding on the power assist steps ... do u happen to know if there's a thread on them?

Thanks for all the great information on this. I am certain I will be putting some kind of protectant on my truck when it comes in and based on the information you and others have provided I will be better informed to make the right decision.

 

[charperimg]

Well done and thanks for sharing. Turned out awesome.

 

[XTHRASHERx]

Xpel Stealth is a matte paint protection film wrap.
Ceramic Pro is just a transparent layer of ceramic coating on top of the wrap that protects it and makes it less porous.

Thank you it looks awesome on their.How long did they say till the bumpers will be produced. I talk to them about three months ago they said it could be a year.

 

[longhorntrx]

Xpel Stealth is a matte paint protection film wrap.
Ceramic Pro is just a transparent layer of ceramic coating on top of the wrap that protects it and makes it less porous.

new to protective wraps. why the ceramic on top of Xpel? does the Xpel not provide enough protection? also, looking at a new sports car - would you recommend the same treatment or does ceramic suffice?

 

[NSXXX]

Looks fabulous! Now I have to find $5K Seriously considering this whenever I get that RANDOM call from the dealer or good word from Triple.

 

[RetroShop]

I think I might be doing this to just the 2 tone portion of the lower part of the truck.

The gloss black paint vs satin on the bumpers / flares will drive me nuts.

 

[soulsea]

new to protective wraps. why the ceramic on top of Xpel? does the Xpel not provide enough protection? also, looking at a new sports car - would you recommend the same treatment or does ceramic suffice?

You have to think of ceramic coating like a thin layer of glass on top of the paint, almost like an extra layer of hard clearcoat that protects the paint from contaminants, swirl marks, sap, bird droppings, etc. It seals in the paint finish and negates the needs for such things as waxes as it has hydrophobic properties. You could buy a black car, detail/clay to remove all contaminants, ceramic coat it, and run it through a car wash hundreds of times without it affecting the paint. Some ceramic coatings have products that you can re-apply every year to keep the layer of coating as thick as when it was first applied. Keep in mind whatever your ceramic coat is put on, is for better or worse sealed in, as ceramic coating is a huuuuge pita to try and remove when applied directly to paint ... that's why people who put that on their car, especially very expensive cars, usually have the paint corrected first. Paint correction is a whole other subject.

All that said, ceramic coatings do little to nothing to protect paint from road debris and other projectiles that might scratch the underlying paint, including Karen using your door as a backstop for hers. I mean there might be tiny damage a ceramic coating can prevent on its own but not much ... it's certainly not a way to protect the car from chips.

The only way to do that is with paint protection film, be it clear, opaque like Stealth, or even some of the newer ones that are colored paint protection films. Once you have the film on, most people will put a layer of ceramic coating on top of it to retain the finish and to also protect it from damage and to make it easier to clean, as ppf tends to be slightly porous, so it's still a good idea to have it on top of the film so that for example bird shit doesn't chew through it.

This is a big world of information, I'm only scratching the surface here and there are a lot more qualified/informed people out there that can speak to it more intelligently. But basically, if you're any type of ocd about paint finish, I think it's a good idea to put ceramic coating on whatever you have, be it straight on the paint or pin top of ppf, or on top of venial wrap. And if you care about you care about you vehicle's paint in general, especially gif it's an expensive vehicle, it's generally a good idea to have some measure of paint protection film on it, bit full or just partial in the front clip which is where most debris hits the vehicle.

Oh yes, vinyl wrap, ugh ... so that's a film that's applied the same way as ppf but offers no protection to the paint as it's too thin to do so. People just do it to change the color of their vehicle without having to repaint, and yes it's a good idea to put ceramic coating on top of that too.

I'm exhausted.

 

[soulsea]

I should also note that a person has to do a little bit of cost benefit analysis here because most people get oversold products that they don't really need.

For the average daily driving vehicle partial ppf to cover the front clip and mirrors and a layer of ceramic coat is going to protect them against 99% of the hazards their paint might encounter during the ownership of the vehicle, and the other 1% is just what it is. And for most cars you can get that done for under $2k.

Now if you track you car, or if like me you're going to do aggressive off-roading in an expensive vehicle, then ok it makes sense, and even then there are a lot of people who have done the calculation that you're better off doing nothing to protect the paint and just repaint whatever it gets too damaged and you're done with the car.

Now if you own a supercar or hypercar sure, spring to get the whole thing done ... but there's little sense in paying say 10% of the value of a car to paint protect that car.

As with everything, shit gets ridiculous sometimes ... I have a friend who wanted to change the color of his car without repainting, so he paid $4k to vinyl wrap it, then another $4k to put paint protection film on top of the vinyl, then $1k to have that ceramic coated. The important thing is he was happy and it made sense to him.

 

[longhorntrx]

You have to think of ceramic coating like a thin layer of glass on top of the paint, almost like an extra layer of hard clearcoat that protects the paint from contaminants, swirl marks, sap, bird droppings, etc. It seals in the paint finish and negates the needs for such things as waxes as it has hydrophobic properties. You could buy a black car, detail/clay to remove all contaminants, ceramic coat it, and run it through a car wash hundreds of times without it affecting the paint. Some ceramic coatings have products that you can re-apply every year to keep the layer of coating as thick as when it was first applied. Keep in mind whatever your ceramic coat is put on, is for better or worse sealed in, as ceramic coating is a huuuuge pita to try and remove when applied directly to paint ... that's why people who put that on their car, especially very expensive cars, usually have the paint corrected first. Paint correction is a whole other subject.

All that said, ceramic coatings do little to nothing to protect paint from road debris and other projectiles that might scratch the underlying paint, including Karen using your door as a backstop for hers. I mean there might be tiny damage a ceramic coating can prevent on its own but not much ... it's certainly not a way to protect the car from chips.

The only way to do that is with paint protection film, be it clear, opaque like Stealth, or even some of the newer ones that are colored paint protection films. Once you have the film on, most people will put a layer of ceramic coating on top of it to retain the finish and to also protect it from damage and to make it easier to clean, as ppf tends to be slightly porous, so it's still a good idea to have it on top of the film so that for example bird shit doesn't chew through it.

This is a big world of information, I'm only scratching the surface here and there are a lot more qualified/informed people out there that can speak to it more intelligently. But basically, if you're any type of ocd about paint finish, I think it's a good idea to put ceramic coating on whatever you have, be it straight on the paint or pin top of ppf, or on top of venial wrap. And if you care about you care about you vehicle's paint in general, especially gif it's an expensive vehicle, it's generally a good idea to have some measure of paint protection film on it, bit full or just partial in the front clip which is where most debris hits the vehicle.

Oh yes, vinyl wrap, ugh ... so that's a film that's applied the same way as ppf but offers no protection to the paint as it's too thin to do so. People just do it to change the color of their vehicle without having to repaint, and yes it's a good idea to put ceramic coating on top of that too.

I'm exhausted.

crazy helpful...thank you!....now if you can get me a window sticker