Scratched paintwork

[steve s]

i did nothing but clean/polish mine it was a pain in the ass its got scratches all over it now and i love it .has that lived in look .better to go off road in it than to polish it

[goodcat]

hello and welcome to the forum mate.
right....there are a few things you can do if you want to help protect your paintowrk whilst off roading.

first thing is bubble wrap:


second thing you can use is lots of cling film:


and if your worried about getting the inside of you car dirty then you can buy one of these...a "safe bag":


also if your worried about anybody stealing your pride and joy, then may i suggest a force field?:

[fonecrusher1]

OK lads I get it!!! ENOUGH!!!
I Suppose i deserve stupid answers for a stupid question.
Basically i did keep her in good shape but now that i plan on going offroad a lot more im just gonna leave her paintwork go.
The more i think about it, the scraches are kinda like cool battle scars anyway.

[goodcat]

OK lads I get it!!! ENOUGH!!!
I Suppose i deserve stupid answers for a stupid question.
Basically i did keep her in good shape but now that i plan on going offroad a lot more im just gonna leave her paintwork go.
The more i think about it, the scraches are kinda like cool battle scars anyway.

thata boy!
i havent yet managed to conjour up the same braveness as you. im still trying to save her
its just not going to happen though. its a losing battle. kinda like getting your private to stand to attention when julian clarey is asking him to salute.
not gona happen!

[fonecrusher1]

goodcat all i can say is ... if you think you like your surf now, just what till you go properly offroad.
Its an amazing vehicle which is capable of so much more than taking you to work & back or down the shops.
Its not a regular boring car its a 4x4.
To hell with the paint!

[goodcat]

goodcat all i can say is ... if you think you like your surf now, just what till you go properly offroad.
Its an amazing vehicle which is capable of so much more than taking you to work & back or down the shops.
Its not a regular boring car its a 4x4.
To hell with the paint!

thank you. im fully aware its a good 4x4 capable of driving on other surfaces that tarmac.
i was just joking around. i have another surf wich is my toy and one for work and driving to "the shops"

cheers for the heads up tho man. appricated all the same. lol

[MattF]

At the end of the day, bodywork can be repaired and repainted if needs be. Treating something with kid gloves removes a lot of the possible enjoyment. Use and repair when needed.

[fonecrusher1]

sorry goodcat didnt pick up on the sarcasm mate.
By the way everyone my surf is the only car i have so i cant be as brave as you chaps with the 'other' car which you use for the offroad stuff.
At the end of the day i need the thing to get me home & still work the next day!

[Maverick]

sorry goodcat didnt pick up on the sarcasm mate.
By the way everyone my surf is the only car i have so i cant be as brave as you chaps with the 'other' car which you use for the offroad stuff.
At the end of the day i need the thing to get me home & still work the next day!

Up until last year the surf was my only transport, and I was operating on a minimal budget.
Didn't stop me following the Yeti across the Salisbury Plains.

Simple technique is always wait for someone else to drive through it first (shows you which bits to avoid). Take it gently (grounding out does less damage when your driving at walking pace). Keep the water below your headlights (air intake is behind the passenger headlight).
The only damage I've ever done offroad was warping the transmission bash plate last December.

When it comes to the paintwork, most small scratches will come out with T-Cut and polish. Before offroading try to give her a couple of good coats of polish, it will reduce some of the scratches.

[fonecrusher1]

Cheers maverick thanks for the advice. I have a lot to learn & so many accessories to add to my surf. Shes pretty much stock except for 2.5 inch coil spacers & MT's.
Where do you start? bash plates, snorkel, bigger coils & shocks, wheel spacers etc etc???
What is the most effective upgrade to improve offroad ability within reason?

[slobodan]

What is the most effective upgrade to improve offroad ability within reason?

Price wise.....letting air out of your tyres.


After fitting good Tyres, Lockers are good, a winch is good, a lift is good, underbody protection is good. etc..

[Apache]

Price wise.....letting air out of your tyres.


After fitting good Tyres, Lockers are good, a winch is good, a lift is good, underbody protection is good. etc..

A winch doesn't improve offroad ability. Just allows you to be less skilful but still get home.

Personally, from experience I'd say good tyres (not necessarily muds), and ground clearance - though not at the expense of flex. Ground clearance may enable you to take lines where there is more traction available (so not requiring a locker) but where there might be obstacles which would stop a lower truck.

Snorkel is more of an insurance policy than a necessity. I've only once gone deeper than headlamps, and that was on an A road! At that point I was getting close to floating, so near the limit anyway.

[Maverick]

Cheers maverick thanks for the advice. I have a lot to learn & so many accessories to add to my surf. Shes pretty much stock except for 2.5 inch coil spacers & MT's.
Where do you start? bash plates, snorkel, bigger coils & shocks, wheel spacers etc etc???
What is the most effective upgrade to improve offroad ability within reason?

The only mod I've done for offroading was a 2"suspension lift, and fitting all terrains. So far I've been stuck three times, once on a pay and play site where I slide into some ruts deeper than my wheels could reach (when you're resting on your axles you don't move). And twice last December, first going down a hill where I ended up resting on my transmission bash plate, and then going up the hill when I just plain ran out of grip (in my defence my tyres were on the legal limit, so very little tread).
Now this track record is in spite of the Yetis' endevours, but I don't go mad when offroad, if the mud looks too deep I drive around it, and I don't tend to drive back and forth through the mud to cover the truck (neighbours complain when I block the drains).

With our green lanes, you've probably allready improved her enougth, if you're going to play hard then a snorkel for insurance and a 2" body lift so you can get some 33" tyres (for off road use).
It really depends on what offroading your planning, and how much you're going to spend.

Most of all remember to enjoy it, and getting stuck so others have to pull you out is part of that. Even if it happens twice within half an hour.

[slobodan]

A winch doesn't improve offroad ability. Just allows you to be less skilful but still get home.

Stop being picky.

You can't all have 20 people following you around Like over here

[biosurf]

If I were to start from scratch with my truck and purely wanted to improve its offroad ability without comprimising anything to do with on road ability I think I would probably bite the bullet, spend a fair load of cash in one go and get a set of lockers.

Being as most times you get stuck (Or rather I get stuck) its in mud. when Bibs came out with me months ago he was in a third gen with road tyres and where I got stuck briefly in a 2nd gen with A/T's etc. and more to the point plenty of others in modified Mitsis with very aggresive mud tyres on, Bibs just locked the diff and sailed through.

As it is I wanted to improve off road ability and make the Surf look more to my taste and give me the means to go greenlaning on my own if I ever wish (not advised I know but if I'm away somewhere and want to do it I at least feel confident to take on medium type lanes) Hence I lifted, winchified, mud tyred etc.

for the amount you can spend (in smaller increments mind which is a serious consideration) you could get a locker fitted.


If however you want to look like, well pimp innit, be the envy of small children and worry about multistory car parks for4 ever more (and be able to go through deep ruts without scraping your underside) then lift, pimp and be merry!

EDIT: didnt notice you have a third gen (unless it wasnt in your sig when I posted this) so you dont need lockers. In which case get some decent tres and away you go!