Wow! You ARE good!

You also beat me to the scratches. Mine had 3 weeks, you managed in 2!

LOL Thanks!!

Also managed to rip the running boards off on the same trip. Needed sliders anyway right?!?!




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We have thin clear coats, it really helps to get someone to put on a good sealer once a year.

Dont even go near a high speed buffer unless you have done this type of work before. One slip or to much pressure and you will burn through the the clear and likely the basecoat and maybe even hit primer..

the thin clear coats are why i haven't buffed out my scratches, i don't think the clear coat is thick enough to do it too many times so I'll wait until the day I want to sell it and do it once.

although some of mine is deep enough to scratch into the plastic on the pillars so it's definitely through the clear coat anyways

I like the meguiar's ultimate compound for light scratch removal

Trail rash is a badge of honor. I shake my head at all those heavily modified 5th gens without a single nick on their steel bumpers.

Absolutely, and the same thing goes for wet sanding.

It just depends on what you will be using your 4runner for. IF you're going out on a monthly basis, you're going to wear down your clear coat every time you polish or buff out the tiny scratches. I used to be like that until I knew how I use the 4runner. Chalk it up to badges of honor.

My black paint is scratched from nose to tail, but every couple of months I wax it. It helps hide some of the scratches, but there are still visible scratches. First couple of times on some trails, there are branches and brush that make the trail tight. I went through so slow. Now that I know how I like to wheel, I just go through them not really worrying about it. Obviously, I wont intentionally mow through it, but trail scars arent that big of a deal anymore.

After the first day on the trail I had been broken in so to speak in regards to the horrid sounds of the branches scraping the truck from front to end even though I was doing my best to avoid them and taking it slow in hopes of reducing the damage lol. On day two I was a little more lax about it and while it still sucked to hear I was over the damage at that point. It sucks, but it is what it is and if you want to actually take your vehicle places and see these amazing views and locations then it's just part of the experience. I know they can be buffed out if not wet sanded, I will get around to it in time, but until then I'll likely add more.

I always carry tree pruners with me to cut away the big branches. It takes time but it is worth it to me. If the trail has a lot of brush I do not go there. That is what my atv is for.

You wouldn't make it more than 500 yds in on the loops in Big Bend if you did that, we covered 140 miles from Terlingua in, there's simply no way to avoid the brush and what fun would that be even if you could trim it back? You'd need weeks to widen the trails.