Color It Right

Getting a truck painted is more complicated than you think

Pick the right finish

Paints today are nearly all urethane and polyurethane chemistries, but you’ll need to decide whether to get a single stage, or “mono-coat,” paint job or a two-stage, or “basecoat/clearcoat,” finishing system. First evaluate the age of the truck and the condition of its drivetrain:

• Trucks destined for resale within two years are fine with a single stage, and the same goes for frames and trailers.

• For the cab of a truck with a sound drivetrain and several years’ service left in it, get a clearcoat/basecoat system. Here color, gloss, UV (ultra-violet light) protection and dirt repulsion matter, especially when it will be used in the snow-belt or where there is year-round intense sun, when it will be painted in one of a few colors that fade especially easily and whenever the truck has a metallic finish.