Removal of Branch marks???

I took my truck offroad for the first time this past weekend and had a blast.
Well I found some trails with heavy brush and mud holes here in Stafford,VA, but am in a rut. After washing the truck yesterday I noticed about four
long white surface marks on the car from branches. Can you guys recommend a remover for these or should I take it to the dealer? Also the engine bay was real dirty after going through the mud holes a couple of times so I
hosed most of it out, but don't know if I shoud get the engine steam cleaned.

Steve
03' XE
1060 miles

I guess I didn't need to do a post. After searching this site it seems that the general X public uses Scratch X for pinstripes or tree/brush marks.

why would you want to remove the pinstriping you worked ever so hard to put on??

It's a truck, scratches give it it's own charactoristics

but if your determined on getting them out meguires has a prety good 3 step detailing products. Or you may want to look into having someone (detail shop) buff it. The can usually heat up the clear coat enough(if its just light scratches) with a buffer and pull those abrasions out. I have seen a few people get their trucks done and you couldn't even tell the paint/clear coat was ever scratched. And some the scrathes seemed to come back after a few washings.

i would try a buffing compound befor anything.
good luck/happy trails

ohh how was your first wheelin xperience in the X?

I don't mind the scratches but the problem is that I bought the car for my wife and she doesn't want her brand new truck all scratched up. But she doesn't mind me going off road just need to watch out the trees sticking out.

As for my first time 4 wheelin', it was awesome, Ever since high school I've wanted a off road truck but couldn't afford it so I bought a 2wd and lowered it and what not. So finally at the age of 29 I'm grinning all the time hittin' those mud holes and hills.

Peace.

I use Turtle Wax's colored wax. It does wonders to take the light scratches out.

Stone

Around here they call them New Mexico pin stripes, because there is a lot of brush. They are a fact of life for me. Every once and a while I polish them up using scratch X, but for the most part, they are there to stay. Just as long as you can run your fingernail across is and it doesnt stick, you should be able to buff it out.

Have her walk out in front with prunners if she doesn't want scratches on her truck!

Well I gave my X a little TLC last night. I hosed off all the mud under the body and there sure was alot ; more than expected. I wish I had the full length skid plate.

I sprayed Simple Green Automotive in the engine compartment then hosed it off; worked great. I opened the air box and there was mud in there so I cleaned that out. I think my next purchase will be the K&N Filter charger.

As for the pinstripes I applied Meguiar's Scratch X about 3 times with cloth and buffer and they seemed to go away a little but you can still see them. I then applied Meguiar's Gold class wax.

I think I'll be staying away from mud boggin' for awhile.

you could always have them buffed out if they aren't that deep...

lots of over the counter products don't work as well as they claim they do, if you have success with one that somebody recommends stick with it. first thing you should do after getting the scratches out is put 2-3 coats of wax on it.
i personally use the Mother's brand using the prewax cleaner first then the sealer then 3 coats of the wax then sealer again. it may not seem like much but i've been wheelin plenty in some thick stuff and you can't tell i've only had a couple deep ones, for these you can either buff it out, have a detailer do it or as a last resort use a good eraser like the pink ones kids use in school or the eraser on a pencil going back and forth over the scratch and surrounding paint carefully but with a lot of pressure. test it first on a different piece of crap car or truck and see, if done correctly the eraser concentrates the heat into the clear coat enough to blend it into the scratch. good luck.

The skidplates won't help as far as mud underneath, in fact they tend to catch more and you have to be sure to clean the top side of them.
A K&N drop-in filter won't make any difference for mud in the airbox, and an open-element airbox-replacing one is a bad idea since it is more exposed to the mud in the first place.

Brent