This 2017 Ford Raptor was recently dropped off at our headquarters as part of our 2024 Master Training Event. During the event, our candidates applying for master installer status had the chance to demonstrate their skills and refine their technique on the Raptor’s Shadow Black paint. Our customer walked away extremely happy with the final product, and the knowledge that their coating was installed by the newest class of certified master installers, an elite detailing group representing the top of their field. In this article we’ll give you an inside look into the coating process at our training center. Let’s dive in.
The first step to coating any car is to assess the vehicle’s unique needs and features. The 2017 Raptor is purpose built for comfortable off-roading, with an electronic locking differential, hill descent control, specialized shocks, and advanced terrain management.
2017 isn’t necessarily an old car, but it is old for paint. Heavy corrections will be needed before we coat the vehicle. Since the Raptor is so specialized for off-roading and other kinds of hard, hazardous environments, we’ll need to select a hard, resilient ceramic coating, with high hydrophobic performance.
Before installation could begin, we needed to decontaminate and paint-correct the vehicle. Fireball’s inspection sheets allowed our trainees to recognize multiple areas of concern, which we treat with appropriate products. On the Raptor, we used Iron Burn and Tar Remover for a quick decon.
Tar Remover is a specialized product we use routinely on heavily used vehicles. Tar Remover is a non-abrasive hands-free formula that specializes in dissolving road tar and road paint splash-back. Tar Remover is gentle with your vehicle’s surface, while being strong enough to remove tar, burnt rubber, and paint, allowing you to easily wipe away broken-down contaminants.
Using a specialized cleaning product like this is especially important on older vehicles that haven’t been serviced regularly, since tar and other contaminants build up. If left unremoved when washing, contaminants can embed themselves in the surface of the vehicle, leading to further damage. In extreme cases, contaminants can even cause coating failure. Tar Remover makes short work of the decontamination process, and rinses off easily.
You can never be too careful, especially with heavily contaminated vehicles like this. For extra decontamination we had our trainees use Hydro Foam Shampoo, a shampoo that exfoliates the paint by eating away any micro contamination that we missed the first time. We gently hand washed and towel dried the pickup truck, leaving it primed and ready for paint correction.
Paint correction is an incredibly important step in ceramic coating. Paint correction was slow going, as our experienced partners Auto Appearance KC and other certified Fireball Installers showed our trainees the exact amount of pressure needed to buff out the defects, swirls, and water spots.
With paint correction completed, we finally got started on coating. We selected Fireball Butterfly for the Raptor. Coating this truck in the extremely hydrophobic and incredibly tough Butterfly coating was the obvious choice. Butterfly is rated above 9H on the mineral hardness scale, meaning that it’s tough enough to resist any and all micro abrasions and minor scratches it might otherwise get on the trail.
Butterfly is also one of our most hydrophobic coatings, which will be a game-changer when it comes to washing congealed mud off of the truck at the end of the day. Butterfly is also rated for seven years of full protection, so the owner won’t have to worry about erosion, water spotting, discoloration, or paint defects for a long, long time.
Installing a coating onto vehicles can present several challenges, one of the greatest being high spots and applicator hardening. As it dries onto the block, the ceramic coating begins to stiffen and make applying much more difficult – risking scratches on freshly corrected paint if an Installer doesn’t switch in time.
Our installers had to switch applicators for every large body panel in order to avoid ruining all their hard work. Our team coated the entire vehicle from bumper to bumper, from under the running boards to the middle of the roof. Once the coating was set, our renovation of the Ford Raptor was done.
All of our installers have been factory trained in an environment much like the one outlined above, so when you come to a Fireball Installer, you know they’ve been properly and thoroughly trained. You’ll get a thorough, top-to-bottom inspection and correction like the one outlined here, and your detailer can help talk you through our product lineup to find which coating is best for your specific vehicle. If you’re looking for a ceramic coating, don’t wait, choose Fireball for a company who delivers quality in every detail.
