Thoughts on PPF? Worth it?

[Bakes]

Curious as to everones thoughts on PPF. Has anyone seen it on an F-150?

I can see it being a big help in keeping branches and stuff from leaving a bunch of small scratches, but I wonder how hard it would be to keep the edges of the film clean.

Other concerns I have are things like how well it fits. Are there areas that will be really tight and hard to get the film to set properly? How noticable is the film in general? I ordered AMB, any chance it might change the way it shifts in the light?

Probably overthinking it, but still have about another month or two to wait on my truck and can't stop thinking about it lol.

 

[Mjdubs]

Depends. A lot of the outcome is on the skill of the person installing it.

A good installer will wrap the edges so you won’t see any edges unless you are doing partial hood. Wouldn’t recommend a partial since you’ll see the break in film to paint. You can tell a film is there but hardly IMO. You’d have to be looking for it.

I’m getting the full front end of mine done in a few weeks (leaving to Hawaii) with some Xpel + which is kind of the industry standard. Suntek makes a good film as well. My installer says most people wouldn’t be able to tell the difference side by side.

Nice thing is they are somewhat self healing and minor scratches will disappear in heat.

Is it worth it? Money is so subjective. Some people have more than they know what to do with. I’m not one of them.

I do know these trucks are expensive and I plan on keeping mine for a while (average car for me is a keeper for 8-9 years) so for me it’s worth the investment. If you move through cars quickly then your benefiting the next guy down the road.

Find the best shops in your area. Go with the ones with lots of experience. Their work usually speaks for itself

Congrats on the AMB Tremor. Have one in the same color!

 

[AZSteve]

I have PPF going on my AMB Tremor as we speak. I should be picking it up tomorrow. I’ll post pics and a detailed review about it once I can spend some time with it.

 

[Bakes]

I have PPF going on my AMB Tremor as we speak. I should be picking it up tomorrow. I’ll post pics and a detailed review about it once I can spend some time with it.

That'd be great! Thanks! Are you doing the whole truck or just the front?

 

[Jstonk]

I got the whole front end, 12" of the hood and headlights, rocker panels, A-pillars and 6" of the roof done.

Here where I live they drop jagged gravel down for traction and it wreaks havoc on the truck. If 3m wasn't so expensive for the windshield I would do it too. Over the last 10 years I've witnessed how its saved my paint. I've always found it especially important on fog lights and these get peppered with rocks.

It's a to each their own situation and spending the extra 2k means I have a nicer looking truck for longer and with less worries. I was especially concerned with these new flimsy plastic headlight casings so the 3m ppf was a must there for me.

The only line I can see is the one on the hood and it personally doesn't bother me. It's a very common thing to see here on trucks.

 

[Cheif2Slo]

I like the rocker panel idea a lot.

 

[AZSteve]

That'd be great! Thanks! Are you doing the whole truck or just the front?

I’m just getting the front done, including the grill and front fenders. Basically everything back to the A-pillar including the A-Pillar. I have ceramic coat everywhere else. I also got tinting done on all the windows including the moon roof.

 

[zarc14]

Still waiting to do on the Tremor, planning on just the front and 1/4 of hood since it seems there will not be a bug shield made. PPF will help the front with rocks and bug acid...I have had it in previous trucks/SUV's and proved beneficial...Expel seems to be a popular brand. Like others that have posted...I have ceramic coated the whole vehicle as well....

 

[Jstonk]

Still waiting to do on the Tremor, planning on just the front and 1/4 of hood since it seems there will not be a bug shield made. PPF will help the front with rocks and bug acid...I have had it in previous trucks/SUV's and proved beneficial...Expel seems to be a popular brand. Like others that have posted...I have ceramic coated the whole vehicle as well....

Every shop I talked to had a different opinion on xpel vs 3m.

I tried both, and found the 3m was better when putting on my door sills which I forgot to mention up top.

 

[KingEddy]

I wrapped my AMB in Xpel. Full wrap, it took four trips back to shop to have them fix issues. Overall I think it saves the paint. I use my truck in the mountains a lot here Idaho. Avoiding deep paint scratches helps lower the anxiety.

No issues with the color fading or not coming through. It looks great, but demand as close to perfection as you can get.

 

[Bakes]

I wrapped my AMB in Xpel. Full wrap, it took four trips back to shop to have them fix issues. Overall I think it saves the paint. I use my truck in the mountains a lot here Idaho. Avoiding deep paint scratches helps lower the anxiety.

No issues with the color fading or not coming through. It looks great, but demand as close to perfection as you can get.

Looks great! What were the problem areas that you kept going back for?

 

[FTLBS]

Picking mine up tomorrow. Had PPF installed on the entire hood and the front end (headlights, fog lights, front bumper, mirrors, and orange grille stripe). Then had ceramic applied to the PPF and all painted surfaces including the front skid plate and all 5 wheels. Excited to get it back!

 

[Eliteforc]

I'll be getting a full xpel wrap. Quotes I've gotten are pretty good comparitively to what I've seen on some forums (4.5k for xpel ultimate and 4.7k for xpel stealth). I ordered in antimatter blue and really like the bronco that was done in the stealth which gives it a matte look vs gloss. Still have some time to decide until my truck gets here.

I'll be in the bush with my truck so the wrap will help protect against any branches and also the gravel they throw down for traction in winters.

 

[KingEddy]

Looks great! What were the problem areas that you kept going back for?

Some of it is my perfectionist personality but a few of the seams pealed back, and entire side of the bed had be redone because the adhesive didn’t cure clear. The shop here was highly recommended and they did their best to make it right. Just make sure the shop you go to will do the same.

Make sure they do extra on their cuts to reduce seams. It should wrap around and pretty much disappear.

 

[AZSteve]

I got my truck back tonight and hoo daddy does it look awesome. I will post some pics tomorrow. It was too dark to get anything good tonight.

 

[Mjdubs]

I got my truck back tonight and hoo daddy does it look awesome. I will post some pics tomorrow. It was too dark to get anything good tonight.

Congrats.

 

[Cranbery]

Have you guys that have done the PPF been having it put on your headlights and fogs?

 

[Jstonk]

Have you guys that have done the PPF been having it put on your headlights and fogs?

Always put it on my fog lights, this time because of that cheap feeling plastic on the headlights I had them do them as well.

Then again I put ppf on every piece of the front end minus the Ford emblem. I even did 8" of the rock guard.

 

[AZSteve]

Ok, here are the pics of the finished product in the early morning light. The PPF is completely invisible obviously but the shine is incredible for both the PPF and the ceramic coat. I am over the moon on how good it turned out. I also have some decal work to show off.

 

[IXTHYS]

The day I pick up my Tremor, I'll be driving straight to St. Louis Auto Detail for Xpel film on the full front end and the B-Pillers. Additionally, I'm getting lifetime warranty ceramic on the entire vehicle and wheels. Also tint on the front windows to match the rear and 70% film on the front windshield. Huge cost, but worth it to me as I plan on keeping the Tremor for a long time. If you're going to spend the money on all this, you also need to make sure you always hand wash. Ceramic coating won't prevent the swirls from an automatic wash and their harsh soaps will degrade it faster.