Rail dust......

[bart98stang]

Yesterday as I was hand washing my '14 Bright White CC Big Horn I noticed all of these little rust dots most notably on the tailgate and both read quarter panels and behind the rear bumper . I was like WTF? Rust? I bought this truck 3 months ago!! Was doing a little research today and I came across rail dust. I've owned 8-9 vehicles in the 20 or so years I've been licensed to drive and I've never heard or rail dust until today! Even up until the end of last year I owned a Bright White 2012 Charger and I didn't have "rail dust" rust spots on that car.

So my question is for those that have experienced this did you take your truck back up to your dealer and did they take care of the rail dust? I've been reading that clay bar and some wax will take care of the problem but IMHO I shouldn't have to take care of a problem that started before I purchased a $40,0000 truck. Thanks.

 

[Harrscars]

I had it on my 12 Dodge Ram bright white model. I used a cleaner wax and some elbow grease and got rid of those tiny orangish spots. It looked better when I was done.
I didn't take it to the dealer because I feel I do a better job at detailing then they do. Nothing against them but I always ask myself if I would be comfortable with the guy workin on my 37 chevy. If the answer is no I do it myself.

 

[dkmesa]

^ I feel the same way except for the "nothing against them" part. Most of those dealership clowns should not be trusted with anything detailing related.

 

[Pull Ya]

I agree, in all likelyhood the dealership will do much more damage to the surface of your truck than they will cure. Save yourself the time, money, heartache, and pain of seeing how bad they can f*ck up your truck----do it yourself, you'll be a lot happier.
Jay

 

[bart98stang]

Thanks fellas I understand what you guys are saying but it really irritates the **** of me that my brand new truck has extremely small metal shavings in the paint/clear coat and it's now rusting. As I said above I've never heard of this!!! I'm taking it back up there and see what they say about it. I'm also going to keep researching the **** out of this and see what other ways to permanently remove all these metal shavings.

 

[BogsRam14]

Just did a good after winter hand wash, and found these spots all over. So Had to use clay bar/detail spray and some cleaner wax for the harder to remove spots. I don't think I would ever take my car/truck to a dealer for anything to be cleaned or even have it washed.

 

[OldGrump]

"Rail dust" is extremely common on new cars... I've yet to own a new vehicle in the last 10+ years (including my '14 Bright White Ram) that hasn't had it at time of delivery, and it has been very noticeable because all of my vehicles have been white.

I would (as others have noted) suggest you get some decent soap/clay lube/claybar, and remove it yourself. I have yet to see a car come back from a dealership "detail" which didn't require $300-400 in paint correction work by an experienced detailer afterwards.

My other car is in a constant state of this type of paint contamination, because of the extremely large/excessively dusting brakes.

 

[Buddy]

As soon as I got my truck, I mean the day of, I washed it at home, waited the next day and clay bared the whole truck. Amazing how much I got off the truck and on the clay bar, brand new, 30 km on the truck and you could feel the difference after I took the clay bar to it. Then put 2 good coats of wax on it right after. I highly recommend at least a cleaner then wax as soon as you get a new truck. Can't wait till winter is finally over to give it really good wash then hopefully all I have to do is wax again, and not clay bar too. I fu*kin hate winter with the salt and road chemicals, I really do. Glad the worst is over.

 

[ForceofWill]

Get some Adam's Deep wheel cleaner and use it to decon then clay what remains.

 

[Sir John]

"rail dust" can also come from the brakes of the truck.

 

[xrsman]

Get used to it man. I had a white 2011 ram and every spring the thing was covered in rust spots. Took me a couple hours every year to hand buff out every spot. After 4 years I said no more white for me!

It only ever happens in the winter though. I fought with chrysler for months on it. I got no where and had to deal with it. The dealer did an acid bath once and a couple Clay bar treatments on the truck to satisfy me the first year. After that I did it myself.

 

[Csanders1992]

Even gms do it. My buddies newer white chevy does it. There's chemicals you can use that take care of it, iron x may be one them


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[RamNSubie]

I bought a bottle of IronX over the winter. Once it is nice out I will be doing both my vehicles and my moms 14 Durango which is white. Her durango is covered in rail dust.

 

[bart98stang]

Thanks for all the info fellas. I appreciate your time. This really blows me away as I've never heard of this and I also spoke with some buddies from work today and none of them heard of "rail dust" either. I'm still pretty torn about taking my truck back to the dealer or just doing it myself but it seams the consensus is doing it myself.

 

[homebrew]

My story, I bought a 14 blk express. Couple days after I bought it I went out to give it a proper detail. After washing and claying I noticed white specs all over the truck. Took it back to the dealer twice with no improvement, dealer said there was nothing that could be done. I filed a complaint with Chrysler couple of months and 3 visits later I met with the local Chrysler rep at a body shop. They said it was fallout caused by shipping on the train. They cleaned the whole truck with cleaning solivent and rewaxed it. Looked brand new

 

[ralphdees]

Yeah, I still think it's better you let the dealership know abt it. Truck's barely 3 months and already rusting, they should have the courtesy to do something abt it. Even if you can always take care of the rust issue yourself, they should still be held liable. I am wary of any further detailing issues these dealerships may cause, so if i were you I'd keep a close eye on their work, if they address the prob. I really hope they can restore it.

 

[Sir John]

My story, I bought a 14 blk express. Couple days after I bought it I went out to give it a proper detail. After washing and claying I noticed white specs all over the truck. Took it back to the dealer twice with no improvement, dealer said there was nothing that could be done. I filed a complaint with Chrysler couple of months and 3 visits later I met with the local Chrysler rep at a body shop. They said it was fallout caused by shipping on the train. They cleaned the whole truck with cleaning solivent and rewaxed it. Looked brand new

Yeah, I had those white specks on my black Sport too. I was able to get it off with clay barring and polishing. Followed it all up with a wax.

 

[RamNSubie]

Yeah, I still think it's better you let the dealership know abt it. Truck's barely 3 months and already rusting, they should have the courtesy to do something abt it. Even if you can always take care of the rust issue yourself, they should still be held liable. I am wary of any further detailing issues these dealerships may cause, so if i were you I'd keep a close eye on their work, if they address the prob. I really hope they can restore it.

The thing is the truck itself is not rusting, it is actually particles of metal that were hot when they contact the paint and imbed in the top layer. These then rust.

 

[Andy578]

haven't noticed it on mine yet but mine was made in Michigan which is only about a 2 hour drive so it might have been shipped by truck

 

[RamNSubie]

If you drive in lots of traffic where brakes are used, such as longer downhill sections, or park your car in areas near a railroad it will accumulate rail dust over time.