HFS (Hard Freaking Stainless) – How’s Your Cybertruck Holding Up?

[OMFG]

35k miles in 18mo later and I have taken it through a beating, both intentional and unintentially lol. Last unintentional beating was me plowing through cedar trees doing about 40mph (bastards came out of nowhere around a bend in an old oil well service road by my ranch)...in short, I left the road and created a new one through a small grove of cedar and ton of greenbrier vines to a pasture on other side. Sadly I had to drive back through it all to get back to the road and in the end it left some surface scratches from the cedar branches but it is nothing to buff them out with orbital sander. If it would have been my Raptor, or a wrap/ppf I would have to had it repainted or redone. In short, I have created intentional hunting trails with it, unintentional new roads, hit it with my JD tractor grabble, backed over a water well tank, stuck so deep in mud it took a tractor + 4x4 truck to pull it out (that flat bottom is like a suction cup in the mud lol)...and the damn thing still looks basically brand new. It is crazy how tough the truck is. The fenders, bumpers, bed sail trim...that's a different story. But all you need to do is spend a little on the steel bumper cover and sail trims (reach out to @Lowcoe for his buddy contact info or go directly to his new website JAM Specialties). ps...a "little" doesn't mean cheap, but relative to what you are getting they are a worth their weight in gold IMO). Enjoy the truck! My only regret is not splurging on the beast but since I bought a early FS that extra $20k would have put me deeper into the budget troll's dog house (wifey).

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[Sousray]

14000 miles and you know, looks like new.
I love the other day, I was driving home from work and it was storming hard. the hail started to fall and all the other vehicles were heading for cover under the trees on the side of the road. I just kept driving while the hail (nickel sized) was bouncing off my CT. no damage at all. LOVE IT!!.
No worries.

 

[OMFG]

Exactly. Better written than my garbled msg. But I do recall you posting that bushwhacking vid about a year ago and had done the same in real life numerous times myself since and all is good. I can't tell you how many times it has been literally kicked with cowboy boots by the local ranchers around me, they can't believe it and I swear everyone of them said next truck is not a SD or Ram but a Cybertruck. It is like the perfect farm truck (assuming you don't need to tow a 30k lb 5th wheel full of cattle). https://www.cybertruckownersclub.co...our-cybertruck-holding-up.44226/post-30609271

 

[koolio]

I drove the truck a few times after snow storms in Kansas and Colorado. What ever Colorado puts on the roads(magnesium chloride?) is reactive to the CT. After wiping away these little chemical reaction spots I was left with etched metal dots.

Maybe an iron X solution would get rid of it?

 

[henchman24]

I drove the truck a few times after snow storms in Kansas and Colorado. What ever Colorado puts on the roads(magnesium chloride?) is reactive to the CT. After wiping away these little chemical reaction spots I was left with etched metal dots.

If you wash within a few days after, you won't get those spots. If you don't, a little barkeepers or equivalent will take them right off. Mag chloride does that to all finishes, just more noticeable on stainless.

I got my truck in November, been all through Wyoming and Colorado winter, ~10% of my driving on rough dirt roads or trails... washed maybe 3-4 times in my ownership. Latest time I noticed some small industrial fall out and mag chloride spots. Did a quick go round with barkeepers and a da polisher... looks better than new (had weird spots, fallout and minor staining from factory). Not a single dent or ding anywhere.

Now my rear plastic fender flares on the other hand....

 

[HaulingAss]

35k miles in 18mo later and I have taken it through a beating, both intentional and unintentially lol. Last unintentional beating was me plowing through cedar trees doing about 40mph (bastards came out of nowhere around a bend in an old oil well service road by my ranch)...in short, I left the road and created a new one through a small grove of cedar and ton of greenbrier vines to a pasture on other side. Sadly I had to drive back through it all to get back to the road and in the end it left some surface scratches from the cedar branches but it is nothing to buff them out with orbital sander. If it would have been my Raptor, or a wrap/ppf I would have to had it repainted or redone. In short, I have created intentional hunting trails with it, unintentional new roads, hit it with my JD tractor grabble, backed over a water well tank, stuck so deep in mud it took a tractor + 4x4 truck to pull it out (that flat bottom is like a suction cup in the mud lol)...and the damn thing still looks basically brand new. It is crazy how tough the truck is.

Good bushwhacking story!

This is what a "Ford Tough" F-250 looks like after some bushwhacking (found parked near where my bushwhacking video was recorded):

Arrows point to dented A-pillar and door window frame, as well as the broken off mirror trim piece. Also note the broken turn indicator on the mirror. At least the truck is reddish-orange so the rust won't stand out as much when the paint fails and it starts rusting.

 

[HaulingAss]

I try to avoid parking near cart corrals. And, always uphill!

That's a good idea in a Model 3. But it's completely unnecessary in a Cybertruck. Shopping carts just bounce off without damage.

 

[RoboTaxi]

If you wash within a few days after, you won't get those spots. If you don't, a little barkeepers or equivalent will take them right off. Mag chloride does that to all finishes, just more noticeable on stainless.

I got my truck in November, been all through Wyoming and Colorado winter, ~10% of my driving on rough dirt roads or trails... washed maybe 3-4 times in my ownership. Latest time I noticed some small industrial fall out and mag chloride spots. Did a quick go round with barkeepers and a da polisher... looks better than new (had weird spots, fallout and minor staining from factory). Not a single dent or ding anywhere.

Now my rear plastic fender flares on the other hand....

I’ve done several BKF cleans and it’s per

If you wash within a few days after, you won't get those spots. If you don't, a little barkeepers or equivalent will take them right off. Mag chloride does that to all finishes, just more noticeable on stainless.

I got my truck in November, been all through Wyoming and Colorado winter, ~10% of my driving on rough dirt roads or trails... washed maybe 3-4 times in my ownership. Latest time I noticed some small industrial fall out and mag chloride spots. Did a quick go round with barkeepers and a da polisher... looks better than new (had weird spots, fallout and minor staining from factory). Not a single dent or ding anywhere.

Now my rear plastic fender flares on the other hand....

I’ve done several BKF buff washes and it’s permanently itched on the steel, not water stains. A more abrasive surface restoration would fix it though. The etching looks worse on the foundation series badging. The truck is wrapped now ??

 

[henchman24]

I’ve done several BKF cleans and it’s per

I’ve done several BKF buff washes and it’s permanently itched on the steel, not water stains. A more abrasive surface restoration would fix it though. The etching looks worse on the foundation series badging. The truck is wrapped now ??

That's odd... I drive through it all the time in the winter and never had it stick like that. I even left it for a couple months once and it mostly washed off, couple small spots the barkeepers took care of.

Mag chloride will etch clear coat very quickly, especially on modern, very soft paints. Mild steel it causes rust nearly right away. Even aluminum corrodes quickly with it. Colorado claims it is safe for cars and paint... it most certainly isn't. It wipes away wax and ceramic coatings quickly. Then any cracks or chips it will seep into and eat away from the inside. Not to mention how rough it is on rubber and plastic. Now it is probably better than Wyoming's solution of just make all roads a dirt road... but it is pretty harsh. Hate the stuff, but Colorado isn't changing anytime soon.

 

[HaulingAss]

So far great. Our trucks are not that old though, ask in 10 years.

What are you talking about? With other vehicles you can get a dent on day one. You don't need 10 years to figure out how hard it is to dent!

 

[Jhodgesatmb]

HFS is resilient, shot my CT with my pressure washer extension arm due to a threading issue, shot so hard I couldn’t even see it, only hear it. Didn’t leave a mark.

The issue now is chemistry though as there are some hard water mark or hard metal reactions leaving some brown marks on the panels. Hard to see unless you look fairly hard. Haven’t had time to address.

BKF once in a while takes care of that.

 

[CyberGus]

I responded by thrusting my full shopping cart right at the door, and it just bounced off.

hahahahahaha

 

[BrockN]

I’ve done several BKF buff washes and it’s permanently itched on the steel, not water stains. A more abrasive surface restoration would fix it though. The etching looks worse on the foundation series badging. The truck is wrapped now ??

Another owner here where I live took delivery of his truck with some pretty ridiculous marks on it. They wouldn't clean off using regular techniques, so he tried Citrisurf77... following the directions exactly, masking plastic, etc. When he rinsed it off (no rubbing or scrubbing!) the marks were gone. He gave me a sample and I'll try it next time I wash mine.

It's apparently a citric acid solution that chew through plenty of marks and causes the reforming of the natural chromium oxide layer that makes stainless steel what it is... passivation process.

Too bad it's wrapped... it would be interesting to see if the Citrisurf77 product could have sorted it out for you.

 

[koolio]

Another owner here where I live took delivery of his truck with some pretty ridiculous marks on it. They wouldn't clean off using regular techniques, so he tried Citrisurf77... following the directions exactly, masking plastic, etc. When he rinsed it off (no rubbing or scrubbing!) the marks were gone. He gave me a sample and I'll try it next time I wash mine.

It's apparently a citric acid solution that chew through plenty of marks and causes the reforming of the natural chromium oxide layer that makes stainless steel what it is... passivation process.

Too bad it's wrapped... it would be interesting to see if the Citrisurf77 product could have sorted it out for you.

Good to know Citrisurf77 can get rid of those stains.

 

[mhaze]

How about rock chips/dents on the front stainless panels??

I've got an area about 2x4 inches where it appears the brushed surface finish goes in a different direction - this came about I think from when a bird hit and the front was very muddy. The sand scrapped as the bird impacted.

Well that's what I think happened. Lots of abuse and off road and nothing else. One or two of these snap on plastic pieces under the front and rear bumper caught on something in kind of rough land and came off. They pop back on pretty easy. Maybe I'll just pull them off, come to think of it.

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