Questions about Heat Reflective Paint and Coatings for the Exterior?

[dbrannon79]

Hey all, I have been wanting to do something about helping keep the cab cooler in the summer heat and for now on the cheaper side of things. At least until I find the time to actually pull the interior and do it right. a buddy of mine mentioned something to me about Lizard Skin coatings, they make a ceramic coating and another for sound dampening that is spray on. the cost of a gallon isn't too bad especially if it works as good as their videos show. the only thing is these coating are only mentioned to be used on the interior and undercoating / firewalls. Their video shows them coating half of a electric griddle and placing an ice cube on it for a minute.

as it is now my paint isn't in great shape and the whole truck is now multi-colored since I had replaced the hood with one that was not creased on the hinges a while back. I even went as far as trying an experiment on the roof since the paint was pealing up there. I had scuffed and wet sanded the roof down and used a white rattle can primer wondering if the change from black to white would make any difference. it actually helped lower the temps while parked out in the sun by maybe 10 degrees.

So now with the tan colored truck, black top half of cab (PO had done this), and primer white crew cab roof, I am curious if this lizard skin coating would help anything if I ordered some and sprayed over the white primer on the outside of the metal roof.

I know it would bring the truck back closer to the two tone tan / black it had when I bought it with the color of the coating, but has anyone had any experience with this stuff and can it be used on the exterior?

I don't think I have posted a pic of my rig in her current state or at least a full body pic since I joined the forum.... so here she is in all her beauty, multi-colored and all LOL.
This is why I say she's less likely to get broken into than a nicer looking rig. HAHA!

I just gave her a bath on Sunday, the birds have already began to redecorate...

 

[JayTheCPA]

Given the inputs so far, my vote is to stick with the rattle-can white for the roof application. And perhaps put a layer of gloss white on top of the primer. For an industry example of using white on the roof to mitigate solar heat soak, take a look at the newer Airstream trailers: white paint on top.

For another direct example of sticking with simple white, was in the South a while ago and moved a pole which had alternating gloss white and gloss black paint, and was in direct sunlight for some time (no cloud cover that day, or tree shade at the location). White sections felt like they were about the same temperature as the air, and the black sections were much warmer. Sure, I knew about this effect from simple physics, but it still was interesting to find an example which really highlighted the differences in energy reflection versus absorption on the same object.

Not knocking LizzardSkin, and at the same time it seems like a lot of additional expense for the same benefit as rattle-can white given the stated goals.

Another aspect not mentioned is going after the glass to help keep the cab cool. Have seen reports of others where some of the new IR rejecting films do a very good job of keeping the cab cool. Read one account where the owner coated all of the windscreen with a clear layer of UV rejecting film and reported a huge drop in sun related temperatures, but am personally curious as to whether the film was IR rejecting, not UV, and the guy simply got the two aspects mixed.

 

[dbrannon79]

the clear windscreen coating was also another thought I had. might even look at doing the entire truck. I had the two front doors tinted but I doubt it the UV or heat reflective. I just didn't like the fact that the rear doors and back glass had factory tint and the front doors were clear!

 

[vr1967]

Might want to look into ceramic tint. While more expensive, it does help reduce interior temps.

 

[dbrannon79]

the day I started this thread I had also reached out to Lizardskin asking about their products and if it would work if used on the exterior of a vehicle. they responded to me yesterday and apparently the products are used on rooftops of RV's and school busses! Here is their response.

Good afternoon Doug,



Sorry for the slow response, but we have a lot of customers who are using our ceramic insulation for heat control on the exterior of the roof. We recommend the product in its white color (similar to what school buses/UPS trucks do) to provide the reflective benefit with the insulative performance. There is no issues with UV or weathering and will also help prevent any moisture issues that could occur over time.



An automotive primer is required to prevent flash rusting prior to applying our water-based coatings. Any automotive grade primer can be used underneath our coatings and it should not need to be scuffed if spraying our products within 24-48 hours after the primer.



Best regards,



Cody Watson

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Cody Watson | Technical Specialist

4310 Campbell Rd. | Houston, TX 77041

Office 713.465.0304 | Fax 713.465.0302

[email protected] | www.lizardskin.com

 

[JayTheCPA]

Call me a marketing critic, but am not so sure that LizardSkin is claiming that it is *their* product in use on rooftops.

The closest I am getting is to use their white product. From there, the language *implies* their white product is what is in use on vehicles, but the key word of "similar" kills the link from my perspective.

And as a point of order (and am also open to correction), UPS trucks have a fiberglass roof which is translucent. So it is not exactly white. If this is in fact correct, it is another push away from the claim.

Again, not bashing. Just reading into the statement.

 

[dbrannon79]

That thought didn't occur to me on the UPS trucks. I have seen some that are transparent and that didn't even dawn on me. I do recall reading somewhere recently where they were supposed to be installing air conditioning on those trucks. I can't imagine the how those drivers endure the heat on the road in those box "oven" trucks. yeah sure they get wind when moving, but the air over pavement is horrible like sticking your head in an open over door!