Work near ICAD and my truck is full of chips, where do I start?

[darianlane]

I started a new job in the ICAD area three weeks ago, and the daily drive has already done more damage to my Ford Ranger than a whole year in the city did. The road is full of heavy trucks, loose stones and fine sand, and last Friday a small rock hit the bonnet so hard that I heard it from inside the cab. When I checked, there was a fresh chip with bare metal showing. A colleague told me I need film on the front, but he could not explain how it works, so I went home and read about it. I found some Reliable PPF basics for drivers around ICAD, and what I understood is that the film is a clear, soft layer that sits on top of the paint and takes the hit instead of the paint, so the stones leave marks on the film and not on the metal. That sounded simple, but now I have a lot of questions. Does it stop a rock like the one I got, or only light sand and small scratches? Can it go over a chip that is already there, or do I need to touch up the paint first so it does not rust under the film? I also heard that trucks with big flat bonnets show every bubble, so how do I check the fitting when I collect it? Should I cover only the bonnet, bumper and mirrors, or the full front end including the headlights? Another thing is the heat. Does the film hold up on a vehicle parked in the sun at a work site all day, or does it yellow after a couple of summers? And can I use a pressure washer on it, because my truck gets very dusty? If you drive a pickup or a work vehicle around this area, please tell me what you covered, what you paid, and what you would change. Easy answers help me most.