I will be doing my first real complete detail on the truck. There is some pretty good scratches but not deep. I want to light compound the truck before I polish and wax it. Do I still need to clay bar if I'm going to compound anyway?
When detailing paint, the least aggressive process that will achieve the desired result is the best because each time you compound or buff your clear coat, you remove a minute, but measurable amount of material from the paint film. Over time, that removal of material will accelerate the death of your paint.I will be doing my first real complete detail on the truck. There is some pretty good scratches but not deep. I want to light compound the truck before I polish and wax it. Do I still need to clay bar if I'm going to compound anyway?
If you are using an random orbital DA tool, take a look at Nanoskin.
Works like a clay bar, at a fraction of the time it would take to use a claybar.
If it's a brand new pad, pay attention to the break-in procedure of the pad, before using on paint. Usually involves using on glass to break it in.
Works with the same concept as clay bars, still needs a lubricant, but get done a lot faster.
I use it when I do my bi annual detailing, and I have nothing but good things to say about the product.
https://www.nanoskinusa.com/
When detailing paint, the least aggressive process that will achieve the desired result is the best because each time you compound or buff your clear coat, you remove a minute, but measurable amount of material from the paint film. Over time, that removal of material will accelerate the death of your paint.
Compounding is a fairly aggressive procedure...if it were me, I would skip the compounding except in the scratched areas. First, fix the scratches (see below), then use the clay bar, polish and finally wax. Good polishes like 3M 05996 Foam Polishing Pad Glaze (dark cars), or Meguiar's No. 7 Show Car Glaze, have very mild abrasive and will remove the minimal amount of clearcoat to restore full gloss. Either of these should work fine if your paint is in otherwise good shape.
If you try to buff the scratches out using compound, you'll grind off a lot of your clearcoat, and you may STILL be unable to remove the scratches completely. Rubbing compound, the standard of quality probably being 3M 05973, is only intended to remove 1200 grit or finer scratches. The scratches we encounter using our vehicles is probably more in the 80 grit category. In the scratched areas, you may have to work each scratch carefully with graduated grades of finishing sandpaper to first remove the scratch (maybe 1500 grit, then 2000 grit on a foam sanding pad, working across the scratch), and then compound only the immediate area to polish out the sanding scratches. See this youtube.com video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPB3b7YmdRg . There are thousands of youtube videos on this topic; most are good, a few are absolutely bad advice.
You don't mention tools, but I use NOTHING on my vehicles except a random orbital polisher (Porter Cable 7424 is the classic) using an appropriate foam pad for the activity. You can buy an accessory counterweight for the PC that will allow you to run up to 7" foam pads. Rotary buffers with a wool pad are very fast, but unless you are really paying attention and have experience, you can ruin your paint in a nanosecond. With the PC7424, I would use a Lake Country 6.5" yellow cutting pad with the rubbing compound, and with the glaze, I would use a Lake Country 6.5" white polishing pad.