Best practices for painting rocksliders, skid plates, bumper

lfhoward · **Posted:** Sat Jan 12, 2013 3:15 pm

Hi all,
Many of us have aftermarket gear that's made of heavy grade steel, but sees a lot of damage (and protects the Jeep itself). Our bumpers, skid plates, and rock sliders tend to get dinged, scraped, or scratched on a regular basis. As this is the first Jeep I've owned where I have this kind of aftermarket gear, I'm interested in how to keep them looking good and protected from rust. I'm sure there are others on LOST who could benefit from this knowledge as well.

Questions:
1) I'm assuming you sand off the rust, prime, then paint. What brand/kind of primer and paint do you all use? Spray or brush on?
2) Do you remove the skid plates and sliders from the vehicle before painting, or protect the area around them with tape and plastic and paint them in place?
3) Any other painting tips you can provide?

Thanks all! And if others have painting questions, please post them up here as well. :JEEPIN:

tommudd · **Posted:** Sat Jan 12, 2013 3:52 pm

Rustoleum hammer tone paint on everything bumpers/rock rails/ skids/diffs/
if rusted sand down and paint
If scratched easy to touch up

lfhoward · **Posted:** Sat Jan 12, 2013 3:57 pm

No primer needed? And while they're on the Jeep? Thanks, Tom.

NewOldTimer · **Posted:** Sat Jan 12, 2013 11:55 pm

I also use the hammered paint.

Everything I've added to date has come to me bare metal.
Prior to painting, I wipe everything down really good with acetone to remove any grease
or oil, as well as any surface rust from the metal.
Then I give all the surfaces to be painted a light scuff with a scotch brite pad.
Follow up with a good primer, two or three coats to ensure good coverage.
Then hit it with the hammered finish paint. I prefer to put on a couple of light coats first,
then shoot a couple of heavier coats to finish everything off.
Give plenty of drying time between coats.

After installation, if any touch ups are required, I just get out my handy dandy piece of cardboard,
scuff the area with scotch brite to remove any surface rust that may have accumulated, and shoot color.

Corners and weld joints tend to be the hardest to get good coverage, and generally require more frequent
touch up in my experience.

lfhoward · **Posted:** Sun Jan 13, 2013 12:21 am

Thanks for the level of detail in your reply, Brad. Extremely helpful.

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Sun Jan 13, 2013 12:44 am

I had OEM paint sprayed on my front and rear bumpers with clear coat to protect it. My rock rails will be getting line-X. I rattle canned all four skids. Oh, and I also sprayed my rear diff cover and I will do my front diff cover as well.

tommudd · **Posted:** Sun Jan 13, 2013 1:43 am

dieselenthusiast wrote:

I had OEM paint sprayed on my front and rear bumpers with clear coat to protect it. My rock rails will be getting line-X. I rattle canned all four skids. Oh, and I also sprayed my rear diff cover and I will do my front diff cover as well.

What no pictures :wink:

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Sun Jan 13, 2013 1:49 am

tommudd wrote:

What no pictures :wink:

Oh, i guess we could work something out. Here's the gas tank skid:

Here's the rear diff:

Let's see........ here's the rear bumper:

We can't forget the front bumper:

You can see the front skid plate:

I guess you will have to wait for the sliders to get line-x'd. The roof rack is getting line-X'd too. Oh, and I'm going to paint or line-x the rear hitch after I get it sandblasted.

KJ_WHEELER_2010 · **Posted:** Sun Jan 13, 2013 9:14 am

Looks good :BANANA:

I agree with spray painting everything, and it being faster for touch ups. If you really use your Jeep your going to scratch them at some point. I have to touch mine up this week after the little fun I had this weekend.

lfhoward · **Posted:** Wed Feb 27, 2013 6:29 pm

When I started this thread my sliders and roof basket looked like they were in decent shape. Now that I've been driving in salty conditions for a while, the bedlining on my rocksliders (from the previous owner) is coming off in large chunks, revealing a lot of rust. Also, the paint on my used roof basket is peeling off too, with lots of rust underneath. I guess that's the risk of buying used! :ROTFL:

(as is saving :2cents:

) So now before I can prime and paint, I need to strip the rust.

Question: What's the best way to strip rust and old paint/bedliner off metal? (Just so you know, I don't own sand blasting equipment.)

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Option 4

Option 5 - None of the above. What will work better is __________________.

And of course, I wouldn't do it without these:

Thanks for the advice!

teckman02 · **Posted:** Wed Feb 27, 2013 6:38 pm

i like going with the wire wheel on a grinder

tommudd · **Posted:** Wed Feb 27, 2013 6:55 pm

Takes all of the above or a sand blaster :wink:

Depends on where it is / shape of the part/ condition of the part etc as to what will work best

lfhoward · **Posted:** Wed Feb 27, 2013 7:00 pm

Thanks, Teckman and Tom. I recently got an estimate of $450 for removal, sandblasting, repainting, and reinstaling the sliders and roof basket. It is looking like stripping the rust and old paint off myself would be a pain, but is it worth $450?

And Dieselenthusiast, I have to say your red KJ is pretty dang awesome. I should have said that back in January when you posted.

infernicus · **Posted:** Wed Feb 27, 2013 7:06 pm

Something like this is my favorite. I've used it with my drill to remove paint/rust from a set of rear springs. Also used it to scuff up my set up SuperSkinks before painting.

I've also used to it to redo my railings for my front steps of my house. Took that paint and rust right off!

http://www.amazon.com/3M-9099DCNA-Large ... B00004Z4DV

I usually pick it up at HomeDepot. Comes in brown and purple. Depending on your favorite color, lol. (Actually its for different types of uses.)

lfhoward · **Posted:** Wed Feb 27, 2013 7:10 pm

NIiiiceee. And you posted a link with it. :rockon:

Thanks.

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Wed Feb 27, 2013 7:49 pm

lfhoward wrote:

And Dieselenthusiast, I have to say your red KJ is pretty dang awesome. I should have said that back in January when you posted.

Thank you Sir........... It still has a long way to go, but it's coming along nicely.

kirksjeep · **Joined:** Tue Dec 11, 2012 9:55 pm **Posts:** 12

Rustoleum makes a rust neutralizer that you brush on and let it sit a few days. I have had really good results with bed liner in a spray can. Easy to apply, easy to touch up, and it holds up well agains the rocks. I do the majority of my time off road in rocky areas, so regular paint just doesn't hold up.

tommudd · **Posted:** Thu Feb 28, 2013 10:14 pm

I've never seen bedliner hold up on rocks either, plus harder to touch up over paint
But only seen LineX etc

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Thu Feb 28, 2013 10:22 pm

tommudd wrote:

I've never seen bedliner hold up on rocks either, plus harder to touch up over paint
But only seen LineX etc

The reality is that nothing is going to hold up to rocks. LineX is a good choice for those who aren't going to be sliding their rails against rocks. If rocks are involved, then paint is the way to go. Paint is cheap, easy to reapply and easy to touchup. I love Powder coat, but it's hard to find someone who can do it right, and powder coat is for those who don't touch rocks.

tommudd · **Posted:** Fri Mar 01, 2013 11:19 am

Yes powder coating looks nice but thats it
First set of rock rails were Boulder Bars , powder coating lasted a short while then started coming off in big chunks and was rusty as all get out underneath.
Paint is the only way to go on them
Of course now my ARB bumper has rust also under the powdercoating :banghead:

Best practices for painting rocksliders, skid plates, bumper

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