Bumper coatings?

What type of finish does everyone uses on their bumpers, rock rails etc? Ive been looking at truck bed liner, looks like a good option for covering up scratches.

xjkid99 said:

What type of finish does everyone uses on their bumpers, rock rails etc? Ive been looking at truck bed liner, looks like a good option for covering up scratches.

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$.99 rattle can paint as it's easy and cheap to reapply.

Por-15 basecoat (or equivelant) and a bedliner topcoat. No rust and looks great. Only lousy part is driving around for a few days with parts sanded so they can get a light coat of rust before applying the Por-15.
I spray can of the Duplicolor bedliner did my front & rear bumpers and the lower part of my rockers. (~$8.00 can).
HTH

Nah, you dont have to let them get a coat of rust. When/if you buy por-15, buy the metal ready at the same time. comes in a squirt bottle, and makes the best surface for por-15 to bond too. I put gloss black por-15 on my rockrails, and everyone thought i had them professionally done, they look like they were powder coated. And its not cus im good at painting, its cus the por-15 is so good, it spreads out perfect, levels perfect. Just make sure you wear gloves, cus they only way its coming off is when your skin flakes off after a few days. I also por-15ed my underbody, and i'm going to do my new rigid bumper in it. Two coats is all you need, it gets it nice and thick, its really resistant to scratches, chipping, and peeling, and its totally rust proof. It isnt too expensive. I got 6 8oz bottles for $35 or so. each 8oz bottle covers roughly 12 sq ft. Its worth it to make sure its rust proof over rattle cans. If you wanted you could paint with por-15, and then rattle can it whatever color/texture you want. Hope this helps.

http://www.theporman.com/

http://www.jeep-tech-tips.com/por-15.html

i 2-toned my stockers. regular black rattle-can on the top, herculiner on the bottom:




(last pic was just after a wash so the top black looks messed up, but it looks just like the rear bumper in the first pic)

wow, buy looking at your chair, you must be like 2 feet tall.....:laugh3:

lol. my sis's kid is about that height. that little plastic seat saved my knees, ankles and back. sanding down those rockers for the herc was killing me until i found that little seat and confiscated it from her. worked like a charm!

Would strongly recommend against any kind of bedliner coating if you go off road.
The very things that seem to be positives become negatives in a hurry. The texture causes it to catch anything that touches it. The "rubbery" finish grabs branches and rocks that would slide off paint.
Then, when it does catch, instead of just scratching one section it peels up, causing the damaged area to spread.

Understand that whatever you use WILL get damaged. Use whatever is easiest to fix when it does.
Rattle cans.

xjkid99 said:

What type of finish does everyone uses on their bumpers, rock rails etc? Ive been looking at truck bed liner, looks like a good option for covering up scratches.

Click to expand...

I had my front bumper hot-dip galvanized. Not the prettiest solution (though I actually like the way it looks), but IMO the most bulletproof in that it's (a) tougher than powder coat, (b) WAY tougher than paint, and (c) self-healing -- i.e. if you hit a rock and it scratches through the coating, zinc from the areas adjacent to the scratch will "sacrifice" itself to create an oxide over the raw steel, and thus prevent rust from forming.

As far as aesthetics, you can always paint or powder coat over the galvanized finish. I originally planned to paint over mine with POR-15 and a top-coat of something more conventional (POR-15 breaks down from UV w/o a topcoat), but as it turns out the finish doesn't look nearly as "ghetto" as I expected and I think I'm going to keep it the way it is.

I don't have any web space right now...if you send me a PM w/your email I can send you pics. BTW, the cost for galvanizing should be ~$100 -- I paid $120 to have the bumper and a few other pieces done. HTH...