Powder Coat Rock Rails?

How well is powder coat going to hold up on rocker rails? I'm thinking I should paint them myself so I can touch them up. Can I paint them with bed liner paint?

 

Powder coating will hold up really well until you scrape the rails over a rock or something - if you plan to try and keep in showroom condition then wet paint you can touch up with a rattle can might be your best option...

 

If you use them as body protection off-road, not so great. Although, there are paints available that look very much like the powder coat, and can be used to touch it up.

Excellent idea.

Yes. I will say, however, that bed liner finishes tend to hold dirt more than painted surfaces due to the texture. If you care about how clean they look...

 

POR-15 Paint them proper prep of the bare metal the paint is very durable Get a scrape? just clean, Prep and paint where needed. I had powder coated ones on a truck before and touching it up always looked so obvious that it had been done So when I did my FJ Cruiser I POR-15 painted them and the only thing different was the "New" paint area look nicer than the old areas.

 

I use rustoleum on mine. Have to redo them about once a year

 

Would you use their Top Coat paint?

 

Another option is Rustoleum spray on bed liner. I painted my bumper with this and it's holding up well. If you scrape it off on a trail it should be easy to touch up. If I bought sliders again, this is what I would do.

 

You’ll save money by painting them yourself vs having them powder coated and be glad you did when it comes time for touch up.

 

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'm ordering bare RSG's

 

I had mine powder coated locally. I read dozens of threads containing everyone's opinions regarding powder vs paint. Surprisingly, it seems liked powder got the most votes. I think paint is just cheaper.. that's the only place it wins. I guess you could argue that touching up paint is easier.. and I'm sure it is. But once you touch it up, it's not gonna look perfect. If it isn't perfect, then why not just touch up powder, with paint, if necessary? I don't think that would look any worse than paint touched up with paint. Properly applied powder IS more durable than paint, there is no argument there. So overall, powder will stay looking better for longer for most uses, such as daily driving. Of course that becomes moot if you're really beating up on them, constantly.

For me, it came down to use. I don't plan on scraping mine over rocks, so I went with powder. For me they are *insurance* just in case.. so I wanted them to look good, too. Powder does that. If I ever scrape them bad enough to where they look bad with a touchup, I'll remove them and have them re-coated with powder. It was only $150 and took none of my time. Prepping alone would be a pain, not to mention painting, and sand-blasting was included for that $150.

If you are wheeling hard and hitting them often.. as in every month.. then you probably don't care what they look like. Battle scars, right? In that case, spray paint is where it's at IMO.

We will see how they hold up to your normal road debris. If they're constantly chipping, I'll either go to paint, or more likely, try a different powder coater. I think I found a good one though. I think the durability of powder really comes down to its application. Not all powder jobs are equal, that's for sure. Prep is extremely important for powder.

Finally, I went with a textured finish so that it would match my TRD Pro roof rack. The texture did come back *slightly* more coarse than the rack's powder is, but it's close enough. I do have some concern that the texture will hold dirt more and look dirty.. but my rack doesn't have that problem, so fingers crossed. If it's really bad, I'll go with something smooth the next go around. This is a learning experience for me since these are my first rock sliders.

Good luck!
Cheers.

 

Good choice!

I think the big selling point on paint is that neither powder coating nor paint will hold up to the intended use, so why pay extra for powder-coating? It's not really about aesthetics for me, and probably isn't for most who choose to paint their own.

Mine are rusting through the powder coating as well, so I will probably sand them down and re-coat them with the same Rustoleum truck bed liner that's on my bumper.

 

I feel you. But I don't feel like I "paid extra" for powder. It would have taken me an entire day to prep properly and paint the things. I'd rather have my Saturday than $150. If I was still in college.. you better bet I'd be painting them. But I also wouldn't be installing them on a truck that's worth $40,000+ lol.

I like to go off-roading a lot, but I'm still a car guy so I care that my truck looks good. I can't do anything about the scratches I get in the paint from the bush, but I do what I can. My intended use is protection in case I make a mistake. Some people intend to just "use" them often to get over big shit. So I think that there are multiple "intended uses" for rock sliders.. sliders, or protection.

If you do go with paint, POR-15 is awesome I've heard.

Just my two cents...

 

I wasn't thinking about it from that perspective, but I do agree! This is why I don't go searching for sidework, especially during the nicer times of year.

But, it's not as bad when you're wasting time doing something you like.

I agree. But, I painted my bumper with Rustoleum and it looks fantastic. Also, the scratched areas are underneath the sliders (mostly) so you probably won't notice the touch-ups. I guess this could be an endorsement for powder coating as well.

I chose to have mine powder coated for the same reason, so no argument there. I ended up using them more than I initially expected, so now my use falls more in the second category.

I have heard that it's nice as well, but requires being coated with another product. Maybe I'm mistaken.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with mine as they're rusting around the welds that hold the top plates on. Part of me wants to remove the top plates altogether as mud really collects underneath them. OTOH, they catch a lot of rocks that get kicked up by the front tires and help protect the paint. Decisions.

 

I am a fan of the powder coat just for having them professionally sealed, then as time goes by if they need touching up it is pretty easy to do, just hit it with a rattle can. I like the durability of the powder in all the areas that do not get scraped or scratched so bad. Just my opinion.

 

So would you say it’s ok to do por, primer, then paint before installing? edit: would you also hit the frame with por beforehand also?

 

I used the POR etching prep first then the Primer followed by the paint then after that just enjoy. (do it in a very well ventilated area) and if you paint the frame make sure you let it cure well before installing anything against it because it will act like super glue.

 

Thanks for the detailed info, super helpful!

 

I imagine the frame is already coated with something similar to POR. Anyone know? The paint there seems very hard and durable. Nothing lasts forever, of course.

Doesn't POR need to be applied to bare metal? Which would mean sand-blasting the frame before application? I may be wrong there...

 

Just needs to be clean of loose material and scuff it up real good. I was first introduced to POR-15 when I was part time working at a classic car restoration Shop and Yes a completely clean down to the bare metal is always best however long as it is not a soft oil based type paint like what is used on exterior of houses it will bond good.