Update: Faded Fender Flares

I have an 03 Taco with all black trim (fenders flares, bumpers, you name it). Being that it is a truck with over 10 years of sun the black plastic has faded. What are/is the best black plastic restorer out there? Also wondering any recommendations for tow straps or recovery straps (I might need to tow a few jeeps out)?

Thanks,
Liam

 

If you can pull the black fender flares off the truck I recommend spray paint you will never bring back the full black after 10 years

 

Magic eraser. Sounds stupid but it works. Take the magic eraser and scrub your plastics then wipe off the residue with a microfiber. Make sure you clean them first. Did this to my truck about a year ago and they still look good.

 

Paint. Magic erasers help a bit but not much

 

You can heat them up with a heat gun and they will be black again. It will last for a little while

 

saw this in a "how to" thread somewhere but its a lot of work and you risk deforming them and I suspected it wouldn't last long just by seeing the process

give that wipe new stuff a try and what the heck, if you have to redo it once a week or however it lasts its simple and easy thing to do.

myself, a truck is a truck and it aint supposed to be purdy but I also would like things to look good if I can without pampering it

 

I painted mine... Fender flares and front bumper plastic. There's a few pics and stuff in my build thread. I tried all kinds of "plastic restorers" and nothing really worked long term. The paint has held up well though...

 

The "As seen on TV" WIPE NEW for $25. I used that on a Dodge Caliber which had faded black plastic all of it. The results were deep, and shiny black. I was quite impressed. I used the whole bottle, which covered all the plastic on the car twice.

 

I use aerospace 303, it last about month at a time. Doesn't look new, but at least it's not getting anymore white. I haven't seen this yet, but how about plastidip.

 

1/2 steel chocker maybe about ten feet long, good for 2.5 tons in vertical/horizontal position. 1/2 shackle, rated for two tons depending on the angle its being pulled on. However, the chocker may be expensive. I keep a 3/8 chocker about 15' long and 2 3/8 shackle with m. I do a lot of rigging at work..

 

Nooo(plastidip). I did this and it was horrible. Even more so getting it back off. I used a heat gun and it worked really well. Went over it twice and it's just now starting to fade again 6 months later so I'll be going over it again. It's really quite easy to do, and no need to keep buying stuff. I got a write-up for it:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/restoring-faded-plastic-with-heat-gun-works-my-review.348248/

And I'm not saying the other stuff doesn't work.. I just prefer this method myself. Plus I occasionally off road and going through brush I didn't wanna worry about the paint scratching if I painted them. Plastidip was worse. Especially living on a dirt road. Any scratch/tear in the plastidip and it starts allowing dirt and dust and gunk to get in, then it just starts peeling/flaking away.

 

Tried to get that original black look on my 02 white tacoma. Didn't last more than a month. Ended up taking it to a body shop and they painted them white which made the truck look way cleaner and it was super cheap

 

I've been using armor all uv protector and it does a great job but it's kinda finicky to have to apply every month. If you don't wipe it off right or it gets wet it looks all streaky or gets water spotting. I think I'll try the magic eraser then apply some of the wipe new stuff.

 

We used plastidip on my buddy's jeep's flares which were damn near white. It worked fine but if your not good at using plastic dip it can look even worse because of running and bubbles

 

Take em off, and leave em off

 

VHT Enamel Black is what I used on mine.

 

Used a spare can of pep boys bedliner on mine but it looks like you got basically every possible suggestion. My only tip would be if you end up going the rattlecan route, take them off first. No matter how great you think you are at taping, there will be overspray

 

I didn't get any overspray... Though It took FOREVER to mask off all 4 flares. If I ever do it again I'll probably take them off and have them bedlined.

 

I would just paint them if you want it to last more than a month or so. I took mine off, sanded, primed, painted, and clear coated. Its been about 8 months and they look like I painted them yesterday. Before that I used plastidip but that didn't last more than a few weeks before tearing.
Before:

After:

 

if u want them to REALLY last, and be damn near bulletproof, take them off and have them lined with a bedliner like full metal jacket