Painted fender flares?

I had the idea of just painting my fender flares since they’re so faded and I can’t keep up with restoring them all the time and new ones are too pricey for me right now.
Has anyone had any luck in painting them and turned out decent? Curious

 

I painted some on another truck I had with rust oleum paint for plastic, they turned out good. As long as you do good prep work the outcome should be good. Go for it!

 

Black or body color?

If black, Monstaliner is a good choice.

www.monstaliner.com

 

Works on just about any surface. It’s all about prep work as mentioned above. Denatured alcohol to clean the surface, some fine sand paper for any deep gouges, and spray away. Plenti of other users around have done the same. Holds up better than expected too w/ road/trail debris.

 

I agree with you on this. It holds up better than most would think and it's not permanent and it protects and its cheap. I mean cmon. But I will stand and weather the with you from the haters

 

This is from my experience.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...st-gen-edition.138573/page-9154#post-20982991

 

I was the biggest hater of them all till I did some heavy research on the product. People don’t understand. Most products work as intended when you prep and apply the product as directed. I did 11 coats of the dip, and 3 coats of the uv protectant, and it cost me less then 40 bucks. I have an aggressive tread and not even running mud flaps, and the paint looks like new. The more coats, the more protected, and rebound of road debris. Also, he’s requesting an alternate option of replacing because of cost. This is the cheapest route with positive results IMO.

 

I think I’ll be starting this on Monday. Ill post before and after shots. Thanks guys

 

If it’s the dip route (and going matte black). I found Home Depot sells it cheapest at like 6.75 a can. The uv protectant you can pick up at your local autozone provided you want to go the extra mile and get a few more years out of the paint, pending where you live and the climate.

Word of advice. Take the time with the prep and clean the absolute heck out of it. I’m a bit anal and prep took me maybe 2 hours for all 4 flares. That includes soapy water cleaning, then microfiber cloth with denatured alcohol, and final taping with paper and blue tape, plastic over wheels, etc. (no oil residue from your hands can be present)

I live in a humid climate, but sprayed in my garage (open door with fan blowing outward) and was able to spray one coat every 15 minutes w/o issue. I found shaking the can throughout each coat as well as cleaning the tip regularly made for a perfect spray. First 3-4 coats should be light (seeing base finish is normal), and all following coats can be built up heavier and heavier. Best of luck! I’m no pro, but like I said, spent way too much time researching so hopefully my rant helps a bit. Look forward to the before/afters.

 

As everyone mentioned, take your time and prep properly. Use a plastic friendly degreaser/wax remover and then a light sanding.

I went with

$29 Dupli-Color EPAE102 Premium Acrylic Enamel Spray Paint - Flat Black - 12 oz. Aerosol Can

Dupli-Color's Premium Acrylic Enamel Flat Black. PAE102 I believe. Didn't bother taping anything on the flare (rubber seal) - just spray evenly light coats and then on the 4th or 5th a heavier coat.

Did I mention prep-work?

This is what happens when you don't properly prep -




Satisfied with the end result -




Be sure to have clips on hand. They will break when removing the flares. No way around it. You'll need:

NWCLIPS 2001 Tacoma Fender Flare Clip Kit C42-43x4

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01A4MHYWA

AUTEX 20pcs Hood Fender Bumper Front Spoiler Clip Retainer Screw Grommet Fender Liner Fastener Rivet Compatible with Avalon Camry Land RAV4 Tacoma 4Runner

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D1FVF5O

Not sure if the clips are different for a 2001 vs 2002-04. Double check before ordering.

 

Sand them down well, a few coats of thick primer to fill in those chips, then sand and a few coats
of black paint and your good to go.
Almost like new

 

I did the plastidip thing on mine. Took them off to sanded them down because the clear coat was peeling off (color match flairs). 4 or 5 coats of plastidip and it turned out okay. It's one of those 30 foot paint jobs... looks okay from 30 feet away. Get up close and there's a few spots that chipped off. But it's also seen a fair amount of texas pinstriping, so I'm pretty happy with it.

When ever I end up doing it again, I'll just use something more permanent, maybe even a bedliner if I can get one with a smooth finish...

Don't really have a closeup, but this was how they looked a while ago.

 

Did you use a primer for the dip?

 

No primer needed for the plasti-dip route. Just a clean surface to begin with and you should have proper adhesion.

 

I’ve done 4 or 5 sets of 1st gen flares over the years and found that painting them on the truck with Rustoleum Universal Satin Black is the way to go.

It looks great and lasts. Prep work (masking) takes about the same time as removing the fenders but you don’t have to replace all the clips. Don’t worry about removing the gaskets.

2 cans at $6/ea will get you 4 light coats with some left over. As others have said, prep and masking is key.

 

I painted mine a couple of years ago. I went all out. Sanded them down, two coats of primer (sanded between each coat, painted them with oem paint and sprayed on a couple of coats of high gloss. I think it cost me around $100. They ended up looking amazing! I would suggest buying the new clips and rubber trim also. They also have something that clips in to a can of spray paint to make spraying easier. I would highly suggest that as well

 

I just did this for the second time (1st time lasted for 9 years). Purchased new clips and weather strip (I had a couple coming off) off Amazon. Sanded down any problem areas, 4 cans of Rustoleum flat bed liner (non-texture) and they look good as new. Throwing them back on this evening after applying the new weather strip to them. I think all in I'm out $60.

 

I was going to either paint my faded flares black or get new ones. After finding what they were hiding, I decided not to put them back on. It was a nightmare, but the body shop did a great job welding and matching paint.