Painted fender flares on my 2004

well I finally did it!

anyways, I herculined the flares a while back and it came out horrible because my flares were color matched red impulse pearl. I hated the turn out of the herculiner so thats when I decided to buy bushwackers. Im sure most of you remember the huge problem I had with the bushwacker fender flares! they only fit the 95-2000 model. the 01-04 has holes in the body, that the flares from bushwacker didnt cover up

so. I had a friend of mine paint my stock flares flat/matte black for me. he did a horrible job!!! so I got the flares back from him. he did a decent job on them but I can tell he did not take his time at all.smudges, runs, light spots, etc etc...

So I decide to get some 320 grit sand paper (pad) and do this myself. So I sanded them down good and bought some of these small blue towel things that are made for cleaning these surfaces without leaving lint, or residue, that will prevent a good (stick)

after some good research i hear that the brand SEM is a real good auto paint to use. I heard of a few guys using this particular paint.-SEM flexible bumper coater, flat black- let me tell you this shit is awesome! its the exact color I wanted and looks and sticks great! it was also $16 a can, but well worth it. 2 cans covers all 4 flares.more than enough... after painting the flares they look great, and when thay are out in the sun they actually look like a dark dark grey, like the OEM flares.. which I like because they match the front bumper valence and side mirrors perfectly!

heres some pics of what i used, and the flares.. I am letting them sit for awhile before I install. I will post the before and after pic as soon as I can. only thing now is how long will they last???? if anyone has used this SEM paint, let me know how your is holding up. thanks guys

 

this paint is the effin shit..

had to add that...

 

Looks great, glad you were able to save them

 

sorry, why was it that you didn't like the herculiner?
i'm thinking of doing a munch of this on my 03 and am wondering what your issue with it was?

 

im not saying herculiner in general is bad, if its done right, it looks great! many guys on here have done it right and it looks awesome, but me on the other hand rushed the job and it came out horrible

but lesson learned...

 

just for reference. what do you think you did wrong? or what would you do different in hind-sight?

thanks,
AD

 

nice job, youll have to show us another pic once theyre installed

 

definately sand the fenders down before you paint, and also after you sand them make sure you clean them very well

main thing is preparation! prep is key

if i could go back, I would have taken more time with the herculiner, and prep better.

but Im glad it worked out the way it did, I love the SEM paint

 

cheers!
that's pretty much what i figured. everything always seems to come down to prep!

AD

 

I got the fenders installed, it came out great. ive got some before and after pics, so here you go, I also removed the pin stripes and removed the rear door rain guards. I did not like the rears ones, but heres some before and afters! let me know what you think!!!

also soon to come-- BFG a/t's 265/75/16 also possible lift down the road, but for now stock will do.

BEFORE-








AFTER-

















and I had to take a pic of my new steering wheel cover

 

they look clean, really well done. but IMO colormatched looks better

 

thanks man, yeah I dont know what it is but I have always wanted black flares.even when i was shopping for a tacoma i wanted one woth the black flares but I could never find one. I cant stand color matched! but next project is to do the door handles too

 

The black really sets the look apart from others. I am a Browning guy too. Nice wheel wrap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

at least they dont look ugly

they look like they were done professionally!

 

haha, get errrr done!!!!!

 

Wow those look great! I've always wanted color match flares but now I think I'll just repaint mine as well. Thanks for the motivation

Time to search ebay for some cheap plastic clips...

 

Color matched looks way better, like the flares weren't an afterthought.

 

no problem man. I highly recommend the paint I used. SEM bumper coating, flat black. it matches the OEM black flares perfectly!!

but im sure you know, just prep them good first. the better the prep, the longer they will last.

dont get me wrong, i just put this paint on 2 days ago, so i dont know how long it will last. all i can tell you is that i was recommended to use this from a few different people, and i can say it looks, sticks, and goes on smoother than any other paint ive used. from what i hear I should get a good 2 years or more before fading, but its easy as hell to re-paint them

good luck

 

i like the blk flares, makes it look more rugged...wonder how itd do on a second gen..

 

?
not tryin to be a dick, but what exactly do you mean? what you said makes no sense at all