Fender Flair Black Stuff

What are you guys using to make the fender flairs (and window trim) look nice and black again? I tried the Mother 'back to black', but didn't really do the trick.

 

I use a product named 303 Aerospace Protectant just to maintain the look.

There are some good all out trim refurbish threads in the detailing section also.

 

I would remove them from the truck and clean them exceptionally well. Then paint with SEM Trim Black

 

Holy cow, I never knew that thread existed.

 

Magic erasers made mine look nice and black again.

 

Surf City Garage “Black Max”. It doesn’t last that long, but it smells fantastic!

 

Will any of this stuff fix the "Milky Way"?

 

That's the best feature of the fiberglass flares!

 

Yep.. 99 models have painted fiberglass flairs. Here's a thread on how I made mine look like new.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/wheel-trim-refurbish-job-pictures.603564/

 

The ones on my Land Cruiser have it too. I occasionally touch em up with nail polish haha

 

black shoe polish

 

I just use stoner car care trim shine every couple weeks and it works fine, sometimes even if you protect them thou it still ends up screwing you over because most the damage comes from rocks and gravel that put indents and damage into the flare and not just discoloration

 

i used duplicolor bedliner on mine with some adhesion promoter as the first coat... came out looking awesome.

 

For the plastic, I used this stuff. It's got adhesion promoter mixed in so you don't really need to do any surface prep.

$23 SEM Trim Black Ultra Automotive Spray Paint - 14.5 Ounce Can

https://www.amazon.com/SEM-Black-Ultra-Automotive-Spray/dp/B07FSYT6SK

Although if you have chunks missing or anything significant on the surface, it will show through so keep that in mind.

Otherwise the stuff worked great and sprayed on real nice. Not cheap, but the guy's at the paint shop said it should last plenty long.

This is the best up close picture I have of how it turned out.

 

I haven't tried it yet - planning on getting some for the black section on the lower front bumper - but Brian knows his stuff and does good reviews: https://youtu.be/Toto97MRHBg

 

Plastidip

They were color matched but the clear was chipping off so I sanded them down and did like 4 or 5 coats with the rattle can.

No the best, but it’s taken like 3 or 4 years to show much wear. Might do spray on bed liner next time.

 

I’ve used Rustoleum bed liner on my skid plates. Looks good and has no sign of wear after one year. Going to try it on my flares next.

 

That thread has very detailed information about products and procedures. I followed his information and my results are excellent. They are still newly painted, so I can't tell what the long term prognosis is, but @CS_AR shows photos of work that has lasted. His recommendation of Satin Black Krylon was spot-on. {I get mine at Lowes; my Home Depot does not carry Krylon brand)
These are the screws needed if any of yours are missing. These work on many parts of the wheel well liner. [Info for my 2000 ExtraCab PreRunner; your specs may differ]. I could find these only at Toyota dealer.


The screws (above) go into these grommets (below). I found many missing in the wheel well; look for the square holes they insert into. These can be found much, much cheaper than the dealer. Purchased mine from eBay; search eBay for: 10: Fender Liner Mud Guard Screw Grommets For Toyota 90189-06157 USA Seller

Some of my existing grommets had no screws, some clips were damaged; I used a trim pry tool to pull the broad round head out to give me enough clearance for a hack-saw blade to cut the round part, and the square part released and fell to the ground.

 

FYI if you're gonna go the bedliner route, it's not gonna be easy to take off if you decide to change it up later down the line.

I bought some used flares that had remnants of bedliner on them and spent a good amount of time scraping away at it trying to remove it. Ended up gouging parts of the plastic in doing so as well.

 

Well, yeah, bedliner is essentially permanent. That's why I did the plastidip first. But also, I'm not one to want to constantly change the look of the truck just for giggles. My plastidip is starting to wear off, so I'll likely peal it off and throw on something more durable and permanent.