THE PLASTI-DIP MEGA THREAD!!!!!!

Has anyone ever tried the clear plasti dip and used it as a replacement for 3M rock guard? If you put enough coats of PD, it should hold up right?

 

did my emblems last night but messed up on one on the tailgate some i will be re doing that later other than that its a whole new look glad i did it my wheels are holding up good been through the car wash and on some trails.

 

Plasti dipped bumper

Before-



After-

 

nice!

 

Dipped my emblems yesterday. As you can see it started raining and i was doing it at my apartment complex but got under a covered area. Painting was fun, masking things off was not. Wheels and Bumper are today, maybe the grille too.

 

About to dip my grille until I can get it colormatched at the body shop

 

OK guys... I just bought three cans of the spray and I'm about to take the plunge. Before I do so can someone give me some pointers? I'm going to be painting the simulated beadlocks on my wheels

I heard its "best" to do this in a low-humidity environment, I live in Houston and the humidity is very high here. Will most likely be doing this outside in my driveway

What should I put on my wheels before I put the plasti dip on? I'm obviously going to clean it with water but what else should I do?

I also thought about getting the glossifier spray but didn't.. anyone used this and liked it? I just figured it was unnecessary

 

Also any other feedback or recommendations would be appreciated!

 

I've not had any problems using PD in my driveway in the humidity. Wash the surface well, then clean again with rubbing alcohol. Without the glossifier the PD will have a matte/satin look to it. I've never used the glossifier myself, but it depends on what you want it to look like in the end. Of course, I love the look of the TRD wheels, so I wouldn't be derping them anyway. *shrug*

 

Humidity didnt affect me when I did it in the middle of the summer lol you should be fine

I didnt use rubbing alcohol i just used car wash soap and water and it worked fine.

 

Use rubbing alcohol to clean because it evaporates/dries very quick and effectively.

Since it will be humid I can only suggest applying your coats very thin and just lay maybe 7-8 very thin coats rather than 4 average coats.

Dry time between coats will be crucial since the humidity will slow your dry time.

Good luck.

 

The other posters are correct. Make sure that you use rubbing alcohol to clean. I used(rubbing alcohol) on my emblems on a first project and it turned out great. I've used the Glossifier spray and it's okay. I did it on my fuel door. Since that I used a lot of it, in certain light, angles, it blends in with the truck. I also think it might because the truck is dirty. In this picture you can tell a difference. I also put the glossy on my emblems and I didn't really notice any difference.

Are you taking the wheels off the truck or dipping them mounted to the vehicle?

 

I actually used the Glossifier and it worked great, had to do about 4 coats until it started getting really glossy. One or two coats just has a satin kinda finish

 

I had dipped the glossy silver with stereo controls on the steering wheel. It turned out pretty well. There are some spots where the painters tape took some of the dip off around the controls, that's pretty much it. I did a great job for my first time.

I had redone my roof console because of the first time I did it, there was bubbles everywhere and I was too lazy at the time to fix it. Now it's perfect.

Stay tuned, I have a lot of more projects to come.

 

Get an Xacto knife. This stuff doesn't act like spray paint, if you just grab the tape and yank, you'll pull off half of what you just sprayed on.

I kinda cheated with mine, since it's not a high-viz area: I masked off, sprayed, then yanked the tape while it was still wet (this stuff doesn't really run). Repeated twice. Not the finish I'd want on a bumper or area where people would scrutinize, but for the little cutouts that are half-shaded already, it worked just fine.

 

You have to have a steady hand to when it comes to using an Exacto Knife. Really clean the areas that you are going to PD. You should allow a bit of drying time before you take the tape off. But not so much drying time to where it's going to be totally dry, then you will take all the dip off. It's a trial and error process, takes time, practice, patients.

 

Did my radio and the surround. Sorry it's sideways.

 

Wow guys... thanks alot for all the feedback! I really appreciate it

So my initial concerns have all been resolved. Looks like the humidity won't be a big deal and I should clean with water first then put rubbing alcohol before the PD. And I think I will buy a can or two of the glossifier and try that out as well.

There were a couple of you who had some VERY valid points which I didn't think about. (Item 9 and Blze001)

Applying coats vs masking efforts: I will be doing all 4 of my wheels on my truck. I will be paying careful attention to my masking which means I will be spending a lot of time on it. Since I forgot about the PD ripping off when I unmask.. what should I do? If I'm expected to apply 7-8 coats of this stuff, unmask, remask, then reapply each time its going to be a PITA. I was originaly going to mask, paint, unmask and be done... but if I do that it sounds like I will just peel the PD right off afterwards.

 

How are you masking? I used index cards, like a lot of others on here have, and I didn't have any issues with ripping anything off after I was done, just gotta pay attention. I applied my coats and removed the cards after the final coat and let em sit over-night. You might consider dipping them off your truck, it might be more work up front, but i think it coats em more evenly and you don't run the risk of any running if u accidentally go heavy on the spray. 7-8 coats seems a little overboard, I did 4 coats and it turned out fine, and I didn't have any issues when I peeled it all off. Just my $0.02

 

Derped my lower valence today just cuzzzz....