Fender Trim Dilemma

The previous owner of my 2001 taco noticed that the fender trim was fading, so he decided to paint it instead of using the blowtorch de-oxidation trick. Now the fender trim is covered in a layer of ugly black paint which probably looks worse than the faded fenders did. I thought I'd cast a line out for some ideas. Ideally, I could get the paint off somehow and restore the trim pieces, but the best I've come up with so far is to sand them smooth and paint them with bed liner.

 

If you take them off to try to fix that mess you’ll probably need these. Well spent $12

NWCLIPS 2004 Tacoma Fender Flare Clip Kit C42-43x4

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01A4NDVKI?ref=ppx_pop_dt_b_asin_title

 

X2 on new ones. Yea that looks bad. Don’t blame you.

If you don’t want to search for new ones, I just herculined mine today and waiting for them to dry. I sanded the crap out of them and hit them with mineral spirits. Three coats each. Not sure how it will hold up but I’m excited to see. Been fenderless for 6 months. Just an option for you.

 

I used satin black rustoleum rubber coating, and not only was it easy to apply, it looked oem to me. I seriously half assed the application and it turned out very well. Considering the price and availability of replacements I would give it a try. I don’t usually advocate for plasti-dip style stuff but this seems like exactly the time to try it.

https://www.acehardware.com/departm...SrGABo3kGuNH_diKEyMaAsxVEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

edit: I have since painted my fenders, but I feel that the rubber coating was more true to the oem look. If I could go back in time I wouldn’t have painted. Also know that the rubber was a pita to remove when I went to paint.

 

awesome thanks for the info

 

Good god did they use a brush?

Are you sure they were the black plastic ones? If they were color matched, it might make more sense he tried to paint them (and failed).

I did something similar to @ijm01PR where I sanded down my color matched ones (clear coat chipping off) but I used plastidip. Looked great for a couple years but if I were to do it again, I'd do like he did and use bedliner. Just much more durable...

Definitely get those clips, you almost always break most of them getting them off. Keep track of where the red and blue ones go...

 

The heat gun method is very temporary. The flare HDPE will oxidize within a few months time and looked faded.

The best method in terms of durability and longevity is to properly paint them.

In your case I would:

1. Remove the fender flares (get new clips as mentioned above)

2. Sand the flare so that it smooth. If you use lower grit to get the shitty paint job off work your way to higher/finer grit so that the flare is smooth with very light scratching (for better mechanical adhesion)

3. From this point on wear clean nitrile gloves to keep your finger/hand oils off the flare. Clean the flare with acetone or some sort of prep wipe.

4. If you are happy with the smoothness of the flare use an adhesion promoter meant for plastics.

5. Spray paint with whatever color enamel spray paint you want. If going black I like the look of a semi-gloss.

6. Let dry for recommended cure time on can.

I also prefer not to use a clear coat because it’s a lot easier to touch up if there is none applied.

 

Alternatively, I cleaned mine with the glass cleaner and paper towels I had rolling around my floorboards, stuck some cut up cereal box between the fender and the flare to mask off, then did three light coats of the rustoleum plasti dip. Took 10 minutes per flare and lasted several years with no issues.

 

Another choice for clips:

$9 XQSM 26 PCS Fender Flare Retainer Clips Compatible with Toyota Tacoma 2001-2004 Fender Flare Retainer Clip Replace 90904-6703690904-67037

https://www.amazon.com/XQSM-Compati...37------------&vehicleName=2004+Toyota+Tacoma

 

You could easilly strip the paint off of those with some paint stripper and a pressure washer. I've done it before on auto trim.

 

I took mine off and sanded them with 40 grit sandpaper. Then used Herculiner bed coating. I saw someone post pictures of their red Taco and I really liked the look. I will send pictures when I get the chance

 

I painted mine with black Raptor, two years ago. They look just the same today. Check my build thread for more detail on the whole
Raptor paint job.

 

1. I’m sure they’re the black plastic fender flares.

2. I’m gonna try paint stripper to get the paint off. Plan B is sanding + herculiner. I’ll post photos once I clean up this disaster.

 

I had mine Rhino lined at a shop the same time they did my rear tube bumper for me. They did my step bars also. No fading and practically zero wear. I used to use the heat gun approach but as others said, the short term fix got old.

 

Update: I found a plastic-safe paint and varnish remover which did the trick perfectly. Didn’t even have to remove the trim. Some of the paint spots were stubborn so there’s still some remover on there in the photos. Also attaching the product I used…

 

Always great when something actually works good.