Coatings for Aluminum

I'm currently almost halfway done with aluminum front and rear bumpers, with sliders up next. Pictures will come as more pieces get tacked up this weekend.
The idea for this truck is to keep things as lightweight as possible; it's a hunting vehicle rather than a dedicated offroader. The original (and still ideal) plan was to have everything Type III hardcoat anodized. Depending on cost and a local vendor that's still my preference.
For those of you with aluminum skids/bumpers/sliders, what kind of coating is on them and how do you like it? It seems that Type III hardcoat would be ideal, but difficult to source. Powdercoating is another logical option, but nearly as expensive and far less durable. Most bed liners are compatible with aluminum, so that's another option.
Let me know what your experience with different coatings is, and if anyone knows of an anodizer on the Colorado front range that can do big parts I'd be very interested.

 

I’ve never seen anything the size of a bumper anodized. Most are powder coated, and a good thick powder coating will last a long time

paint is fine too, if done professionally

 

Well done spray paint is my go to because it gives me the option to easily fix up areas that get messed up. In a perfect world, yeah, powder coat. But Im drilling/welding/scratching my stuff all the time and being able to maintain it at home rather than have to take it off and get it recoated somewhere to match ends up being the best option.

 

You might be able to anodize these parts at home. I've done small parts, flashlight bodies before in a small tank using a battery charger. Even if you don't end up with a true type 3 thickness growth of the oxide layer, it's essentially never going to be "bare." The biggest hassle is going to dying the finish coat on a piece that big. Surface finish is a huge determining factor in how well the oxide layer takes up the dye. Some sort of brushed finish is your best bet, on a skid plate, before dyeing.

 

I've considered that as well. Turning a livestock trough into an anodizing tank is on the list of options, but the cost is pretty high. It would cost about $700 to anodize everything, and would require neutralizing the acid before disposing of it. It's just not economical for one use unfortunately.

Here's the front all tacked up:

 

Maybe get a plastic welder and see if you can chop and splice a couple large plastic tubs together instead of buying a water trough? That would save you some cash for sure.

 

I already have a trough. The sulfuric acid is $80/gallon and this would require ~6 gallons plus the dye. It still remains to be seen what a local anodizer would charge, but probably more than it seems worth it to pay.

 

www.monstaliner.com

 

Maybe get a plastic welder and see if you can chop and splice a couple large plastic tubs together instead of buying a water trough? That would save you some cash for sure.

 

Car batteries at the airport long term parking are free man

 

raptor liner. gonna be much tougher (than the usual) and still fairly easy to touch up in much the same way as spraypaint. as ever, its all about the prep. better prep, better end result.

 

Are these going to be show truck bumpers or real armor for off roading?

Anodizing is a GREAT finish and provides good protection but it's not great for something that is gonna get scratched. Anodizing is only so thick so it won't take much to scratch thru it and then you've exposed raw aluminum. And, there's no good way to touch that up without applying another type of coating like paint. For something that you don't expect to get any big scratches in, anodize would be great. But if you plan on abusing them I'd opt for a paint for it's ease of touching up.

 

no, anodizing is not great for any kind of protection at all, its applied via electrical current etc etc. its not like its a mile thick, there's hardly anything to it at all.

 

Looks like either Raptor Liner or Monstaliner is going to get the nod for this project. The truck is a hunting truck so it doesn't see the abuse of a dedicated wheeling rig, hence the aluminum vs steel armor. All of the fab and welding should be done Wednesday, it will all get installed sometime in August. More pics to come once everything is on the truck.

 

What grade aluminum did you use? Seems skid plates, etc are isually 5052 or similar aluminum which is more corrosion resistant than some so you can get away without finishing from a corrosion perspective.

You can also do something like alodine with or without paint to give it s bit of protection without annodizing.

 

My Pelfreybilt aluminum bumper is coated in Line-X. My fenders are in Bullet Liner. Both have been great.

 

If you wanted to go with a raw aluminum look Sharkhyde is really nice used ii on my motorcycle and if you have ever watched Fab Forums on YouTube his entire custom car is done in it.

 

I used a self-etching primer for aluminum, and then heavy-duty enamel spray paint over that. The primer has and continues to be bonded fairly well to the aluminum scuffed up with 80 grit sandpaper. Initially the enamel paint was a bit delicate, and didn't bond to well to the primer. However, give more time for the paint to cure (say a couple weeks), it's on there pretty good now. Using heat to cure the paint might have helped here. A different type of top coat paint might also be better suited for self etching primer (I didn't do any research on this).

 

Anodizing is easy. Boiling hot enough to set the dye is something else.