RCI Sliders Issues

OP when he notices frame rust

 

I bet the frame of your truck looks worse.

 

They took responsibility and gave you back 150, that seems fair to me. I ordered mine from rci bare and used rustoleum bed liner rattle can on them, they still look good after 1 year.

 

Now look under your truck at the frame, go complain about that too

 

My question is how many of these threads have there been lately? Jesus ducking Christ people. Take your powder coating refund be be happy.

 

Also go buy a can of cold galv spray on rust areas then hit with black rattle can.

 

@TacomaGTX yes it sucks, sorry you're having to deal with this issue. Fabricators do what they do...fabricate. Personally I think RCI did right on the customer service side.
What's I foresee in the future is the fabricators are not going deal with a PC option at all. Bare metal is what you get. They do what they do best and for most that does not include PCing.

 

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Powdercoat is a tricky area of our business because it CAN be the only vulnerable component of an otherwise bulletproof product. Of course we try to offer it as an option because not everyone has the time or is willing to prep and paint their own parts prior to install, not to mention we ship to a lot of dealers. Plus when done properly it an extremely durable finish. Considering the volume of parts we ship out coated, our supplier has an exceptionally low defect rate but it does happen from time to time. In the case of the OP our goal was to make it right one way or another because you shouldn't have that problem. That said, the key to powdercoat is preventing rust from spreading underneath the coating, and in this situation since you noticed it early, I would highly recommend touching up the affected areas with Krylon "Rust Tough" Semi-Flat Black paint. It is an identical match to that coating and can be easily done without taking the sliders off, just mask the rocker panels from over spray. I think you'll be very happy with the results if you try that route.

As a side note.... Did I mention we are installing a top of the line multi-stage powdercoating system in our brand new facility? Problem solved

 

I am looking into sliders myself. You have helped me to make my decision to get them painted, or to paint them myself. I am by no means a professional painter, but am confident enough to know that I can do it myself for less than the $150. From the photos, it seems to be minor surface rust. Clean it up, give it a light sanding, prime it and hit it with some glossy black paint. I wouldn't worry about removing them from the truck. Just mask it off well.

 

The OP has a valid gripe here, but it seems to me RCI made it right by refunding the cost of the coating.

I learned long ago to always buy bare metal. The chances of a part with high quality powder coat with no blemishes or shipping damage showing up at your door are slim to begin with. So don’t waste the time. Buy bare metal and find a local shop to do paint or powder coat.

I also live in the rust belt and know how hard the salt and weather can be on vehicles. It will find it’s way into the small crevices and it’s not long before the rust starts. But if you have a good quality powder coat job it will be years before it gets bad enough to remove and recoat. That is if you don’t sweat the small stuff.

 

I'm guessing they salt the roads in the OP's state.

 

I put mine on in NM about the same time and no issues

 

I use Rustoleum flat black for touch up. Blends well. If you're going to have sliders, they will get beat up and rust, essentially by definition.

 

I like to use rustoleum bed liner on areas that wont get bashed like the top of the step and bar with rubberized undercoating on the areas that will get bashed. Makes for quick clean up and touch up later on. If the undercoating starts looking nasty after a few recoats, a heat gun and a scraper cleans things up without sanding or chemicals and then I can respray.

Most paint stores have masking paper with tape built on for quick masking without needing to take parts off for cleaning and respray. It's a real time saver.

For rust I use Eastwoods acid etching followed by their paint prep spray to clean things up. I use a 14 inch drywall taping knife to protect the paint and rubber bits as I spray the etcher but I keep some water with some baking soda in it handy because I'm paranoid. The etcher is basically phosphoric acid but the bottle and sprayer seem to be made of tougher stuff which allows me to reuse it with regular phosphoric acid later to save $$$. The paint prep spray is just a nod to lazy over $$$ on my part. I've done this on car subframes, truck frames etc with good results. No reason you couldn't do the same on these rock guards. Shouldn't take much more than 1.5 - 2 hours start to finish.

 

RCI did the right thing. Take the $150 and get them professionally bed lined. No need to stress out about this.

 

Got my RCI sliders (And a full set of under armor) bare metal and used krylon primer and paint. No rust at all after 16 months. I'm in southern New Mexico where we rarely get snow and the roads are never salted so that might be a factor.

 

The bad thing is, western PA does not use Salt on the roads anymore. They use a chemical "brine" mixture that eats everything. Salt was bad enough on vehicles, but when they made the switch to the new chemical it has made things significantly worse. It accelerates rust and rot on all metals. Wiring harnesses are being eaten away, steel is corroding much faster than before. I really cant believe they are allowed to use that crap on the roads that causes so many problems with peoples vehicles. Just a few miles into Ohio, they use a sand, ash, very small gravel mixture in some smaller areas that works much better for traction on harsh roads.

Knowing that area, I can understand the feelings of the OP. Sucks putting hard earned money into something to have to re-do something in such a short time period. RCI did well in trying to make it right and glad to hear they are switching to their own powder coating process.

 

OP....be happy you got anything at all. The bumper I bought from RCI needed refabed just to go on my truck without contacting the bed. Their resolution......ignore my emails and do absolutely nothing. I wouldn't recommend them to anybody. Furthermore, they shouldn't even be a vendor on this forum. They aren't active on here

 

We have that Brine shit here in Ohio too, hate it.

 

Oh that sucks it branched out to Ohio as well. The only thing that stuff is good for is corroding metals. It is horrible when used on ice, it usually just makes more ice.