Rock Sliders: Powder Coat v. Bedliner

Gettin' rock sliders soon, bare metal. Goal is to find something I can easily touch-up down the road, when I scuff them up off-roading.

Don't really care for grip when stepping out of the truck.

What's the best option for people who've gone thru the process, what are your experiences?

Would really like to keep costs at a minimum.

 

rattle can if you want easy touch ups. Bed liner and powder coat will both chip, powder more easily, if you hit them hard enough and then its game over. Bed liner you may be able to recoat if its a spray can but linex and rhino liner are another story. would you really want to go back and pay for them to spray again after each trip?

 

I went powder coat and wish I would have went rattle can. Ive beat mine up pretty good and although i kind of like the trail scars, i will eventually find a way to retouch it with a rattle can and hope it matches

 

I went back and forth between powder coat and rattle-can before installing my sliders. I ended up going with several coats of Rust-Oleum Self etching primer and then several coats of Rust-Oleum Bed liner. I made sure to clean the surface well with acetone before. Honestly so far I am pretty disappointed with how the are wearing. I fully expected any trail damage to scratch off the coating but after just one Colorado winter (a mild one at that) the finish on the supports wore off from normal driving and started to rust. The nice thing is that it was very easy to touch up while they were still on the truck and the touch ups blended seamlessly. There may be better rattle can products to use but i liked the slightly textured look of the bed liner. I've just accepted that I will have to touch them up once a year

 

I went rattle can and my brother went powdercoat. After many times offroading, they look exactly the same after making love to so many rocks etc. Guess who is happier they saved $400 NOT getting them powdercoated...

 

Rattle can them. Depending on how you get in and out the truck, your leg or pant leg can run the bed liner or linex which is rough and may not feel good dragging your leg over it.

 

I added ladder grip to mine. Talk about not feeling good..

 

Rattle can if your going to use them.

 

I got mine powdercoated basically just because it makes the topside grippy. My dogs like to use them as steps, which is why I got fill plates too. As they get scraped, it'll get rattlecanned for touchup.

Probably could have just used grip-tape or something but the powdercoat looks nice on the topside.

 

Home Depot bedliner spray. Just like rattle can but slightly better. And a large flat piece of cardboard to stick between sliders and the taco when you need to do touch ups. Simple and easy.

 

I powder coated and they have held up well. You can still rattlecan them. My skids are powedered yet look fine when i rattle can the scratches and dents. I'll rattle the sliders until they look bad at which point ill just have them repowedered

 

Powder coat is very nice. For some applications.

Not sure sliders is one of them

Take a look at www.monstaliner.com

You could roll/brush their product. Have a bit of texturized finish (but no rubber chip mess) UV protection and touch up ability.

If you want to be bold and step away from traditional black, you could pick a color that would accent your truck.

 

When you guys are referring to rattle-can, we are talking about rattle-can paint vs rattle-can bed-liner, right?

 

Rattle can paint.

 

If you use them:

Rust-Oleum truck bed coating (rattle can)
Or
Dupli - Color- Truck bed coating (rattle can)

Both holds up good, easy to touch up

 

Also, does anyone have recommendations on the specific product or process they used?

 

I chose powder this time.... I know what one winter in WV can do to standard paint. My area of concern with sliders are the area that you don't see after they are mounted...

 

For my sliders I degreased & cleaned them with isopropyl alcohol & scotch brite pads, 2 coats of rustoleum self etching primer, 2-3 coats of rustoleum professional high performance enamel in flat black. It was a process but saved me some $$ and they look awesome.

 

This.

 

^ +1