Sliders - What should I paint / line them with?

I used Krylon Rattle Can

 

I've tried krylon, cheap walmart spray paint, duplicolor spray paint, rustoleum spray paint, spray on bed liner, hammered finish

So far the hammered finish seems to be holding up the best but it's still shit. Nothing seems to last too long, especially once they put gravel/sand on the roads.

I'm gonna try appliance epoxy next and maybe put some grip tape on the cross supports as that's what gets hit the hardest.

 

I have mine lineX'd. Haven't had them very long but the stuff seems pretty tough.

 

Keep us posted. I'm curious how LineX holds up when put up against the rocks.

If you don't mind me asking how much $$$ was it to have them sprayed with LineX?

 

I had my rear bumper done at the same time. It was 1k, they warned me it would be alot because for round objects like sliders, there's alot of wasted material since they have to spray from so many angles. But I think in the long run the durability and texture will pay off.

 

Where did you pick up your sliders from? i have been looking at the sliders from Rocky Road Outfitters:

 

I got mine from Beefed. I love them! I've lost count how many times they have saved me.
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/beefed-taco/88531-beefed-sliders-05-aclb-4dsb.html

 

Thanks for the link to the Beefed thread. I sounds like everyone is really happy with em. I need to decide and buy before the Moab trip in May!

 

You had better decide quick I think I had to wait a couple months to get mine. Good builders like Beefed, ATO, B.A.M.F. Relentless etc. usually have a pretty big back log of orders. I just ordered a Relentless rear bumper and it's a 4 month wait.

Moab is going to be blast, I'm glad you're going

 

Note, I did just use Rustoleum Hammer finish... and it works perfect. Cheap, nice texture, takes all of two minutes to re-touch them up once in awhile when I get the bug to clean the truck up nice and get a nice fresh coat on there. Wouldn't go any other way.

I did prep them with just some 409 (lol), let dry, primered them well, then painted the first two coats before install. The base holds great, very little chipping here and there from rocks and of course bashing them against stuff takes the paint right off as expected (wouldn't matter what you used)

 

Hammered finish on my has been on since july or so and all the cross bars have taken a beating.

For the most part the rest of it is doing okay.

 

Hammered finish didn't last long on mine. Chips everywhere and as soon as it snowed, rust everywhere. Cleaned em all up and used the 16$/can martin senour Napa premium rubberized undercoat. We'll see how that holds up.

 

Thanks for the update. I'm also still looking for the perfect thing to paint mine with. I'm thinking the rubberized under coat will work because it should be less prone to chips.

 

This stuff is pretty thick too. Not like the crap 7$ can stuff that goes on a like a coat of rattle can.

 

just painted mine with duplicolor bed armor today, will see how it goes. Rustoleum didn't last long this winter

 

Let us know how it hold up.

 

Find a GOOD shop that does proper powder coating. If prepped right and applied properly powder coating is very durable. My Pelfrebuilt plate bumper will be powder coated once it gets here, and slider will too when I can afford them.

If you are really tight on funds rattle can them and touch them up as needed. BUT clean the sliders really well before you paint them. Preparation is all important!

 

I just got my Famous Fabrication sliders on my truck and I thought I would weight in on this topic for those still deciding on what they want to coat their sliders with (this thread was a big help while I was deciding).



I decided to get mine Line-X'd. I went back and forth on what I was going to coat them with. I first bought Rustoleum black spray paint, because it would be the easiest to touch up, but then realized that I wouldn't really get the chance to beat them up against rocks for a number of years. I will be in training for the next 6-8 months, and then I PCS to Ft. Hood, TX - probably won't run into a lot of rocks there. I didn't want to have to touch them up because of gravel roads or the weather. I then bought some Herculiner on a whim, but before I applied it, I looked it up on here and other sites. I read that it would hold up against rock chips (gravel roads) and weather, but would eventually fade and flake/chip off after 3-5 years. This would be right around the time I hopefully PCS from Ft. Hood, but I wanted the coating to last a bit longer than that. Finally I pulled the trigger on having them Line-X'd. It was $125 for both of them, and it comes with a lifetime warranty. I figure if they get banged up in a few years, I can have them touched up / recoated. Until then, they should continue to look great.

During the install, I got really familiar with how tough the Line-X is. I had to use a 3.5 ton hydraulic jack to press my sliders into place (tolerance issues due to thickness of Line-X; see below). I was worried at first that the steel cup on the jack would mar the Line-X with all that pressure, but it held up. I could see where it "dented" a little bit, but eventually it faded away (regained original thickness) and can no longer be seen. We also dropped them several times, dragged them across the asphalt, etc., all with no damage to the coating. I am pretty impressed with it so far.

Here is a few more pictures of them:







I also wanted to point out to anyone that is considering having their Famous Fabrication sliders Line-X'd, that there will be fitment issues due to the tight tolerances and the thickness of the Line-X coating. I had issues pressing the "U-hook" (see photo below) at the front of the sliders up into place. The combination of the thick Line-X coating and the fact that there is a weld in the corner of the two frame members required a hydraulic jack (lifting the truck up off the ground) to bend the "hook" around the frame and into place. If one is careful, this can be done without damaging anything, but I was expecting to be able to hold them in place with our hands and bolt them up - this was not the case. The jack make it nice though because it held them up for us, limiting muscular fatigue.



Also, the only factory bolt that we were required to reuse was rendered useless by the thick Line-X coating. It was just too short to thread back into the fixed nut in the frame member. I picked up a new M10 x 1.25 grade 8 bolt at an Ace Hardware that was 0.5" longer to replace it. The factory bolt is a grade 10 bolt (I believe), and I may end up replacing the one I have in now with a longer grade 10, but I needed something to help with alignment during the install. The new bolt can be seen in the picture below (the only silver bolt, bolting into the bottom of the frame rail).



If anyone has any other questions, I'd be happy to answer them. I will keep up with this thread to track how the Line-X holds over time and use. I hope this was helpful!

Hunter

 

I got a nice set of Demello Sliders Line-X'd for the wifes 4Runner and not even a week later, she cuts the biggest curb she could find too close, and BAM! Gouged down to bare metal. When the day comes I get some for the Tacoma its getting rattle canned so when I scratch the wheeling, its an easy fix.

 

X2

I line X'ed mine.. After a couple trips in the rocks I wish I would have rattle caned them. The Line X holds up tough, once it is scrapped and gouged it peals like no other.. It sucks cause there is no fix for it.. Maybe super glue if you have the pieces left over..

Spray can for the win!