Tried painted my chrome nerf bars a while back but wasn't very smart about it and needless to say they chipped like nobody's business. Paint was coming off in flakes several inches long.

I got tired of my leather seats getting worn out so much from getting in and out without rails, so I decided to put them back on. I'm doing this more for the functionality over the looks.

Took them over to our sandblaster at the place I intern and took all the chrome off. It was a perfect surface to paint on. Used self-etching primer (3 coats), gloss black paint (4 coats), and clear coat (4 coats). Hoping this stuff holds. The hardest part was getting the top step pads off. Whoever designed how these pads go on should be patted on the back for how easy they go on, but should be shot for how difficult it is to take them off.

I'd be willing to say 95% of the time the first clip you pry off will always break. I broke the first one on each of my step pads. The rest I got out without too much issue. Also took the end caps off. I did all this to get an even coat on the rails, instead of having a line of paint right at the pads (which would chip so much easier).


Meh enough talking--here's some pics. It's been raining all day, but I think the paint matches the truck color really well :

 

Looks awesome Matt Boy that is one nice looking rig

 

looks nice, nice truck also.

 

Nice job! Looks great!

 

Looks great!...and a nice truck

 

Looks pretty good.. I re-did mine the same way about a year ago minus the sandblasting.. I took the easy route the first time around and paid for it with flaking paint near the pads..

Mine's been holding up great.. I have like a couple small chips on either side from where people have opened there doors into my steps, but atleast they saved me from a door ding!

 

Matt it looks awesome !!!! I need to do it to mine too...I need something on mine that is somewhat aggressive. Mine get really slick when they are Wet....Love the pics

 

Thanks guys! I'll keep an update on how they hold up.

Yeah man that's another plus is door dings. I've accumulated three in the past month from campus. I couldn't have gotten the pads off without your help a while back. I forgot to print off that pic you took of the pads off the rails but I remembered what to do at work when we went to sandblast them. It was still a PITA, though, and I couldn't avoid breaking the first ones. Went back on like a charm, though. Thanks, bud.

Thanks, Jeff. I've seen a lot of people get theirs Line-X'd with no problems. From what I remember it runs a little over a hundred bucks. The only reason I didn't send mine off for that is because money is somewhat tight atm, so I'm picking and choosing mods wisely. This was something I could do that was inexpensive. How goes the exhaust?

 

looks great, but since you blasted them yourself why didn't you get them powdercoated? would of been like 100 tops to get them both done if that

 

 

Looks good man. I know what you mean about how much those step pads are a pain to get off. I realized that when getting all the step pads off my rear bumper to get lined.

Now that they are painted when you have the cash and want to line them it'll be alot cheaper since they are painted. My rear bumper cost 35 to get lined since I got a painted one

 

Steps look really good

 

Those look great!!I did mine using KR-Texas's method and has held up great for 6 months now. It cost me all of 15 dollars for primer and paint.

 

Looks great... Nice...

 

Looking good man. I'm going to have to re-do my Roush grill this spring because mine has chrome spots all over it. Looks hideous upclose.

So you have still made it this far without a windshield ticket, looks great