After blacking out my truck several weeks ago, I decided to to paint my FX4 Fender Flairs to match the Dark Shadow Gray of the truck. They were not as bad looking as some of the others on this site, but I wanted to paint them before they got any worse. For those who do not want to read the whole thread, here are the before and after pictures of the truck. From the before and after pictures, you will notice I also blacked out my SS Exhaust tips last weekend. I posted a few more pictures in the Exhaust section for those that are interested.

PTM FF Before:


PTM FF After:




I found the matching Duplicolor paint at my local auto parts store for $6.49 a can. It took me 2.5 cans of paint and 1 can of Duplicolor clear coat to paint all four of the fender flairs.

PTM FF Dark Shadow Gray Paint:


I know some members have removed their flairs, but I decided to paint them on the truck. The hardest part was the first layer of tape which had to be done in small pieces to follow the curve of the flairs. Each flair took me about 30 minutes to tape. From the second picture, you can see my driver license which I used to push the tape away from the edge of the flair. I tired using the red flattening tool, but it was too thick to get all they way to the edge.

PTM FF Tape Small Pieces Close:


PTM FF Front Tape:


PTM FF Rear Tape:


I used a different color tape to attach newspaper in a large pattern around the tape on each flair. I did find paint dust under the paper when I removed it, but it was easy to wipe off with windex and a rag. I did not see any over spray under the papered areas or the rest of the truck. I also taped and papered the inside of the front wheel wells, since I did not want to get Dark Shadow Gray paint on the black plastic. I did not protect the inside of the rear wheel wells because they were already DSG from the factory. I put a large towel over the wheel and one over the edge of the running boards as I painted each flair. I used three coats of paint and two lighter clear cloats.

PTM FF Front Paper (Already painted):


PTM FF Rear Paper (Not painted):


I used the lid of a card board box to block the paint from floating towards the truck as I was painting. This seemed to work well and was fairly easy to do as I painted around each flair.

As you will see, the paint was a pretty close match. The surface of the factory FX4 flairs is quite rough, so the color of the paint will never appear to match perfectly. I think they look very close in person.

PTM FF Front Done:


PTM FF Rear Done:


Let me know if you have any questions.

KR-Texas

 

I like it, looks sweet. I really need to paint mine, because 2 of them are faded pretty bad. I had the back 2 replaced under warranty for a problem so the front to look out of place in between detailing.

 

Looks good!

 

it looks 100% better.. good work!

 

looks good! now do the mirror covers!

 

That looks like a lot of work. I think it would have been easier to take the flares off.

Either way, looks great

 

I have dark stone on mine, do u think that I would be able to find that in the duplicolor paint? or do u have to order it?

 

Very nice!

 

He said he found it locally

 

I bet your back was hurting after taping off those flares.

 

looks good! nice job!

 

just wondering why you didn't take them off to do them?

 

Looks great and a hell of alot cheaper then a body shop!

 

dang that looks pretty good!

 

Looks great!