I finally got off my butt and cleaned the truck/car up today. I know the wheels are a wee bit dirty, but I ran out of wheel dressing.

 

okay, now for the questions. take a look at the pictures below





1. my front bumper has chips in the paint from rocks...and no, it isn't bugs/dirt. does look like though. what is a good fix for this? it ain't rusting yet, but I'm worried it might start.

also, my badges finally started peeling. so:

2a) are these bolted to the fender/tailgate, or just glued?
2b) what is a good cleaner to use to get all the paint off?

I want to paint the lettering orange (U of Texas colors)

thanks alot guys/girls

 

I've never seen badges peel like that! What caused it?

As for fixing the chips in the bumper, I just buy one of those bottles of Duplicolor touch-up paint bottles from Pep Boys. It has both a brush and ballpoint applicator.

 

I think it's just a case of bad paint compatibility to the aluminum of the badges. I've read about this happening with others, but thought I was gonna get missed by it. then I sprayed the badges with my hose and noticed it flaking off

I've thought about something like that to fix it...but I'm scared that the color won't match exactly...or that my "repair" will be obvious

 

IMO I think the badges would look pretty sweet all chrome. Lucky you your about half way there!

 

possibly acetone to get that last bit of paint off? and then painter up! I got one of those touchup pens from the dealer, with the ball point, may be a better route than pep boys as they can match it 100%

 

Actually, there are several F150s I have seen with that problem, which I noticed as a weird thing.
My dad's and mine are 2006 but his badges are already peeling, mine is an FX4 tough.

Giorgio

 

From what I was told there was a bad batch of Driver and Tailgate badges produced where the surface was not prepped prior to adding the black paint. This is what is causing the problems. Mine were replaced on my 06 last year under warranty.

 

you just need some new badges from billet badges.....


as for the bumper mine looks the same, when it gets bad enough ill switch to an 06+ bumper with round fogs....

 

patriotdecals.com! they have replacement letters for our badges!

 

thanks guys, but I'm going to do 1 of 2 things with those badges. I'm not to fond of the black lettering anyways.

1. order a new set of badges with a U of T Longhorn symbol
2. acetone the OEM badges and paint the lettering with Burnt Orange

 

are u originally from texas? or just a HOOK'EM fan?

 

born/raised in Austin, Texas and other areas for about 60 miles around

also doesn't hurt that I have family who retired from the Austin campus after 35 years

 

To get the paint off of the badges I believe some people have had success using 303 Aerospace Remover. Just be VERY careful with it around the paint.
Same thing happened to mine and I had them replaced through Ford. The new ones are starting to peel too. Not quite as bad as yours, but I just think it's a bad design with the badges. It'll probably happen to most of them eventually.

As for the bumper, as others have said, get the little touch-up paint with the ball-point tip. I used that after I scraped my bumper in a minor fender bender. Worked great. That little bottle saved me hundreds by not having to repaint my whole upper-bumper.

 

Give it a shot. It would be a unique little touch to your truck. If you don't like it just swap them out for the custom badges.