I also posted this on the appearance products forum, so forgive me for the double post. I have an 06 F150 Supercab with a mint set of the chrome factory steps. My truck is silver, and I am thinking that the black ones would look better. I have seen a few posts on painting them. My question is, what have you guys found that is durable. Most of my driving is on the road, but I hunt and fish regularly and want something that can take abuse. Also, some say to paint over the plastic step areas, some say not to, any good reasons either way? I would think it would be easier to paint over them and not have to worry about taping them off, but would it come off really easy? Thanks in advice for the advice in advance.

I would be interested in trading for a set of the stock black steps. I'm in Memphis, if someone around here was interested, that would be great we can swap them in a parking lot real quick, or if someone wanted to pay the freight for thier end, I will for mine, if it isn't too outrageus. Please email me at meeshforty@hotmail.com. Thanks.

 

Well, personally I would just paint it. I blackedout my OEM chrome step bar on my new 08 FX4 and couldn't be happier. Pick up some Rustoleum enamel spray from your local Wal-Mart or Home Depot and spray it all up. You would need Primer/Gloss Black/Clear, some 300 to 600 grit sandpaper, and masking tape. All in all, your looking at maybe $15 tops.

First, unmount the step bar, but not the mounting brackets. Clean the bar, and sand it down with your sandpaper of choice until it looks nice and scratchy, then clean again. Mask off the plastic step pads, but make sure you dont cover the chrome (It's better to paint a little plastic, rather than miss and have chrome show through.) After it's sanded, cleaned, and masked, you're good to go. When spraying, make multiple thin coats, reapply every 10 minutes, (3 coats per side) which should take to about an hour for each paint step. Repeast the same procedure for the Gloss Black and Clear, and you're good to go.

I did this on my truck, and it's held up pretty well, I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

 

check my gallery... see if you like/want mine...

 

shipping sucks btw... but im looking for a change... so i dont mind

 

I found someone around here who I think is gonna help me paint mine. If that falls through, I'll let you know though.
Zeruin, how important do you think the clear is? Do you think if I used some of the Duplicolor Spray on bedliner cans it would stick? I'm assuming that stuff wouldn't need clear? Thanks.

 

i painted mine with krylon fusion satin black. they are holding up good

 

Did you just scuff em up, clean em and spray em? Over the plastic and all? No clear or primer?

 

Couldn't you just Line-X em?

 

^^ I'm with txnole, Line-X would look good and easy to keep clean.

 

I'm guessing this would be the way to go if you are looking at rattle canning them

 

Well the only purpose I've seen in adding the clear is just the extra added durability in preventing chipping and fading. The clear also seems to add an additional waterproofing seal, water beads off nicely. Duplicolor is a nice brand to go with, I personally haven't had the chance to use their truck bed coating yet, but it looks like it should hold up and give you a more rugged look, and it should stick to the step bar pretty well, it has adhesion promoter built in the formula. Either way, make sure you sand (provides mechanical adhesion) and clean (prevents contaminants from preventing adhesion) before you spray.

 

after seeing pics of Zeruin's truck, I'm a fan of the Rattle can job...in either Satin or Matte Black...I'm leaning towards Matte so the steps tie in with the Fender flares and window molding.

you get 2 benefits of the rattle can job.
1. any chips or dings show up, take 5 seconds and spray some more paint down.
2. CHEAP, CHEAP, CHEAP

btw, what do y'all use to clean the steps after sanding? alcohol, acetone

 

i scuffed mine up with a red scotch brite pad,and used windex to clean up after sanding.. then put 2 coats of duplicolor trim paint(because of its super adhesion qualities). then 3 coats of krylon fusion satin black paint.