The grey fender flares on my 05 have faded pretty bad.

I would like to paint them without taking them off the truck.

What do I need to do to prep them for paint?

 

If your going to paint I would remove them from the truck. They aren't that hard to remove, I used Black Wow and Wow does that stuff work. Plus you don't have to remove them. Search and you will find a sticky with step by step info. Good luck and take lots of pics.

 

If the fender flares are just black plastic, like your door handles, you might be able to restore their black look by rubbing baby oil on them. I did my door handles a few days ago and they look great.
Just a thought that you might try

 

I know there is a thread on here somewhere about painting them, however, the search button isn't working for me today for some reason.

So I dug around a bit and found these few articles about painting plastics on these trucks. I think this should get you in the right direction to freshening up your flares...

https://www.f150online.com/forums/ar...lle-paint.html

https://www.f150online.com/forums/ar...4-08-f150.html

https://www.f150online.com/forums/ar...6k-waring.html

Have a look and maybe you should do a nice How To article on it!!!

Good Luck

-M

 

Mine are getting pretty faded too. Used to use Mothers Back to Black but even that isn't really working. So I ordered some stuff this week called Forever Black . It's not a dressing but rather a dye. It's should be here any day. I'll let ya know how it goes.

 

https://www.f150online.com/forums/ca...ore-after.html

 

Look Here: https://www.f150online.com/forums/20...-painting.html

I just painted mine a week or so ago and they turned out real nice.

If you take you time and tape well you wont have an issue if you leae them on the truck. And if you get a little bit of over spray somewhere you didn't want it. I dab of gas on a rag and walah no more paint.

 

Awesome Thanks!! Pretty pumped about it now. I ordered the trim and tires kits.

 

They are easy to take off...I did 2 of mine on the truck and took the other 2 off....would HIGHLY recommend taking them off.

They come off with some bolts being taken off and then use some needle nose pliers to pull out the black push pins.

If you want to pain on the truck grab some masking tape, some sand paper (600 grit will work) and some Krylon Fusion (works best I've found) and some spray on clear coat.

Tape off what you dont want to get paint on...lots of newspaper, you dont want ANY paint or clear on the truck, its a nightmare to get off.

Wet sand with 600 grit paper so the paint will stick (use some dawn dish soap and water in a bowl, dunk the paper in the bowl and then sand back and forth, not circular)

Then spray on 2-3 coats of paint, let it dry between coats

Then spray on 2 coats of clear coat, letting dry between coats.

Remove paper and you're done. Should last quite awhile. I painted mine about 2 years ago and still look great. I need to redo a part of my cowl that chipped from taking some gravel to it when I went camping this month.