I'm down to my last option with my bed rails and am looking to go ahead and paint the damn things.

As a last resort before painting, I tried some Showroom Trim Restorer. All that I can say is that I'm very disappointed. While it produced acceptable results on my door and tailgate handle, the stuff just plain didn't work on my bed rails.

I tried putting a light coat on (didn't work) and then a heavy coat on (didn't work). Instead of the white faded color, I now have streaks all over my bed rails, and honestly, things look worse than they did before. It seems that others on this board have had great results with the stuff, but unfortunately it did not work out for me.

Which brings me to my ultimate question, for those of you that have painted your bed rails, what paint works the best so my rails will still match my handles? I figure the worst case scenario is that I end up throwing the damn things away and buying new OEM ones, even though they're wayyyyy overpriced.

Thanks for the help!
-Jon

 

Mother's Back to Black works for me and even has it shining for a week at the most.

You could stop by a local hardware store and pic up some spray cans of Krylon Fusion paint. Sand it down with 400, then 800, then prime and shoot with Krylon. I suggest leaving it on the bed unless you feel like breaking the clips. Its basically impossible to remove them without breaking them. I am still thinking about doing this process to mine, so post pics should you do it.

 

Hit the bed rails and tailgate cap with some matte/satin Krylon and you will be pleased. I only use trim restorer on my rubber seals. Plastics get painted and hyperdressed. No hassle that way.

 

I tried SHowroo New for the first time yesterday and what you describe is exactly the way I felt. I tried it on the trim on my rear bumper and I have to say I was disappointed and after seeing the streaks thought I had made a huge mistake. Then I applied hyperdressing like I normally do wiht all my trim and the results were amazing. The combo of the Showroom New and hyperdressing produced a darker and wetter looking black then I had ever seen in the past.

Now I'm thinking about hitting my pads on the stepbars next.

 

Satin Black Krylon Fusion

 

Another vote for Satin Black Krylon Fusion and you do not want to sand them. Just clean them well with enamal reducer, alcohol or anything else that will remove the stuff you've put on them. I painted the cowls and they are holding up well.

I have not painted my rails yet as I have had great success with Bondo Restore Black for the rails. Goes on evenly and last about 3 months.

 

Of course, you could always PTM them to the truck color. Not sure how that would look though.

 

not to hijack the thread, but anyone else's bed caps warp to hell in the sun?

 

I was thinking about painting my bed rails black, and then masking off the 4 raised ledges and painting them white. would that be a good idea or no?

 

No, mine catch a lot of sun and they have held their shap, just look bleached white unless I stain them.

 

Is the Krylon Fusion a must? Or is any black plastic spraypaint ok?

 

Fusion is the best solution as far as rattle can paint goes. It adheres very well to plastic. Its about the same cost, save yourself some headache and do it with the right paint.

 

I guess I havent looked hard enough but what stores carry it?

 

wal-mart, lowes, advanced auto, NAPA, AutoZone, O'rileys, etc

 

All the autoparts store near me, most hardware stores, wal-mart. Its very common in my neck of the woods.