So I finally got tired of my faded gray bed rail caps. Looked into buying new ones from ford, was about 60$ per side. So I went to checker and dropped about 15 bucks on some Dupli-color textered metalic paint and some prep spray. I also bout some Krylon fusion in flat black. I was worried the duplicolor would not be dark enough so I planned on going over it with the black, however once I got done I liked it so I left it alone. I used the write up in the tech article on how to paint these. I didnt follow it exactly but was close and I think everything came out very well. Here we go.

Started by removing the caps. They come off pretty easy. Broke 2 or 3 clips out of about 40 total.

This shows how faded these were before

Here are the products I used

I used some 220 grit sand paper to rough up the plastic and smooth any scrapes or scuffs I had. Then I sprayed it down with the prep spray and wiped clean. Here it is preped for paint.

Here is the first coat of textured dupli-color

Here is a shot showing a 1st coat and a 2nd coat

Here is the third and final coat


After it was dry I set the rail on the truck to see how it looked and decide if I was going to do black over it.



It looked very good so I decided to not do the black over it. I used a little silicone on the caps where I had broken clips to give a little tighter fit before snapping the caps back on. Here is the finished product.


I didnt do any clear over this but I may regret that later. Im thinking of doing my fender trim as well as my bumper step with this same paint in which case I probably will do a flat clear over it.

 

Looks like I found my next project! Thanks for the write up.

 

I assumed you also painted the cap on the tailgate too? Did you remove that or did you just tape around it and spray?

 

Looks great! But how do yo get your extension cords to do that?

 

looks gr8 !!!

 

Looks really good, nice work

 

Looks great, now wash your truck!
You definitely are going to regret not clear coating

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaEv9wm6gy0

 

haha ya with the extension cord deal its easier to show someone to than to explain it....

 

^ i agree...my dad showed me...its a good thing to learn!

 

Yes I pulled it off to paint it also.

 

[QUOTE=Yogi.kudos;4110640]Looks great, now wash your truck!
You definitely are going to regret not clear coating

Yeah I think your right. I may get some clear and do a coat with them on the truck.

 

Definitely. Way easier to deal with than rolled cords.

 

So thats what it looks like with caps removed huh. When I did mine I masked my bed off and went to work. I didn't use clear coat either and its actually held up perfectly fine.

https://www.f150online.com/forums/ar...nting-how.html

 

I hate how you have to have the rail caps on....I wish it was smooth on the rail so you could go without them..would look so much cleaner.

Has anyone had their bed rail caps coated with Line X when doing the bed? I have been wondering if this could be successfully done.

 

Yeah I actually used your write up as a guide. Thanks.