Here is my write up for re-painting faded bed rail caps. This will work for any '97+ truck.

Sick of gray faded trim and tired of applying dressings and dyes that only need to be re-applied after & after? Then paint them! Products used, and necessities..

400, and 1000 Grit Sand Paper
2 Roles of Painters Tape
A S$%@ Load of Newspaper
2 cans of Dupli Color Plastic Adhesion Promoter
1 can of Krylon Grey Primer
2 cans of Krylon Fushion Satin Black

I did not take any before shots, but my caps were pretty faded and white spotted. This is about the closest shot I have displaying a rail cap zoomed in from a different purpose photo.




First Step, Preparation.

I began by spraying some Simple Green onto a cloth and scrubbing the bed rail caps real well for a thorough cleaning. I did not remove the bed caps because I've never seen it done, and I did not have any glue at hand for re-applying, and did not want to go through a huge hassle. I masked with a small margin of tape under the caps to prevent any over spray and wrapped along the entire truck bed, and tailgate.

( also in the process of painting the rail caps, I was painting the rock guards up front, and on the bed using same method )


I then grabbed the s$%@ load of news paper, began unfolding and taping it to the truck bed outside, inside, on the tailgate, in the cracks of where the bed and cab meet, and the rear windows.







Second Step, Priming.

Because I could not find any black primer, I settled with the gray Krylon primer. I first sprayed the caps with the adhesion promoter, I did two layers with 10 minute intervals. I did two layers of primer with also 10 minute intervals, and sanded with 1000 grit between layers.








I do have some nicks and etches in my caps, but I did not bother sanding them all down flush.



Third Step, Painting.

I used everybody's favorite, Krylon Fushion Satin Black for paint. I sprayed the caps once for with adhesion promoter to ensure a definite paint hold. Followed up with the actual paint. I did 3 light layers, 10 minutes in-between, and 1000 grit sanding between layers.








I finished here. I did not use clear coat because I did not have anything with a flat clear finish. I do not want to have glossy looking caps. So far its been 3 months since I have done this and they have held up very well. I will report if any flaking occurs. Winter is just beginning. If anyone knows of a good clear coat that is flat in finish, feel free to post.


And here is a personal insurance tip. Check this out.


Notice the highlighted area. Remember way up top when I recommended two rolls of painters tape? Yes that does sound like a bit much, but I was working with a half role on my entire job. Incidentally, I should have taped over the top layer of the news paper, but since I ran out of tape and do not have another vehicle to run to the hardware store with, I made do. Well I made a mistake and had some over spray..




So be warned, a second roll of tape wouldn't hurt to buy if you aren't starting off with a brand new roll to begin with. It took me a little over 3 hours to remove all of this. I only had a smooth surface clay kit, and Meguiars Ultimate Rubbing Compound which is what really got this off. I was fortunate to catch this in time before it dried and bonded too long, and very very fortunate to have just done a full detail and fresh wax. Though I had to re-polish, and re-wax my bed after wards. What a labor involved job this was



This concludes my write up .

 

Nice job Darren... Good thing you got that paint off!

 

Looks real nice...been thinkin about doin mystepsides, tired of tryin to blacken them

 

nice write up. im undecided if it may be easier to just take them off and paint them or not

 

that turned out great...nice job!

 

If I was to do this again, I would surely try removing. The hassle of masking is just too much. I'm just unsure of whats to be expected once removed. Are the all clipped on or are they clipped & glued on..

 

theyre held in with clips but they are a pain to get out. they are the same clips that hold the pads on the rear bumper on and you should be able to see them when looking under the rails.

 

I have noticed them under the rails, I just didn't know if there was anything else to them. Thanks.

 

EXCELLENT!

Fusion works well. I've sprayed some stuff with it and it has held up really well.

 

I sprayed mine with a rubber bedliner coating. They came out pretty good. I also tried to take them off before painting, but found the clips to be to old and brittle.

 

Im in the process of doing this on my 04. I removed the caps today and it was no big deal. I broke 1 clip out of like 40. One thing I think helped was to do it when its hot outside that way the plastic is more pliable and you can be a little more aggressive with it. Thanks for the write up I will hopefully do mine this weekend.

 

Yes, very good! But what about us King Ranch owners, where the mouldings are tans..not black..?.? Is there a Krylon that will match my Arizona Beige?

 

how easy is it to just take off the bed rails and paint them off the truck?

 

There's just some plastic "clips" holing it on, but they can be a bear. I got mine out using pliers and a little pushing the clips up. I would still say it's worth it to take them off to paint them though.

 

Just an FYI I did a write up on how I painted my rails over on the appearance products page. I removed the caps for mine though.