I can see the clips on the bed rail caps on the inside of the bed that can easily be squeezed together for removal, but are the clips that are holding the bed rail on the outside of the bed the same type of clip and if so I can't see a way to get to them so basically you just have to go for it when you remove them and hope for the best and least breakage?

 

Pretty much. It helps to do this when its warm out so the plastic is a little more pliable. On my truck the ones on the outside popped off no problem. There is one on each end that will give you a little trouble. I had to use a screw driver to get underneath the end and push the tab in to get these off. All in all i broke like 3 out of 40 or so thats on there so not too bad. I used a bead of silicone when I put them back on just to make sure.

 

Alright I did this last weekend and yes it was easy especially since it was 80 outside. Just unclip and push up the inside clips then from the front going back I lifted the cap off slowly. They pulled off very easy and I didn't break anything. I painted them with Krylon and while they are better than they were, I'm not sure I love the finished product but it is much better than before. I did my wiper cowl a few weeks ago and it seemed to turn out better than the caps for some reason. But all in all still waaayyy better than they were when they were doing their best Michael Jackson, sing it to the beat fellas,
"I'm black, I'm white...he he!"

 

Good job throw up some pictures.

 

what about the cap on the tailgate, same concept? I need to remove mine as well and paint them or do something.

 

From what I've read that's more involved so I just masked and papered the tail gate both inside and out and covered everything else with a couple of paint tarps I have around the back of the truck and painted it while still on the tailgate. Taping didn't take long and I had no over spray problems since I prepped real well!

 

Indeed it is harder to do than the others. However, it is not impossible it just takes a bit of work and don't be afraid to be a little rough with it.

 

grip it and rip it!