My 03 Ex has gray tone cladding which is losing some of its color. I've looked to see how it comes off and for the life of me, I can't seem to figure it out. So, how is it removed, and, what is a good recommendation for paint? I was thinking a nice black to contrast w/metalic gold body paint and black factory running boards.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

 

Refresh my memory. Are we talking about textured flat/matte cladding here?

 

It sure can (you're talking about the gray trim found on XLTs right?) Plenty of threads over at expeditionforum.com

Here's one where I posted a pick of mine.
Click me!

I didn't take off the trim. Just used masking tape to tape off whatever I didn't want painted. Used the Satin Black Krylon plastic spray paint. Also went ahead and painted the grille black, as well as "reblackening" the running boards.

 

So that is what we're talking about.

Like ELVATO stated, the Krylon Fusion Spray can be used. I've used it on my bed caps and it looks great. Holds up nice, too.

Of course, we're talking here about cladding that will be subject to the type of abuse that rocker panels and bumpers are exposed to. I have some concerns about the Krylon holding up for any amount of time. That said, however, a quick touch-up shouldn't pose a problem.

There may be a couple of other options. One is a trim dye found autodetailingsolutions.com It is available in gray and black. Perhaps this might do the trick? Bondo makes a similar product available at Wallymart.

Another option is one that I used, as described on a post from yesterday, on my Mazda MPV kid hauler. The bumpers and rocker panel areas looked terrible. I prepped, taped, and sprayed them with Duplicolor bed liner spray.
It looks great. Really great, and I do believe it will hold up better than the Krylon option.