Greetings all,

I was recently "given" an aluminum truck box from a friend that sold his truck. It is the kind that goes over the bedrails and is a "Husky" brand. It is in good condition and all of the locks and latches work fine. I was looking to re-condition it a bit for my truck. My plans were to power wash it real well, re-lube everything and replace the weather stripping around the lid. Now, the aluminum is rather faded and looks pretty dull. I am sure with the proper tools and equipment I could get it to shine again, but all I own is a cheap orbital buffer. Besides, I am not really into the shiny diamond plate look for my truck anyways.

So, my question is....can I paint this box and have it come out looking like one that is originally black from the factory? Are there any special primers or steps I would need to take to prep the aluminum for paint? I do not own a pro. paint gun, so would a rattle can suffice?

Thanks in advance!

 

In order to properly paint aluminum, you have to prep the surface (etch) to let it accept the primer. You use a product called Alodine. Then, you need a primer that is formulated for aluminum, the best being a 2 part polymide epoxy primer. Then, you can paint it with regular urethane, laquer or acrylic. You can make the paint stick by just cleaning it, priming it with any primer, and paint it with rustoleum, but using the first method is how you do it properly to make it last.