I posted this over in the aftermarket but no one seemed to reply. Thought I might have more luck here since you L guys like to smooth your stuff.

I have been searching the forums for some time now for details about people smoothing out their bedcaps and side steps. My first option was going to be getting the Street Scene caps and have them painted. But I have heard A LOT of people complaining about the fit of the SS ones, and their customer support is a joke. Have these problems been fixed as of late? (most of the posts I have been reading are 6-12 months old)

So, then I started to read about people sanding them down themselves, and then bondoing them. So I was going to go this route next. Well, yesterday I went up to Ford to get scratches taken out and I talked to the guy at the body shop. He said they wouldn't paint the steps if they were plastic and that he wouldn't recommend sanding and bondoing because they would be EXTREMELY brittle. He said they would do it, but they would warrenty anything.

My question is, for those of you guys out there that have smoothed stuff, how is it holding up. (TampaBlack99 I am looking in your direction ) I don't do a lot of hauling in my truck, but if one of my friends steps on my bumper steps one time I would hate for the damn things to crack.

 

I smoothed my side pieces and had ford paint them. They cracked all to sh!# after they got put on. They didnt charge me for the paint work and gave me new black pieces, but now im back to the stock look. Good Luck
Mike

 

how did the cracking happen?

Vinnie: do you have some kind of kit on yours with, say, smoothed over fiberglass?

yours is the look I'm going for....



-Mike

 

TampaBlack99 is the man on smoothing things out, here is the thread on what you need and how, good luck.

Later..BERT..AKA..DA BOLT

https://www.f150online.com/forums/sh...t=tampablack99

 

Nothing will prevent that...dont even bother if someone could/would do that.

As far as TampaBlack's steps go....I think if you ask him, youll find out its not such a perfect mod.... smoothing is half the battle....cracking paint is the other...

 

I have a Street Scenes rollpan, sidesteps and endcaps and the fit is acceptable. It may not be 100% perfect, but it's close enough to satisfy me, and I'm usually very **** about this kind of stuff. It took my body guy two tries to get everything lined up where I wanted it. Make sure you tap screws in addition to using the supplied double-sided tape (we used stronger adhesives to be safe).

No cracking paint or warping thus far. I've only had it for a couple of months though. For the money, I'm glad I went with the SS instead of the Sir Michael's rollpan, as I've read that it's a PITA to line up, fix, etc. I've heard of people spending upwards of $1,000 to get it right (including the price of the rollpan).

 

Mine still look great, they cracked alittle when I first installed them. Once the ridges are sanded down on the caps and steps there is still plenty of plastic left over. Now that they are installed I plan on reworking them on the truck and getting the whole truck repainted in the next 2 years. Even my mirrors are holding up well, they have about a 1lb of bondo each.

If possible, work the pieces and install them on the truck. Paint the piece ON the truck, this will ensure a crack free final product.

 

I had some drunk azz hit my rear bumper and the painted plastic cap never cracked.

 

where was this? Orlando? I remember your front getting a little bent up a while ago.
I think your mirrors came out perfect...I didnt see anything wrong with them...and I was lookin.....hard


btw: shoot me an update on the bearing situation when you get a sec

 

Some drunk bastard at a pizza place just backed into my bumper about 2 months ago, really can't see much damage unless I point it out to you. I hate Orlando, been hit twice is 6 months.

Bearings are in and the press is built. Next time I'm intown we can get them installed. We can even install them in Ocala if it comes to that.

 

 

VINNIE has custom smoothed oem, then glassed side steps and rear caps... Steps so strong you can't bend 'em.

...or something.

 

Too many tourists who are lost and spends half the time looking at maps and tearing out coupons for restaruants and attractions, that was the last place I had an accident also a few years back.