[02RedRunner]

I am going to repaint my rear bumper, and need to do something about the plastic top which is all faded gray.

What can I coat it with that will stay black and be non-slip? Anyone tried bed liner and if so how well did it work and hold up?

 

[R00]

My duplicolor bedliner held up great, until I had a muriatic acid spill. It bubbled a little bit before I got to the sodium bicarb...but still holding strong

 

[Swift]

Try putting a heat gun to the plastic. It got rid of my fade. Looks like new.

 

[jerryp58]

Try putting a heat gun to the plastic. It got rid of my fade. Looks like new.

How long ago did you do that, how is it holding up?

I just did that technique to my truck and yes, it is quite improvement. It was very easy to do, however, be careful around the ends of the big cover ,on mine it bent up a bit. It helped the bed rails too.

 

[Swift]

How long ago did you do that, how is it holding up?

I just did that technique to my truck and yes, it is quite improvement. It was very easy to do, however, be careful around the ends of the big cover ,on mine it bent up a bit. It helped the bed rails too.

I'd say about a year ago. Still looks the same as the day I did it. I'm sure using trim cleaner/shine helps avoid fade as well.

 

[glamisdude]

I tired the heat gun method, but my results didn't last long. Got maybe 3-4 months before it went back to ugly faded grey.
Ended up spraying mine with the Rustoleum bed liner. Did it probably like 2 years ago now and it's holding up well. There are a few spots were it has rubbed or chipped off but its not bad at all, especially considering how rough I treat it. The key with the bed liner on plastic is prep and dry time. I removed the the plastic steps from the bumper to paint them, this way they could dry properly. Remove them and then lightly sand with 220 to rough them up. Wash with dish soap and then degrease them a few times with something like SuperClean or Power Purple. Let them air dry and then do very light coats of bed liner waiting about 30mins between each coat. Once you have a good amount of coats on put them out in the sun somewhere for about a week. This is the most important part. The adhesion to plastic is really bad until it is fully cured and that takes up to 7 days depending on the weather.

 

[02RedRunner]

How do you remove the plastic steps without breaking all the little hooks? Granted I've not looked underneath, I'm just envisioning a bunch of darned-impossible hooks to remove or break off.

 

[glamisdude]

Very carefully. Just take your time and if it doesn't seem to want to go, stop and double check what is holding it up. You just can't force things as that is when things break. Even being very careful I broke a few clips, but its nothing that a few strategically placed pieces of VHB tape can't fix.

 

[R00]

I tired the heat gun method, but my results didn't last long. Got maybe 3-4 months before it went back to ugly faded grey.
Ended up spraying mine with the Rustoleum bed liner. Did it probably like 2 years ago now and it's holding up well. There are a few spots were it has rubbed or chipped off but its not bad at all, especially considering how rough I treat it. The key with the bed liner on plastic is prep and dry time. I removed the the plastic steps from the bumper to paint them, this way they could dry properly. Remove them and then lightly sand with 220 to rough them up. Wash with dish soap and then degrease them a few times with something like SuperClean or Power Purple. Let them air dry and then do very light coats of bed liner waiting about 30mins between each coat. Once you have a good amount of coats on put them out in the sun somewhere for about a week. This is the most important part. The adhesion to plastic is really bad until it is fully cured and that takes up to 7 days depending on the weather.

I found this out as well and left quite a few fingerprints even after a very dry weekend.

 

[TxDayTrader]

The plastic pieces are pretty easy to get of. Some of it can be tedious though. A couple of Flathead Screw Drivers and Some Pliers is all you need to get those Bumper Pads off (Needle Nose is what I think I used). I did't break one clip and it was my 1st time. Took me about an hour. I popped mine off a few months ago and painted them black along with my Cowl and Fender Flares. I painted the Feet on my Roof Rack with plain old Duplicolor Bumper Paint a few years back and it still looks good. A little bit of fading after 3yrs in this South Texas heat and my truck is in the Sun all day everyday but still look good and Black. If you decide to go the painting route Use BullDog Adhesion promoter. It's FAR SUPERIOR to the Duplicolor Adhesion Promoter and cost $20/can vs $6 so you get what you pay for. It's Extremely Tacky. Plus Duplicolor Trim & BUmper paint has a course/rough texture to it. I like it much better than the plain Bumper paint bc of the rough texture and slightly rugged feel.

EDIT: I used some small Vice Grips to squeeze those clips together and push the bumper pad up from underneath and used the screwdrivers to place between the pad and bumper to keep the clips from snapping back into place. I worked my way from one side of the bumper to the other.

Only picture I have handy is from part of the Cowl I painted. Like all the other pieces it was faded gray almost white looking. I went with Black instead of the factory charcoal color bc i think the Black on White looks better on my particular truck.

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[Frontierdud]

I did this with my 2004 rear bumper a few years ago. I removed the bumper (4 bolts) then unclipped all of the black plastic. After sanding I repainted the metal silver and applied Back-to-Black to the plastic parts:

https://www.opgi.com/gto/CH23863/?g...VtM_3-_LzdXnypGw1nciO2IIwYtEm_dJX0hoC2ZXw_wcB


Three years later it all still looks good. I supplement the look twice a year with 303 Aerospace and it retains the look.

 

[clarkgriswold]

Back-to-Black

I did this with my 2004 rear bumper a few years ago. I removed the bumper (4 bolts) then unclipped all of the black plastic. After sanding I repainted the metal silver and applied Back-to-Black to the plastic parts:

https://www.opgi.com/gto/CH23863/?g...VtM_3-_LzdXnypGw1nciO2IIwYtEm_dJX0hoC2ZXw_wcB


Three years later it all still looks good. I supplement the look twice a year with 303 Aerospace and it retains the look.

I agree with the Mother's Back-to-Black. It works much better than coatings like Armour All. One note about using it - let it dry and bush it like you're using a wax.