Painting Fender Flares

[steiner_5000]

I just bought my new ranger and just love it. The only problem is I hate the color of the fender flares it has. Can those be painted or will the paint just flake off. They're tan now and was thinking of painting them black.

 

[Chic N Stew]

From my expirence, it won't stick, because if you sand them down, they will look line crap with the sanding lines showing through the paint, and the paint may just run off or puddle up, thats what it did with the plastic that i painted in the interior of my truck, i think i may have painted them 20 times before they looked decent, and they still kind of look like crap, maybe try some Great Dane Spray Bomb Flat Black, that is the best out there from what my dad tells me.

 

[dusto2]

sanding lines damn were you using 30grint or something, if you sand them down with some fine grit and use a plastic primer and a plastic paint it should come out ok givin your skills with a can of paint, you just need to use the RIGHT stuff plastic paint is your best bet regular crylon wont stick for shit

 

[Chic N Stew]

HELL NO, I think i was using 320, which is what my dad uses when he paints tractor trailers with imron 5000, it still leaves sand marks and WILL orangepeal or puddle up.


Try this
1. Get some plastic primer
2. after you prime it(i would go with 2 coats of primer, THIN COATS) sand it with a scotch brite or 320 grit paper
3. Then paint it in thin coats(less of a chance of puddling up or biting the primer
4. repeat however many times it takes to make it look good

 

[matt32]

yes you can paint your fender flares, i did mine and had no problems with the paint flaking off, even up north here with all of the salt in winter.

i think i sanded them down with 600 grit sandpaper, then primed them, and used flat black tractor paint, and used a paint gun and compressor to paint them.

 

[Chic N Stew]

if you really want it to look nice, find someone who has a SATA or Develbis paint gun, or you can buy a 60 paint gun from wal-mart, but i wouldn't recommend it, man i love painting!

 

[ozzy85]

One more tip I can think of is, since they're plastic, use adhesion promoter before priming. That helps keep the paint from peeling off later.

 

[dusto2]

ya 320 is to rough for plastic by far you need it way finer than that and you can make then look great with just a rottle can no need to get a spray gun or anything like that

 

[Chic N Stew]

im thinking about the next paint job on my truck, to to with ChromeIllusion, that stuff is hard as hell to spray

 

[rickcdewitt]

1)plastic cleaner to remove the mold release used during manufacture
2)scuff gel and scuff pad,rinse and dry.
3)plastic adhesion promoter-rattle can
4)bumper and trim black-rattle can from napa ment for flexible plastic et cetera
if you look you might find gloss but most trim blacks are a flat semi-gloss.another option is have a body $hop do it so you get more durable paint.or spray it yourself if you have a gun

 

[wahlstrom1]

I just used brake clean on my flares, masked it off good and used Krylon Fusion plastic paint. It's been on there 2 years now, and holds up to road salt and everything fine, even the 2500psi steam washer at work if you don't hold it too close. No sanding or anything, and then I just sprayed a few coats of clear over it all.

-andrew

Sorry for the big pic, but any smaller and it got all distorted. This is an old one, but it's the only one I had that showed the fender flare up close ish.

 

[04edge]

i painted my flares with self etching primer then with silver rust-oleum-- just use some purple power degreaser to get all the wax and grunge off, then wet sand with 600 grit,prime and paint!!

 

[Chic N Stew]

The brake clean didn't make the paint bite?

Just don't use anything with silicon in it(i.e. Armour All)

 

[cargs]

i painted my flares and the paint has stuck just fine.

- removed the flares, pain in the ass.
- i sanded down with 220 grit wet
- washed and dries them off
- painted with plastic primer light coat, i think it was tremclad
- painted with truck beadliner spray can. its not too thick and it leaves a rough texture behind. i did 2 - 3 coats to get good coverage.

turned out great. paint has not bubbled or flaked off.

good luck.

 

[wahlstrom1]

The brake clean didn't make the paint bite?

Just don't use anything with silicon in it(i.e. Armour All)

No, worked just fine actually. Too bad they're coming off, and fenders are gettin trimmed. All in the name of running bigger tires, in this case, 37's.

-andrew