I would like to paint my 96 Dodge Ram 2500 red this summer. My truck is currently blue/silver. I would like to know how hard it would be to paint it. Would I have to take the doors or anything off or can I just tape the windows off, headlights/tail lights, grille, etc. and pull the bed off and paint it? This will be the first big project that I am going to do. So all the help/tips will be very helpful.

Here is my Dodge now.



Here is what I want it to look like.

 

I run a Paint and Body shop so here is what needs to done to do the job right the first time around. Take everything off you can Doors. Lights out, Bumpers off, Hood off, Tail gate Off, Any thing that shows paint. I even take the finders off so I can paint and prime behind them. Our Dodges rust from the inside out and they all do it. Even mine is getting bad. I will be painting it this Spring when I have time too. Use good primer and paint. I will tell you now RED is very high price paint and don't ask me why. I have asked myself. I will Never have a Red truck. I got 1 PINT 2 weeks ago and it was 86 dollars so do the math for a gallon or more. I have using nason paint here as of late and it looks good. Lays nice too.

 

I wont mind spending like $600 on paint and stuff I am just curious as to how to paint it and the right way.
What about black? Like what if I just paint it black and basically black out my whole truck? Like black towing mirrors, fender flares, headlights, tail lights, cab lights, etc.

 

Not to mention that to do it correctly, you need to strip everything down also. In other words, remove the windows from the doors, remove the belt moulding (rubber wiper at window), remove the outer door handle, remove the mirrors, and remove the emblems. Also remove the headlights, taillights, third brakelight, rear bumper, rear quarter windows, bed, grille, mudflaps, step bars etc.

Basically, you want to remove any and everything that you can so that your paint will go edge to edge and not be cut off, like if you were to mask off door handles and such.

And red is expensive because there is a lot of pigment in it but it still doesn't cover very well, requiring more coats to cover.

 

Black is hard to take care. No sense spending any amount of time and money into a paint job just for it to go to crap.

 

Black shows everything also. Dirt of course, but also any body work. The best color to hide body work and dirt is silver.

 

Black is a nice Color, but to make it look real nice you need to use Clear coat Base coat. The Body of the truck has to be right as well. After a Black paint job you should wait a few weeks and them wet sand and buff the Black to get the real shine of Black. You can never take to much time on the body work if you want black to look nice. IF you don't do body work and this is your first go around with paint work try to stay away from a dark colors. Also having a real good Paint gun is just as important

 

you could just do like me and bedline it. it is tougher than paint, hides body work, and all you need to do to clean it up is use some good tire shine

 

I have 2 black trucks. Love the black - hate the need to constantly wash to keep it looking good.

Colors vary by price (pigment is a major part of it) and quality of paint is another issue. I recently purchased primer, base, and clear for mine (Toyota Metallic Black) and also got reducer and hardners as needed (PPG) and spent $680.00. I did NOT get the cheapest paint - the metallic adds to cost. but I am going to make both trucks match....I have a little touch up to do on Yota.

The important thing is prep, and yes, remove everything you can, including weatherstripping since you are changing colors - you do not want any blue peeking out from an edge - dead give away of an inferior job. I am already exhausted form sanding mine, and still not ready to prime. (I am NOT an expert - this IS my forst rodeo! But I have done quite a bit of research and still reading and watching videos.)

 

I had great luck with paint from thecoatingstore.com I used their tokyo drift chameleon to paint my vette... they have a store on ebay too... a lot of people aproach me at car shows asking where I got the paint..they cant believe the whole kit to do the car was less than $400..
Just my opinion but ....
remember this is an older pickup truck not a collector car...no need to go nuts of the cost of paint is isnt really going to make the truck last any longer or give it higher resale value. the quality of paint job and prep work is themost important if you want it to last.
Mines black now and the po did a crappy base/clear paintjob and didnt prep well... its blue and silver in spots like the fenders under the hood...I'm thinking about repainting but in no hurry because if I do too nice of a job it will make want to baby it and tend to not use it the way it was designed.... right now I scratch it no biggy I throw some touch up paint on it to prevent rust and forget about it.. The herculiner work great for lower rockers...easy to repair and cover.