I've got a custom made front bumper sprayed with bedliner on my 04 1500 and I bought a used rear ranch hand replacement. My question is has anyone painted one before? It has rust and the black is faded and chipping and looks bad since my truck is black. I was told by the line ex dealer that it probably will keep rusting through paint. So should I use a spray on bed liner or just a heavy duty nlack spraint that could touch up easily. Also how should I sand the steel to make the paint stick? I've painted lots of plastic before just never steel. Thanks!

 

Wrong location to post. Will move you to the 3rd gen section.

 

Get it sand blasted and line x'd

or just sand it well and paint it

 

sand off the rust then treat rusted area with acid then sand again until the rust is gone. If there is a lot of exposed metal.. to do it right you need to first apply one coat of etching primer then your regular filler primer.. then after priming take a coat of black spray can paint and fog on a guide coat.. sand primer tell all the black guide coat is gone, then paint either (base coat then clear coat) or (single stage paint) depending on the color. When buying paint remember one thing,,, if it doesn’t have a hardener or catalyst in it ,,,then its junk..the base coat or color coat doesn’t have to have a harder but the clear does..or if single stage color it does as well. Don’t use any lacquer like they sell at Pep Boys its junk..
Sand primer with 400 or 500 wet or 400 dry before paint, (that’s 3M sand paper) grit will vary per manufacture.
Etching primer:
http://m.dpcecatalog.dupont.com/mcat...822E67.tomcat1
Primer filler: http://m.dpcecatalog.dupont.com/mcat...822E67.tomcat1
Single stage color .. no metallic or solid color only (black.. white..ect) non clear coat
http://m.dpcecatalog.dupont.com/mcat...g/topcoat.html
two stage paint :
Base coat:
http://m.dpcecatalog.dupont.com/mcat.../basecoat.html
Clear coat:
http://m.dpcecatalog.dupont.com/mcat...clearcoat.html
good car paint isn’t cheap… nor are the primers..
with all the new VOC laws the paints have gone through the roof..
if you don’t etch primer the bare metal it will chip easy..
have clean air and clean the are very good before paint to avoid fish eyes..
buy a disposable filter for the end of the gun to trap oil.. thats a must..
if you get a run in the paint do not apply heat.. heat will make it run worse..

 

Alright I may just take an electric sander to it for awhile and use a few coats of self etching primer and spray on bedliner

 

I wouldn't use etching primer... I would use a rust inhibitor instead... something like POR-15 would be a good choice....

Then you can spray on or paint on the bed liner finish you want over it.

But you really should sand or media blast the surface so that all of the paint comes off and all of the bare metal is showing.

Then you'll have about 2-4 hours before the rust begins to form on the bumper again to clean it and paint it with the POR-15....

That's just my $.02 take it or leave it.