Bed-liner As Paint (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Oct 31, 2018
Threads
5
Messages
35
Location
California
I got tired of repairing the fender flares and replacing the running boards, so I removed them years ago. I patched the holes, but I shouldn’t be allowed to work with paint. I have no aptitude. I needed something that would hold up to desert brush and sand blasting. Paint and wraps just aren’t tough enough for the trail. I researched bed-liner-as-paint options, and Raptor was well reviewed.

We removed mirrors, wipers, lights and grill. I left the bumpers on to make sanding easier. Then I removed them and suspended them for painting. Taking the mirrors apart was a pain and, because there are no outlets to protect the leads, I ended up shorting my battery. My bad. I had removed the window sill pieces (not sure what they’re called) and a number of the mounting clips had to be replaced, but it made masking a lot easier under around the windows.

A lot of time was spent on masking before sanding. I have to give credit to my wife who was meticulous. We were sanding and patching little dents for a few days. There was a lot of history to hide.
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I didn’t want to remove the hood, but I did want to block the air intakes below the wind shield, so I just lifted the hood and removed the six screws to lift the plate enough to slide a couple of paper bags in there. Worked perfectly.

I chose to treat the door handles with Raptor, as the clear coat on most was worn away from use. I've noticed others have chosen not to. Dealer's choice...

No picture of it here, but behind the lift-gate I taped a sheet of plastic in place to cover the opening so I could lift it and paint the tailgate. I masked the tailgate just below the point where the rubber strip makes contact to preserve the seal. It looks a little odd and you may chose to paint the entire tailgate yourself.
I also took this opportunity to treat the front and rear frame sections with POR-15. I sanded the wiper arms and painted them with POR-15 as well.

The first coat was sprayed at half-strength for a wet relatively lumpy coat.
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Each coat was sprayed with a progressively lighter setting until I almost couldn’t tell paint was coming out of the gun.
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The final product feels like sandpaper. As you can see, the surface is mat and seems to absorb light.
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In total, I put about four to five coats on the entire truck with only 8 bottles. I bought 12 bottles, so it's nice to have spares in case I roll the truck (again).

When I can stand to look at sand paper again, I plan to treat my high-lift jack with this stuff.

I hope this helps someone considering this solution. Below are my notes created while planning this project, amended after the fact.

Method:
From U-POL Sales Support…

“For that vehicle you will need 3 four bottle kits. The kits you want to get are the tint-able kits part number UP0821. The tint pouches are one pouch for each bottle.”

"For a smooth texture, use an HVLP Sprayer”. I bought the HomeRight C800971 ($100)

“Add 15% reducer to RAPTOR when mixing, and set the PSI to 29. Use a 1.6-2.0mm gun tip. At a distance of at least 6" from the surface, spray one even wet coat. When you apply the second coat, reduce the pressure and material flow to achieve a fine mist."

“The reducer needed is UP2452. It’s a multi-function reducer. Straining the Raptor won’t work because it’s still too thick for a strainer. “

Purchases:

• 12x 25.36 oz. RAPTOR (0821v) (Three four packs from Amazon)
• 12x 8.25 oz hardener (included) (99 oz Total)
• 12x 3 oz tint (36 oz Total) – Found online from the UK (~$19/ pouch)
• 12x 5.4 oz Urethane Reducer (UP2452) – I had to order this from the UK in a 5 liter can. (~$50)
• Total 40.41 oz per batch (485 oz total volume for project) – I mixed two batches at a time.
• Adhesion Promoter (UP5024) – I ended up using less than 2 cans of this.
• HVLP HomeRight C800971 – I also bought the extra paint container for quick swapping before the Raptor hardened
• Shaking bottle - Ocean Spray 1/2 gallon plastic container worked well for two batches at a time
• Large plastic measuring cups
• 3 rolls masking tape
• Lots of sandpaper 180-240 grit
• Two 3M respirators
• Safety glasses

In Total, ~ $900 in materials.

If you are interested in downloading all of the project pictures, you can do so here...

Happy Trails!
 
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I've seen that done around here. Rockerguard when properly applied is simmilar. It'll resist abrasion for sure. Out here, it'll reduce paint damage and subsequent corrosion, but won't prevent it, as the protected part still rusts out from underneath.

In a desert environment, your paint damage would be largely cosmetic? Without any of the associated corrosion we have in the north?

I've used that truck box liner for the inside of a firewall too when I had it apart. Works well if the steel is already blasted.
 
This truck started out in NY then MA and points north. So 20 years ago, I treated the frame and under-body with POR-15. This effectively stops rust. No kidding.

Correct, Here on the west coast, rust is less of an issue and most of our over-landing is done in CA, UT, NV. Mostly rock, sand and tenacious brush and trees. We had a lot of brush marks down the sides and a star field on the hood (our third).

I considered repainting with a POR-15 base coat and factory paint ($10,000). I also looked into wraps ($5000) before landing on bed-liner-as-paint ($900).

A lot of work, but I'm psyched with the results.

Thanks for your post!
 
So a couple of things I neglected to mention ...

I watched a lot of YouTube video on painting with an HVLP sprayer. Made a huge difference.
The Raptor Kits included measuring cups, so you don't really need more. I used a 1 Gallon plastic jug to shake the mixture before I put it in the sprayer.
If you remove the mirrors, take a picture of the colored wiring. There's no plug. Just bare leads, so you'll want to get the order correct..
You might want to run tape inside the door jams to catch the spray that comes through. Over-spray doesn't come off!
The bumpers are easier to sand while they're attached to the car.
It was a great opportunity to clean and make minor repairs on all the parts that were removed. I replaced a lot of rusted bolts.


Impressions:

After thirty days, I love it. We've only put on the usual street miles. Though, we took a drive up to Calistoga. It never looks dirty! None of the usual road grime shows up. This was an unexpected bonus.

The treatment has attracted more attention that I would like.
I used to hang Christmas light in the truck during the holidays. But I found that I could never change lanes because everyone want to pull up close so their kids could see. People would pull next to us honk and wave. Nice, but there were some close calls. Same thing is happening now. Feels like I'm boxed in all the time now. Every guy in a showroom 4x4 wants to get a closer look. Not sure what I can do about that....

Taking it up to the Sierras on Friday to do some snowboarding. Supposed to be 24 degrees. I'll be curious to see how it deals with snow and ice.

Happy Trails!
 
LOVE not having to wash my truck. It always looks the same.
Two overland trips to Mt. Shasta, Oregon and Nevada and no chips or significant abrasions on the hood or behind the wheels. In fact, my wife accidently gouged this stuff with the end of a steel tube and it buffed out with one of those scratchy plastic pot cleaners. These seem to work best for removing dried bugs, grease and such from the bumpy surface as well.
Heading to the mountains this weekend on a trail known for serious pinstriping, so I'll let you know how that goes...
Happy Trails.

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You might have noticed how low I'm running fully loaded. I recently added a 15 gallon reservoir to the roof box and a heavy fridge/freezer along with the new bumper and tire carrier. So, last week I installed a lift kit including front control arms for caster correction. The trail I'm doing this weekend requires a lot of articulation so this was a must. Here is another shot showing the lift and Raptor liner...

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Just back from Papoose Flats. 9000' valley in the mountains north of Death Valley and above the Owen's Valley. Awesome! Lot's of Pinion Pine to mar up the paint, so here are some pictures and observations with respect to the Raptor Liner.

Note the 'before' pictures where the Raptor was like sand paper and actually pulled brown bark off the pines, as the scratches were brown in color. Cool! Giving the brush the what-for! In the 'after' pictures, I merely washed the truck and then rubbed the scratches in a circular motion with a wet towel to remove the lines.

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Here are some pictures of the underside areas behind the front wheel and in front of the rear wheel to show that this stuff isn't indestructible. After about 1500 miles, including highway, washboard, gravel, sand, show and ice there are some nicks at these spots. However, the hood, which for years was a star field of chips, is flawless! As is the rest of the truck. All hail the Raptor!

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A final point. Washing the truck is a lot more work. Road grime doesn't really show up, but when I come back from the trail it takes a lot more effort to get the old girl clean. Bug guts are especially hard to remove. I'm thinking I might want to buy one of those circular buffers with a short haired brush.

Anywho...I hope this helps someone. Happy Trails Buckaroos!
 
Looks awesome man. I'm hoping to Lizard Skin and Raptor Line the floor and roof and eventually if the paint gets too bad I'll Raptor the exterior also.
 
A final note. I just came back from a trip up a river bed and a lot of brush marks. I found a light circular buffing with a green Scotch pad, followed by a similar motion using those plastic pot scrubbers completely erased the marks. Awesome. Very happy with the Raptor.
Happy Trails Backaroos!
 

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