I have some small amount of surface rust in the little circular headlight slots on my MetalTech front bumper. It’s kind of annoying considering the cost.
Metaltech Pegasus Bumper DISASTER
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- Thread starter
- #22
I haven't noticed any issues with my front, just the rear. I hear you, it is annoying considering the cost.
Regarding the rear step location; that's a rough area for any finish. I think you are probably correct in that the powder may have been a bit thin in that corner. I don't have anything constructive to add regarding a remedy. I'm not sure how/if spray paint would adhere to the powder coat, or if an off-the-shelf flat black would be a close enough match. WD40 on a q-tip and see if you can clean the rust out of that small corner?
gx522/Michael and MrTorgue,
Sorry to hear your both experiencing rust, powder coating is one area we do use a vendor for and they normally do a great job. However they can of course miss an area, like the steps or the light pockets. They know to hit these first but, it's still a human on the powder gun. So let's fix this for you with the gear still on your truck!
Solution:
Reach out to the company that made your parts! Yes we can help if you email us (info@metaltech4x4.com) with any issues with your Metal-tech 4x4 products. In this case sending photos of a rust issue with the powder coat and your purchase is less than 12 months old, we will send you a code to get a free can of the $40 matched Cardinal brand (exact same powder coater) paint for touch up. This paint is made by the powder coat paint brand as not only an exact color match but also formulated to adhere too the powder coat, has rust reformer and encapsulation built into it. It's made just for this. (We also send your photos to our Powder Coat vendor to share with the crew doing the painting as feedback for process improvement.)
How to apply:
As to Michael's question on how to address rust, dry the area well do not add any oils or water disbursement agents. Raw and dry is what you want before paint. If possible buff the rust and adjacent powder coated area with a fine sandpaper, 2-3" around the targeted area. This will remove what rust you can and scuff the surrounding area of the good paint to help with adhesion. If you cant get all the rust, this is ok as the paint has rust reformer and encapsulation. This will nutualize and keep the rust from growing. Mask the surrounding areas, one can also just take a piece of cardboard and cut a hole aprox the size of the area to be painted, hold or just tape it over the area. You dont have to fine tape the whole thing just control overspray. (ie the body of your truck) Light coats are way better than one heavy one. Hit it with a light coat, let it dry for 15 min, then hit it again. I like 3 coats myself. This will build up a smooth covering and look great when done. When the paint is wet it's a different color but as it dries it becomes the matched color.
Alternative paint option:
ACE Hardware has a house branded "Simi Gloss textured black" paint one can find across the US a ACE Hardware stores. This paint in a white can marked ACE, is spooky close when dried to the exact color of our powder coating we use on sliders and bumpers. Quite a few customers chose this route to keep their sliders that are going into rocks, touched up and looking good. This is usually about a $4.50 can of paint so decent and usually available locally for most.
Any other questions or concerns with Metal-tech 4x4 brand products you can always reach us directly. We are here happy to help.
Mark
I have metal-tech sliders and was really happy with the quality of the product and dealing with Metaltech. Their responsiveness and communication were clear and knowledgeable and I recommend them.
Cool to know about about the Ace paint... I'll have to pick some up for touch ups
I also have an Ironman front bumper that I think is pretty good although I wish they had designed a way to seal off the portion that gets left open in the wheel well. I just secured some wheel liner with some fashion of zip ties to block it off a bit.
Cool to know about about the Ace paint... I'll have to pick some up for touch ups
I also have an Ironman front bumper that I think is pretty good although I wish they had designed a way to seal off the portion that gets left open in the wheel well. I just secured some wheel liner with some fashion of zip ties to block it off a bit.
Thanks for the reply Mark. Somehow I completely missed this reply years earlier. Now my rust is definitely more than it should be as even the flat surfaces in the front are rusting. And started rusting before I moved north in snow country. I'm gonna have to take the bumper off the truck and repaint it. I'm hoping the back side isn't bad... I no longer have a high paying job so I cannot afford to replace it and my original bumper is sitting in a landfill now.
I'm sure I missed out on any warranty by now so I'm pretty much hosed any which way.
