[DreamsOfDirt]

I'm going to paint the roof rails on my 2018 ORP and I'd appreciate opinions on which paint to use. Should I go with the Dupli Color perfect match black for Toyotas or the Dupi Color Trim and Bumper Paint (black)? My plan it to wet sand, prime, base coat, clear coat the rails. A 2012 comment on another thread mentioned using the Trim and Bumper paint as it's designed to flex and avoid fading. However, I would think the fading is more of an issue on plastic parts vs. the metal rails. The flexing may be a fair point. I'm curious if anyone else here has experience painting the rails with either of these products. In lieu of that, I'll just take your opinions.

My plan is to paint only the metal rail, not the caps, which are already black. My logic is that it will be just one more thing to have paint peel on, and it's already black. Now, if once I paint the rails black the color is significantly off from the caps, I might change my mind.

[ScottR]

Performance differences between these options will not be notable. I'd stick with the perfect match system.

[rwrobs777]

For the metal rails I'd go with powder coating . It's not terribly expensive and will LAST...probably no more than $50.00 !!

[DreamsOfDirt]

Originally Posted by rwrobs777

For the metal rails I'd go with powder coating . It's not terribly expensive and will LAST...probably no more than $50.00 !!

Hmm. $50 is cheap. I figured I’d go that route if painting didn’t last, but I may need to reconsider.


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[GearJunkie88]

Originally Posted by DreamsOfDirt

Hmm. $50 is cheap. I figured I’d go that route if painting didn’t last, but I may need to reconsider.


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I painted mine using the method you outlined and the paint started chipping off after only a few uses. I had them powder coated and they’ve been perfect ever since. I shopped around and the cheapest I found was $125.

[enkrypt3d]

Let's see some pics! I'm thinking about doing this on mine...

[moorei2]

Originally Posted by DreamsOfDirt

Hmm. $50 is cheap. I figured I’d go that route if painting didn’t last, but I may need to reconsider.


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I also powder coated mine and they are holding up awesome.




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[Jarheadoo7]

No doubt powdercost is the way to go but if you want to DIY get yourself a two stage clear. The single stage stuff is OK and will last a little while but the two stage stuff is durable and lays down like glass.

I use SprayMax 2K, they have several finishes gloss, matte, semi etc. they pot in 36 hours so you have to prepare but it’s totslly worth it.

[DreamsOfDirt]

Originally Posted by GearJunkie88

I painted mine using the method you outlined and the paint started chipping off after only a few uses. I had them powder coated and they’ve been perfect ever since. I shopped around and the cheapest I found was $125.

I pulled the trigger on the powder coating and returned all the aerosol paint. I ended up finding a great powder coating place here in St. Louis. They quoted me $125 so I pulled the trigger. They called me today to tell me they were ready to pick up AND that when they quoted me they thought it was a whole roof rack, not just the rails, so the cost would be $25, not $125. The rails look great - I'll post a pick when I get them reinstalled (hopefully this weekend).

Thanks for leading me in the right direction gentlemen.

[JRod0981]

Did you do a matte or gloss semi gloss black for this? Since we’re limited in driving and at home right now I’m going to do this and get these and the skid plate powder coated black. I just can’t decide on a sheen.

[Arnezie]

I wouldn’t do anything shiny. Matte looks good


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[slowveloce]

Another vote for powder coating...looks perfect and is pretty cheap.

[Paragon1]

Or you can buy my black 2013 TE roof rails... ;)

[kpinthebay]

I got a quote a few weeks back and one shop said "about" $350 to paint the rails black. I quickly got out of dodge.

As luck would have it, 2 weeks later I see an ad on CL for OEM black roof rails and caps. For $20!! I didn't even realize the Off Roads came in all black.

I almost did the DIY paint thing myself.

[JRod0981]

Originally Posted by Arnezie

I wouldn’t do anything shiny. Matte looks good


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I definitely don’t want shiny. At most would be a semi gloss. After thinking about this a bit I kinda want the rails to match the sheen of the plastic end caps when I use a trim dressing on them which I like to keep a satin/OEM look. I’m probably overthinking this but this is a new/used car to me and want to do it right and keep the cost low by PCing the skid plate and rails at the same time.