Estes showed up today!

[4RunnerKyle]

I had a pleasant surprise today as an Estes semi pulled up in front of my house and dropped this off for me... CBI front hybrid bumper... now, I still need to rattle can it but its been well below zero here in Minnesota and will be for the foreseeable future, can I still rattle can it in this temperature without any issues or will there be problems. I do not know as Ive never tried to paint in temperatures this low.

 

[Millerad1651]

Ideally, you want it to be at least 40s, preferably 50s to spray paint. It says specifically on the cans. IF it's too cold, when it hits the cold ass metal, the paint will tighten/shrink before its dry and will crackle on you.
I've been doing a few grilles the past few weeks and have had to keep them and the paint inside, walk out and spray, then take them back in to dry. I tried just doing it outside first, it was about 30*, and the paint cracked on me.

I'm all for doing it yourself, especially since it can be cheap, but if I were you I would get it powdercoated. Not sure of the prices around you, but it would cost me about $120 to get a bumper done. There seem to be a lot of hard to reach places with that bumper, and could be really tough to clean, prime, and paint well enough for it to last. Just my 2 cents.

 

[ShooterMcGavin]

I agree with what Millerad says.

Also, I am not a paint guru, but my rule of thumb has always been at least 50* F for paint work.

 

[cdrewferd]

Yea, at least 50 but warmer is better. Any way you can get a heater in your garage and get that warm enough? Maybe not the whole garage, but the area where the bumper is? Only trick would be that once the paint is dry enough to handle, about an hour or so, you would want to bring the bumper inside to fully cure.

 

[4RunnerKyle]

I would have to come up at least 60 degrees just to get to 50 degrees here... Ugh now I'm starting to regret not splurging extra and getting the powercoating done.... College student budget sucks sometimes.... I had four cans of spray paint all ready to go....

 

[kernel.panik]

That's my last name....I was like WTF?

haha! nice bumper!

 

[Mauzer]

Damn I saw Estes and thought is said Estevez and I was like...

 

[NateMob]

It looks good with the dimple dies. It's cool seeing these getting into more peoples hands.

 

[thor999]

Are you out of your mind? Its winter and you're in MINNESOTA stay inside and get drunk, that bumper willl still be unpainted in the spring!!! If anything, take it to a boat wrap specialist (there should be 5 or so on your block alone) and have it wrapped in plastic so you don't have to worry about rust. People that never lived there will say this is overkill.

 

[4RunnerKyle]

Did my best impression today of Natemob's iconic shot with the front bumper.... I'm pleased with the bumper so far, my only gripe, albeit extremely minor is how much the bumper sticks out on the sides if you have no flares or the skinny black SR5 ones...

 

[cdrewferd]

Looks good. You got a closer pic of how far it sticks out on the sides?

 

[Schargedtaco]

Dude dont sweat it! I'm a perfectionist and think it looks fine, wouldn't cross my mind its not flush. Better wide than not wide enough.

 

[4RunnerKyle]

Still loving this bumper.... Here are the pictures for those who requested them of the sides

This one makes the bumper look much wider than it actually is, it only really sticks out about a inch or so from the flares

If there's ever a version 2.0 of this bumper, this is where I would have the line of the bumper sides cut through... I used a wooden paint stirrer for this

Regardless, Nathan and the crew at CBI make an amazing product and I can't say enough good things about the bumper and it's fittment... Lines are uniform and all holes line up... I got the powder coat done locally after I gave up trying to rattle can it and it makes the bumper really stand out!