Fading Bumper

[The Dude]

Thought this post might help for those with the chrome/plastic bumpers on their 4runners

A couple years after buying my truck, the plastic on my bumper started to gradually become discolored. At first I thought it was the plastic fading from old age, but then I realized that it was more of a wax and soap residue left from the coin operated self car washes i was taking it to. Since the car washes have a spot free rinse using filtered water, I'd often just rinse off after washing it and drive off when i was in a hurry. Over time, it became so bad that the discolored bumper made my truck look like an old heap. I tried using a gunk remover, and I even tried scraping it off with no luck. I was pretty close to replacing it, but I decided I'd try painting it to see if it could restore it.

Went to the hardware store and picked up a can of rust-oleum "professional high performance enamel" in a flat black, and it did the trick. It gave it a nice even coat and even filled in all of the nasty scratches I made trying to scrape off the gunk. I was really happy with the way it turned out, and I even like the way black color looks, over the factory gray color. My only concern was that the paint would eventually fade, or peel off, but after a year and several washes, it still looks like new.

 

[The Dude]

here's a pic of what it looks like....just a blown up picture of my avatar...wish I had a before picture but i don't.

 

[josh220]

Creative. Looks great though. :bigok:

 

[icantsee]

I like it!!

Restore the factory appearance...like nothing was done.

 

[shootmymime]

wow! thats a great idea, mine was also fading, didnt know why (washing and all the wax sounds like a good reson) so all i did was spray some tire cleaner on it. then a few min later i rubbed it in. the next day i did it again ane it is looking alot better!

love the paint idea if its toast, do you ahve and b4/after pictures?

 

[RonMAIDEN]

And when it flexes or goes through heat/cold cycles it may start to peel since that aged plastic won't "grip" paint like it should but so far your's is holging up nicely.

I prefer treating my plastic with Stoners trim shine a few times a year since my bumpers do take a little abuse off road and paint wouldn't hold up.

My flares get to look pretty sad after a few months but with a little TLC from Stoner's they get back to looking near new along with the front bumper too.

Rear bumper trim before and after

 

[josh220]

I don't have as big of a problem as you guys since I have a 4th gen, but I will probably fix my mudflaps since they have that problem.

 

[The Dude]

Hey Ron, looks that stoner's trim shine works really well. My trim looked a lot worse than yours did though. It just looked hideous.

I just took my chances with the paint, not knowing how it was going to turn out. I had nothing to lose since I was about to by a new replacement anyways. i thought it was just going to be a temporary fix, but it turned out to be a nice permanent solution.

Shootmymime, I don't have a before picture, but trust me it looked pretty bad. I would recommend trying ron's suggestion with the trim shine before going with the paint, though.

Also, if anyone's wondering how I painted turn signal and corner lenses, I used a can of Japanese amber lens paint that I bought from ebay for 30 bucks. I also painted half of the clear portion of my taillights as well to match the front. I'm sure it doesn't suit everyone's taste, but I like the way it looks.

 

[The Dude]

Here's a pic of the taillights

 

[shootmymime]

hey your truck would look great wit some sliders!

 

[josh220]

:iagree:

 

[Snookster]

hey DUDE is that the same paint the make for headlights and taillights? how do you think the smoke color would work? do you think it would dull the lights out too much?

 

[The Dude]

It probably would look good with some sliders, but I'd have no use for them because my rigs a 2wheeler. I totally wish it were 4wd but i really have no regrets because I got such a good deal on it when I bought it. I picked it up about 5 years ago with 36k miles for only 8,000 and it's still worth about the same now after racking up 100,000 miles. It was fully loaded and spotless when I got it. I actually removed the roof rack, wind deflector, mud guards and tow hitch, and slapped on the 31" BFG's to give it the naked, rugged look. When I can afford an upgrade, I'd like get myself a V8 4wd 4th gen like Josh220's, but in the meantime I'm happy cruising in what I have.

Snookster....yes it is the paint that they make for the headlights and taillights. I've seen quite a few cars that have smoked their lights using the paint and most of the ones i've seen looked pretty good. The only problem is once you paint em it's permanent. Another option would be the taillight covers made by a company called GTS styling. They cost 50 bucks a pair...only 20 bucks more than a can of the $30 lens paint. They look nice, and you can remove them easily if you ever want to go back to stock. I had them on another black 3rd gen I used to own and also on my old mustang. Couldn't find an image of the covers on a 4runner, but here's what they look like. (The white gts logo is a sticker...you can easily peel them off)