Painted the Rocker Panels

[Maritimer]

To stave off rust and make the nether regions look nice after removing the running boards I decided on painting the rocker panels and the step-ins with bed liner. After sanding rust, cleaning, prepping, getting tape and plastic up, measuring, painting, etc., I was beat. The rear door area is already standing up to kids crawling in and out.

I'm satisfied with the results, especially since my previous painting job on my ex-CR-V was FUBAR.

 

[fightman80]

Looks good! Have you thought about color matching your touch-up?? I did mine, and you couldn't tell it was ever re-painted.....If you want, I could post up some pics of my rockers and doorjams???

 

[ameining]

Once I get a rear bumper, I am thinking of doing bed liner on the rocker panels as well. This looks great, thanks for possibly confirming my decision! However it makes me feel less unique now!

Fightman, post photos if you have them please!

 

[Maritimer]

I wish you were unique, ameining, then it would mean I have no rust. The pinch welds still bother me, but I figure the only feasible solution is to let the paint settle for a bit and then blast the inside of the panels with oil and ****.

I'd love to see pics, fightman. I have thought about color, but it makes me nervous. Going black is saying I want different, whereas matching old paint with new paint sends me into fits. I'll see how it wears on me. So far I like the way the black changes the lines of the truck. The rear looks a lot taller because the silver area in the middle is narrowed a bit and the bottom isn't so naked looking.

 

[MTDewX8]

I like that Idea. did you use the spray stuff or roll on?

looks good too

 

[trailhead98]

Man, that looks great....Ive been on the fence about this...you might have just pushed me to that side.

 

[00_4runner]

Im doing the same thing... But you already know that since you commented on my thread haha.

 

[ameining]

I wish you were unique, ameining, then it would mean I have no rust. The pinch welds still bother me, but I figure the only feasible solution is to let the paint settle for a bit and then blast the inside of the panels with oil and ****.

What do you mean you wish I were unique, and if so then you would have no rust?

 

[Maritimer]

Thanks everyone.

I used the spray on stuff, and I bought a big roll of tape and a roll of plastic sheeting to cover tires, doors, everything. The more time spent prepping (measuring, straight lines, taping off, sanding, etc.) the more fun you have when you are done.

 

[Maritimer]

What do you mean you wish I were unique, and if so then you would have no rust?

You said you feel less unique about your idea, but I only did it to clean up the rust that was behind my running boards. I still kind of wish I had all original paint and zero rust down there to deal with.

 

[fightman80]

Ok, so I took some pics, but the truck is a little dirty, which makes it a bit hard to see......

This next pic....you see the grease and dirt that has attached itself on my pinchwelds. This acts like a protective barrier, and stops any salt from getting inside and rotting the truck.

This pic shows the inner rocker area. I've wire wheeled, then painted with Tremclad, and then painted with the the stock Evergreen Pearl color. I then clear coated everything. This was done last fall.

The next 2 pics is of the inner door, just under the interior door panel. I'm not sure about you guys, but I had some surface rust start here. If you look at the rubber seal in the previous pic, you can see an orange spot where the rusty door made contact with the seal. Again, wire wheel, tremclad, body color, and clear coat.

I painted the rocker panel with the doors open, and used a small 8"X11" piece of cardboard (piece of a cereal box works great), to shield the surrounding area as I spray painted. Before doing that, I simply used a small brush and a quart of white tremclad to cover the bare metal. Tremclad does not need a primer applied, and should go on the bare metal. Make sure if you use this method, to buy a flat white and not a glossy paint, as the body color won't stick very well.

That's about it folks, as I said, it's hard to see, but with the rocker being at the bottom of the truck, spray painting it won't show any discolouration. There certainly is some, so you wouldn't want to paint the middle of the door, or a something higher up, but the rocker panels are just fine.

I'm a majorly OCD when it comes to my truck's appearance, and would not recommend this if I wasn't completely happy with the outcome. Just make sure that you clean the area thoroughly with some paint thinner, prior to painting.

If you need any more pics, or more info....let me know!

 

[Maritimer]

Sweet. Thanks fightman. This is turning into a nice thread full of information.

I had the same thing on my inner door. The rear passenger side door to be precise. Somehow the plastic caulking got compromised so I had to rip it off and sand the hell out of the door panel fold and paint that. I used a brush paint because I was tired of guarding from spray.

Can't wait to spray inside all these panels and get them nice and gooey.

 

[chainring]

The black coatig is really quite interesting! What is that, a 1.5 inch body lift in effect? Raises the lines of the truck, from the side, in a way I wouldn't have expected.

 

[Nervo19]

I'm generally not a fan of bedliner on the bottom of 4Runners but yours looks fantastic, Maritimer! You did an excellent job taping off the area so it has a nice effect on the lines of the body. I don't have any rust on my 3rd gen but I have some gravel pocks on the rocker panels. This might be a good solution.

 

[quicksilvr]

Awesome work. I really like the execution of it all. I'm planning to coat my rockers AND my lower doors with bed liner, but the plan right now is to color match them. I'll be doing all the work except for the final color match. I figure if I have a professional painter spray the color and the clear, it should be pretty invisible.


Has anyone ever used Ameriguard coating?

 

[Maritimer]

The black coatig is really quite interesting! What is that, a 1.5 inch body lift in effect? Raises the lines of the truck, from the side, in a way I wouldn't have expected.

No lift at all, just 265/75/16s and new standard size springs and shocks. I agree about the lines, and enjoy staring at them. What I notice is that concerning silver coloring, the rear area has the most height, so the middle actually looks shorter. The effect is the arse end looks jacked. I wish I had a house and a garage instead of an apartment, since if I stand outside staring at my truck everyone will think I'm a ****.

I'm generally not a fan of bedliner on the bottom of 4Runners but yours looks fantastic, Maritimer! You did an excellent job taping off the area so it has a nice effect on the lines of the body. I don't have any rust on my 3rd gen but I have some gravel pocks on the rocker panels. This might be a good solution.

I'm a diehard fan of aesthetics, so I had to mull things over for about a month, and even go over things with my six-year-old. He suggested not going up on the doors at all, and making sure it was matched up with the fender flares. The hardest part was making sure both sides were identical.

 

[Maritimer]

Awesome work. I really like the execution of it all. I'm planning to coat my rockers AND my lower doors with bed liner, but the plan right now is to color match them. I'll be doing all the work except for the final color match. I figure if I have a professional painter spray the color and the clear, it should be pretty invisible.


Has anyone ever used Ameriguard coating?

Amen on having a professional do the color match and the clear. Spray paint actually terrifies me after a horrible color match mess on my old CR-V combined with bad paint technique and poor effort at taping things off. I spent way more time on this. If the paint doesn't last well I'll probably re-do it next summer and then take it in to get it colored over. Let me know how yours goes cost-wise.

 

[Drcoffee]

Amen on having a professional do the color match and the clear. Spray paint actually terrifies me after a horrible color match mess on my old CR-V combined with bad paint technique and poor effort at taping things off. I spent way more time on this. If the paint doesn't last well I'll probably re-do it next summer and then take it in to get it colored over. Let me know how yours goes cost-wise.

Maritiner,

How is your rocker coating holding up now its been a year or more. I doing the same as you and plan to use Monstaliner coating. Which product did you use and would you use it again?

 

[Maritimer]

I used Dupli-Color Bed Armor.

It held up very well. It was looking rusty near the rear wheel after last winter, so I re-did it this summer--took off some of it with a wire wheel to re-coat it.

The only rust was where the bed liner went on too thin. So, very minor surface rust in a few places. Not even a problem, and couldn't see it until you look close at the black. Just put the bed liner on thick--it's got a watery consistency. Minor patches. I used a brush for mine.

The areas that had been rusty before doing it a year-and-a-half ago, a couple of places had gone through the panel even and I patched them with a bit of putty, all these areas were TOTALLY RUST FREE.

After I had the job all done I blasted the insides with Rust Check Spray. Can't be too careful up here in salt country. I only wish I had a new 2013 and could baby it against rust right from the start. Most rust is really just poor maintenance. Some of the 3rds around here don't have rocker panels anymore. Sad.

 

[Drcoffee]

After seeing your project, I set out to do my truck the same way. I pulled the factory running boards off, ground off the rust developing underneath and coated the rust with POR15. After searching high and low for a DIY bedliner that had good forum support I found Monstaliner. So far I have not seen much if any bad feedback. Just for reference, I went up 3" from the lower ledge.

Also, I used what was left over to cover the trailer hitch. There was rust coming thru the last paint job I did a month ago. Actually looks nice with a little texture to it. Hopefully the coating will seal the rust and keep it from resurfacing again.

Anyway, here are a few pictures from today's work. I have some chrome nerf bars on the way and once I get them installed, I will post a few more pictures.

Maritimer, thanks for the inspiration.