Just bought a 99 SR5 4runner and the paint is totally faded and peeling off my roof rack. I was thinking of painting it with high temp BBQ or engine type paint but then had a thought after washing my wifes Honda Pilot. It looks like the Honda had a type of bed liner type paint on the roof rack. Then I was thinking....why couldn't I use bed liner paint on the roof rack? Does anyone know of anyone that has tried it? Did it work out afterall or should I just stick with regular paint?
Painting your roof rack?
- Thread starter raven1911
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ryankmasuda
New member
The only downside to using bed liner paint is that some brands will stain from mud and clay.
Scat Adams
New member
Just use some Krylon Fusion and call it a day. Bedliner is a pain the arse to clean.
Stick Figure
New member
biggest pain with painting the roof rack is to get the old paint off first. I hit mine with some rattle can bed liner that I normally have good luck with but even after scuffing, and priming the spots that I didn't sand through the original paint are now flaking off. I need to pull the rack for my yearly FULL wax job anyway, but I'll be thinking of blasting and powder coating this year. Hopefully that's affordable.
Scat Adams
New member
No need to strip the paint completely, just get the chips out, wipe down with windex, let it dry and paint them with a plastic paint.
Whitson Metalworks
New member
^^ Yup, also, I've had great luck with rustoleum products. their professional enamel i think it is (comes in big can) is good stuff.
98_4runnerSR5
New member
x2 on rustoleum high heat engine enamel. That's what I used on my rack, skids, and wheels. Good stuff
BrianSD_42
New member
You want to use TRIM Black automotive paint. It can be bought at NAPA or an automitive paint store. Trim paint is extra durable against fading. It costs more, probably $7-9 a can as opposed to $3 a can. Get two cans.
Remove the rack as a full piece, don't disassemble.
Lightly sand but not down to the aluminum.
1 coat of primer, any type.
Top coat with 2 coats of trim black.
Automotive brands: Duplicolor, SEM
There is NO need for high heat paint; that makes no sense. Regular automotive paint is strong enough for the sun thats why its called automotive paint not "automotive but only in the shade" paint.
High temp paint comes in 2 flavors, 500 F or 2000F, neither are necessary in your case.
Good luck. I say don't dissassemble it because it is unneccessary and a huge PIA.
Remove the rack as a full piece, don't disassemble.
Lightly sand but not down to the aluminum.
1 coat of primer, any type.
Top coat with 2 coats of trim black.
Automotive brands: Duplicolor, SEM
There is NO need for high heat paint; that makes no sense. Regular automotive paint is strong enough for the sun thats why its called automotive paint not "automotive but only in the shade" paint.
High temp paint comes in 2 flavors, 500 F or 2000F, neither are necessary in your case.
Good luck. I say don't dissassemble it because it is unneccessary and a huge PIA.
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T4R_Finally
New member
My rack is a bit faded but wasn't too bad. The crossbars actually had paint missing, though, so I did a quick rattle can job with some Krylon and it seems to be holding up well. Just sanded the edges to smooth things out a bit between the existing paint and the missing paint. Here's the before and after:
Mine look very similar to this with the paint actually faded and chipped off. However, my main rail pieces that attach to the roof body itself are really bad and I need to completely take them apart and paint them too. The cross pieces are bad too but still have the paint on them. I don't get the Krylon Fusion choice, as some of the rails I need to repaint are aluminum. Isn't Fusion for plastic only??
Brian, I might try this, as it looks like the bedliner idea is out!
T4R_Finally
New member
I didnt say i used krylon fusion. I guess someone else mentioned it. I used krylon but not the kind meant for plastic. The rest of my rack is a little faded, so i tried to paint the crossbars to better match the rest of the rack vs. trying to make the whole thing look newer than the truck, especially since it is a pain to remove. Then you have to be sure it is water proof when you reinstall it.
Ya sorry, didn't mean to imply you said it. I think I am going to go for the proper prepping and just spray paint it then this week. Hopefully it holds up for a while.
Stick Figure
New member
That's about what mine looked like too ... and getting back to that point rather quickly. I'm sure the CA sun doesn't help that out either though.
So I ended up using #0000 steel wool to polish up the cross pieces very nicely and it took all the haze and oxidation off them. The main side rails were another story though, as the paint literally chipped off one side, so I have to repaint those. I got some Rustoleum paint. So far I took them off, waxed the top of the runner, chipped off the old flaky paint, sanded and primered them. Top coat is next with a low gloss black. We will see how they turn out.
KHoffRunner
Member
I'm in the process of repainting mine I started by using a wire drill bit sanding all the paint off, then I'm gonna prime, hit it with semi-flat, then lightly hit it with bedliner to give it a tuff look.
