Painting your roof rack?

[raven1911]

I took mine off, sanded and got all the old paint off, primered and painted with hi temp paint and it looks great. Powdercoat should do much better but it would be a pain and expensive, IMO.

 

[SummerallGuard04]

Hi Ultimatt. I have a 1999 4Runner Limited. My roof rack is peeling badly and I'm thinking of having it sand blasted and powder coated as well. Do you have a photo of how yours came out? How's it holding up?

That's probably going to be the most expensive solution. The best, but a little pricey. Just DIY.

 

[Cytronus]

Thanks guys! I want to get al the old paint off via sand blasting because i want the paint top coat to be well bonded to make it last as long as possible. I've sanded and painted ext. trim pieces before and it doesnt usualy last beyond 3 years.

 

[jtdunc]

I have chucks of paint flaking off of my roof rack and the cross bars.

So how can I remove my roof rack and cross bars?

 

[hrt4me]

I took mine to a local company who sandblasted it and powder coating it for $40. Considering I would have spent at least $20 on paint and supplies not to mention my time I thought it a great deal. Two years later it still looks great.

how does the powder coating look a year later?

any pics of before and after?

 

[Singtoe]

My truck is several inches higher than stock and can't even see the flaking going on on the rack. But my vote is for the trim black from napa.

 

[azn toyo]

How to remove

I'll be taking a rattle can of rustoleum to the roof rack. It was wondering how to get it off. I haven't taken a look at it but I'm assume it's just a bunch of screws. Any tips other than removing all as one piece?

 

[viking-777]

See the following thread for removing roof rack:

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/79563-diy-roof-rack-delete-w-pics.html

 

[73Duster440]

Rustoleum Spray Bomb Bed Liner has worked great also did rear spoiler with it too

 

[Pyral]

I am doing this right now because the old paint is peeling and faded. I want to do it properly so I don't have to do it again.

My first question is should I remove all the old paint before repainting?

The roof rack cross bars have 3 parts- 1. a black plastic side that slides into the rails 2. the painted aluminum cross bar and 3. A vibration absorbing rubber insert that is on the top of the aluminum cross bar

I know not to paint the rubber part, but should I spray paint the plastic side as well, or just the painted aluminum cross bar that has the peeling paint?

Should I use a separate self etching primer for the aluminum part, or will using a blended paint + primer rattle can be fine?

My last question is whether its a good idea to use a clear coat? I live in California where this paint will be exposed to high temp.

 

[Ghostrider]

I posted this a few years ago in a similar thread. I had mine powdercoated and really like that. I actually grabbed a "spare" from the junkyard so I would not have to worry about the open holes while getting coated. However, what I previously posted, is that there are small grommets for each bolt hole and those are unobtainium from Toyota. I found a replacement at Lowes or Home Depot in the drawers they stock with small items like nylon washers etc.