Powder coated rails and OEM crossbars?

[slowveloce]

My rails are being powder coated and I was wondering if I should put the OEM crossbars on while everything is disassembled. Are the OEM crossbars going to be so tight when I put them on that they will scratch the powder coating? Crossbars will hold a Kayak on a two mile trip(or just stick it in the back with the window rolled down) and the occasional use of my Thule roof rack.

If its a tight fit I will just go with different crossbars.

thanks

g

 

[LandCruiser]

Short answer is that you'll scratch them from use and the powder coating is there to lessen that.

 

[pDubs]

You can have the powder coaters leave the channel on the inside silver.

Just put the cross bars on before you click the plastic end caps back on, since they can just slide on from the back after mounting the rails on the truck.

 

[Tejas]

My side rails are powder coated and I don't have fitment issues or scratching.

 

[Decipher]

Is the powder coating expensive? I recently vinyl wrapped my wife’s Acura grill black and it turned out great. I have extra black vinyl so I was thinking about giving it a go on the rails. Love the black look.


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[slowveloce]

They coated me 75 to 100 bucks....sounded fair to me.

 

[18 trd off road]

i had my rails done for $30 and dont have any fitment or scratches

 

[Decipher]

Thanks fellas! Looks amazing.


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[TeeDub21]

$40 to do mine in powdercoat coupled with LFD crossbars. Works way better than OEM crossbars.


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[YellowSnow]

Pics? I would think PC is significantly more durable than a vinyl wrap, and comparable in cost as well....why even choose vinyl?

 

[Tejas]

Pics? I would think PC is significantly more durable than a vinyl wrap, and comparable in cost as well....why even choose vinyl?

$50 and I had them back in under 4 hours. No rubbing, not tight, no scratching, way more durable than a vinyl wrap and look better too.

I have my entire factory rack pictured here for sale if anyone is looking.

 

[18 trd off road]

here is a few pics

 

[slowveloce]

I just picked mine up...a whopping $32.78 to get them done. I will get them installed and post some pics this weekend.

 

[406backpacker]

So, leave the inside channel uncoated or go ahead and PC all of it? Anyone who has powdercoated entire rails had fitment issues with crossbars?

 

[smpsmp]

If done right you shouldn't have any fit issues after powder coating. While cross bars do fit snug they aren't a precision fit item by any means. Powder coating has less thickness than other spray on finishes (did gunsmithing before my current job and remember cerakote was around a 1 mil thick and that was thin for paint).

Most places should only be 50 to 100 for the powder coating. I know a place near me quoted 50 or 60 last spring then everything shut down here in PA. So ended up just sanding and spraying them myself with a 2k paint. It's been holding up great, and has a nice satin finish. Total cost was about 25 dollars and about an hour from start to finish.

 

[97BlackAckCL]

I had mine powder coated and then had fitment issues with the Rago awning mount, however their hardware was questionable to begin with

 

[PCRIDE4RUNNERORG]

Don’t forget that the rails are PC from the factory, just in grey color.

PC is very durable. When it’s layered on thick, is when it’s prone to chipping.

When you look at all these mods on 4runners, you should consider professional services vs DIY. It’s not all that expensive and usually a trade off between time, money and quality.

Plasti-dip vs paint
Tint vs pro tint
Vinyl wrap vs paint or DIY
build rack vs buy

As with anything however. I did some Vinyl body armor wrap down by the front wheel well to prevent rocks from chipping the paint. In this case there weren’t too many options for the little amount of armor I needed so designed and cut my own vinyl and installed.