RCI Sliders Rusted out

[stephan07]

I did a lot of research before purchasing these in the summer of 2018 for my 2017 TRD PRO. Had them powder coated by RCI. Within 6 months they were flaking and rusting. Ive touched them up with truck bed liner numerous times.

Loved the look, and they were easy bolt on. Disappointed in the quality of powder coating for sure.

Thinking I replace and go with bare steel, have a local very good powder coat center. Let them do it as they warranty it.

Dont think I'll go with RCI tho I am running a complete set of alum skids from them too.

Any recommendations on sliders? Like the C4 quality of stuff Ive gotten from them.

 

[Ryance39]

I very much like my RCI sliders, and have not had the rust issues your photo shows. Based on your location I’m not surprised to see rust with the winters Boston gets and the salting of the roads. I’d argue regardless of who did your powder coating after 4 years of exposure to weather, salt, and hopefully some use and abuse that your powder coating is shot. Unless they are structurally compromised, I’d just blast them and start fresh with another coating. I sprayed and touch up mine with Steel-it. Works great.

 

[Too Stroked]

I did a lot of research before purchasing these in the summer of 2018 for my 2017 TRD PRO. Had them powder coated by RCI. Within 6 months they were flaking and rusting. Ive touched them up with truck bed liner numerous times.

Loved the look, and they were easy bolt on. Disappointed in the quality of powder coating for sure.

Thinking I replace and go with bare steel, have a local very good powder coat center. Let them do it as they warranty it.

Dont think I'll go with RCI tho I am running a complete set of alum skids from them too.

Any recommendations on sliders? Like the C4 quality of stuff Ive gotten from them.

A couple of thoughts. First, you're in Boston and they do use deicing chemicals on the roads. That stuff is very corrosive and any bare steel is going to corrode in short order.

Second, your sliders are the first thing road spray and debris hit coming off the front tires. This almost constant media blasting will remove just about any finish in pretty quickly - opening the door for corrosion.

So, unfortunately, I'm not at all surprised that you have corrosion issues. That said, it still sucks. There are very few options for finishes that will hold up in your application.

 

[bigdaddy2021]

I recommend 4xinnovations sliders. Bombproof and easy install

 

[4Rtrailbum]

Sadly everything corrodes and requires maintenance before it gets to that point, get your drill out with a wire wheel and grind it down to fresh metal ,prime it then paint it.

Repeat as needed, or go aluminum.:

 

[CSM4runner]

Stephan07, My son applied for a robotics job in Boston so this is more of a curiosity question. Is that surface rust and could they be sand blasted and powder coated again? His 4Runner has been in the south and we dont have snow and salted roads so I'm wondering what kind of issues he'll run into living up there.

 

[jp.vegas]

Take them off, strip them, coat them again. Rinse, repeat. No need to replace them.

 

[CSM4runner]

Take them off, strip them, coat them again. Rinse, repeat. No need to replace them.

unless there's significant corrosion thats the same thing i was thinking.

 

[jp.vegas]

unless there's significant corrosion thats the same thing i was thinking.

Yeah if they're full of holes, full stop, but didn't see anything that shows that's the case.

 

[honda250xtitan]

have them blasted, then have a professional shop apply bedliner to them.

 

[rageandlove]

Get sliders from Greenlane Offroad. They are aluminum so wont rust. They are also exceptionally high quality.

 

[Horsethief]

That's not rusted out. "Rusted out" implies that it's rotted and the metal is literally falling apart. That's surface rust, and 4 years of New England winters will do that to any powder coated product.

You have a few options. You could pull them off, and take them to a powder coater who will sandblast them and re-coat them. I got a price on this to have a set done near me in Rhode Island, and it was almost 400 bucks. Still cheaper than a new pair of sliders.

Another option, and the one that I went with, is to clean them up and paint them. It cost me about a weekend and 60 bucks in materials, and after two winters they still look pretty good. Once the weather gets a little warmer to be suitable for spray painting, I'm going to touch them up again. If you do paint them, don't use truck bed liner. People love that stuff, but this is not the proper application for it. It doesn't stop rust, rust just grows underneath it and eventually the liner will flake off.

I'll say that you're probably correct in that the powder coat from RCI wasn't very high quality, because 6 months in after painting my bare steel sliders, they still hadn't developed any rust at all. 2 years later, the only rusty on them is where the paint is chipped from stones thrown up by the wheels.

 

[Horsethief]

Stephan07, My son applied for a robotics job in Boston so this is more of a curiosity question. Is that surface rust and could they be sand blasted and powder coated again? His 4Runner has been in the south and we dont have snow and salted roads so I'm wondering what kind of issues he'll run into living up there.

Yeah, everything rusts up here. Between all the humidity in the summer, and all the corrosive crap they insist on putting in the roads in the winter, there's no escaping it.

Robotics job sounds cool, but tell your son to keep in mind the cost of living in the Boston area is astronomical. Also, crazy traffic, and a ton of people (that aren't very friendly).

I've lived in Mass and Rhode Island my whole life, and I can't see anybody wanting to move to New England. It's just getting more and more expensive, and harder to actually find a place to live. Vermont and Maine are nice, but generally speaking, where it's reasonably priced to live, there are no jobs, and vice versa.

 

[T4R2014]

Stephan07, My son applied for a robotics job in Boston so this is more of a curiosity question. Is that surface rust and could they be sand blasted and powder coated again? His 4Runner has been in the south and we dont have snow and salted roads so I'm wondering what kind of issues he'll run into living up there.

Ha, I know exactly where he applied to. Please dip your 4Runner in Fluid Film every year if you want it to survive out there if he gets the job.

I wouldn't call those sliders "rusted out". Wait a few more years to learn what rusted out means. They need a refinishing. Competing brands wouldn't fair much better in this rust belt dump.