Recoating roof rack crossbars

[T4R_Finally]

So, my "new to me" 2000 limited is in very good shape, cosmetically, given its age. However, the main (biggest) crossbars on the roof haven't aged as well. The black coating is worn off in large sections across both bars. Not trying to get them back to perfect, just don't want them to be as conspicuous. Is there a particular paint or coating I should use on them? Or could I sand them down a little and put something like a spray on, somewhat flat, black grill paint on them? Of course, the entire rack is faded, so I don't want to use anything glossy and/or really dark because, then, it will be conspicuous in a different way.

 

[IanB]

I recently picked up a used roofrack and I'm facing the same problem. I was thinking of using some black "trim" paint that I have a can of (I can post the name of it later if you want), it works great for things like wiper arms and brings them back looking like new, but I also considered plasti-dip, but I haven't really looked into that yet. Let me know what you try and how it works.

 

[T4R_Finally]

Something like the plasti-dip would probably be good, especially if going to use the rack very much. I doubt we'll ever use it. I just want it to look a little better but last a while.

 

[A.Wilson013]

I plasti-dipped mine, followed by a few coats of clear coat... It held up well, until I put my snowboard rack on... That didn't work too well. It's now peeling around the mounts.

IF you don't actually use them though... It should be fine.

Another user used some sort of black dye on all of the black/grey pieces of his 4Runner and it looked great... May want to do some searching for that.

 

[T4R_Finally]

A.Wilson, my problem is there is no surface in some areas to absorb any sort of die. The racks appear to have some sort of coating on them, over metal. It may just be paint, not sure. But there is bare metal in several large places on both bars.

How does plasti-dip work and where can you find it - auto parts store?

 

[T4R2014]

The crossbars are metal I believe. The paint on mine is flaking off in big pieces now. I wouldn't use Plastidip on it though.

Ideally, I would get them powder coated, but that's a little pricey. I'm going to look into some rattle cans. Semi-gloss black would match the factory look. I'm going to look into SEM trim paint since I've heard great things about it but Rustoleum and Krylon have worked well for me.

 

[the great him]

i just had mine powdercoated

 

[Beach Runner]

I used Rustoleum satin black. It was painted it back in June and I haven't had any issues thus far. I did take great care in prepping them though.

 

[ultimatt]

I had my complete rack and crossbars powder coated. Shop charge me $40 to sandblast and powdercoat everything.

Considering the time and expense to prep and paint I though it a good deal.

 

[Civi]

I bought my 2000 4runner with 187k miles on it & I don't think it has ever spent a day or night under cover of the Florida sun so my roof rack & plastic trim were in rough shape. For those on a budget I'd recommend removing it from the roof, hitting with a medium wire wheel from the local Hardware store & then using Rustoleum Truck Bed Spray. For the plastic parts use Bondo Restore Black. Just remember to silicone all the screw holes when you reinstall it. pics attached.

 

[Civi]

1 more, before & after, pic to show how well the Bondo Restore Black worked. Cost me under $10 at Walmart but don't buy the hype that you will get this result with 1 application. I pulled all my trim & just kept working my way around all the pieces multiple times.

 

[Steef]

+1 on the truck bed coating. That's what I did with mine. Picked up a used rack off here that looked pretty rough. Just a quick cleanup and sprayed a couple coats on it. Looks amazing! VERY durable with a nice textured finish!

 

[Ghostrider]

Just finished mine and a few thoughts... I tried the strip and paint three times and the rattle can paint just didn't look good on the metal. I stripped the metal, primed it and used rustoleum (hammered black and satin black). I gave up and found a used one in a junkyard since I didn;t want the holes in my roof open to the weather. Took the used rails and had them blastd and powdercoated. Thye look excellent. I used Bondo restore black on the cross pieces and they came out fine. If anyone is doing this - a few suggestions since I screwed it up several times.
1. There are four plastic end pieces on the rails. Pull them straight off - if you rock them they will break. Good news is dealer has them - bad news is ten bucks each
2. Remember which way is up for the small pieces the cross slats screw into. It is frustrating to think your done and notice all six are upside down:nono:
3. Toyota does not have the little "gaskets" betwee nthe rails and the roof metal. I used some thin rubber washers fro Lowe's specialty bin
4. Mine had four additional holes under the rails - no idea why since they didn't line up with anything. I covered them with silicon rubber.
5. Make sure you remember which direction the fron and rear tie down bard face. Not a big deal but I got one wrong - easy to reverse
6. If you get one from a junkyard you may run into the same issue I did at the first yard. The bolts had rusted so bad that they were frozen..

The major issue I had was painting the aluminum rails. The powdercoating looks like brand new

 

[Kanger328]

I just did mine 2 weeks ago. I used Rustoleum Satin Black for the crossbars after sanding and primer. I then clearcoated it. In retrospect, I should have done the bedliner instead. I used bedliner for the rails which look great. Didn't use for crossbars because I had Satin Black left over from previous project...and ran out of bedliner.

 

[pjpj]

Reviving this older thread for those that may be looking into doing this.

My "new to me" 2000 Limited had rack side rails where the paint was 70% flaked off. The main top rails were worn off as well.

I removed the entire roof rack as one piece by simply unscrewing the torx screws holding the side rails to the roof. Once on the ground, everything disassembles logically.

I also took off the rear deflector, so that everything on the roof will match when this project is all done.

Everything that was plastic was treated with an automotive plastic restorer - Bondo 800 black restore. Everything that was rubber was treated with automotive rubber restorer - but the rubber pieces actually looked like new anyway.

Everything that was metal was given a quick sanding and dropped off for sand blasting and powder coating. Looked up a few "metal finishing" places online, and took the 8 pieces (7 rack pieces plus 1 deflector piece). They charged $125 for sand blasting and a single coat. I paid $150 total to also have a second semi-gloss coat, which they said would most closely match the original texture visible on the underside of the deflector.

The next day I picked up the pieces, reassembled, and it doesn't just look new - it is basically the same as new. The powder coat shop said, if parked outside and driven normally, should last 5-7 years before showing any signs of wear. To me, that was easily worth the money so I don't have to disassemble every year or two to touch-up.

Some notes - confirming what others have said about power coating:
-Before you do anything, snap a couple pictures of how it should look when you put it back together.
-Disassembly is very easy if you just go slowly and don't force anything.
-To replace the missing rubber tape padding at each screw hole, I used double-sided 3M body tape available for $7 at any auto parts store. I cut about a 3/4" piece and used a hole punch to make an opening for the screw. Pretty simple.
-During reassembly, start by screwing the side rails onto the roof, with the tape at each hole and filling each hole with silicon sealant first. *Leave the back end caps off of each side rail*.
-Then reassemble each rail and slide it on in the right direction and right order referencing the picture you took before disassembly.
-Finally, put the back end caps onto each side rail.

You could try reassembling the entire thing on the ground and then placing it on the roof, but that gets tricky to line up all the tape and silicon. Maybe with a partner it would be possible.

Sorry I don't have pictures - but you basically can't distinguish it from a new rack - the texture is smooth, dark, and consistent. The match between the plastic and rubber pieces is spot on.

 

[shootmymime]

I did the same thing on mine. Check out my build thread

 

[4RunAffairs]

I’m in the middle of this project right now on my 99. Paint on the rails and cross bars faded as expected with some surface rust peeking through in several areas. Hand sanded them down to the base coats and to bare metal where the rust was. I had some 500 degree F black enamel rattle can paint and the matching primer, so I used that. I put 2 light coats and 2 medium coats on the rails and tie down bars but ran out of black paint for the cross bars. I’m going to use the truck bed liner on the crossbars though as they will get a lot more abuse from any mounts/gear contacting them.

The bars are waiting 24 hrs before starting clear coat, but they look amazing already. Although the plastic and rubber trim is actually in good condition, the tower mounts are more faded and contrast poorly against the new black paint, so refinishing those as well will probably be necessary. I’ll upload some after pics when down, but forgot to take before pics before starting... oops!

This is an easy project if you’re familiar with painting/refinishing parts, including the disassembly/assembly part. All you need is a t25 and I believe a t10 Tory bit (t10 to disassemble the crossbars completely).

Have fun!

 

[BABYTOYODA]

I didn't think you could powder coat the plastic parts ? and rubber?

 

[Pyral]

I didn't think you could powder coat the plastic parts ? and rubber?

You shouldn't powder coat rubber, its not a good material for powder coat. Not sure about the plastic. The plastic end caps on mine were a bit old looking but I put this plastic cleaner/polisher on it, and it looks a lot better. You should dye the plastic instead of paint it.

The rubber pads that get sandwiched between the roof and roof rack are usually dirty and stiff. I cleaned the rubber pads and then used Armor All tire cleaner and it really helped rejuvenate it back to almost new.

If your painting your roof rack sand down to metal. The result will last much longer if the primer is being applied to metal instead of old paint.

 

[El Jefe Slash]

Recoating Roof Rack

I bought my 2000 4runner with 187k miles on it & I don't think it has ever spent a day or night under cover of the Florida sun so my roof rack & plastic trim were in rough shape. For those on a budget I'd recommend removing it from the roof, hitting with a medium wire wheel from the local Hardware store & then using Rustoleum Truck Bed Spray. For the plastic parts use Bondo Restore Black. Just remember to silicone all the screw holes when you reinstall it. pics attached.

A little late on this thread, but how is your re-coating holding up all these years later (assuming you still have the car). I just did the same thing with my roof rack. Needed to remove those end caps to drill some holes in the cross bars to mount my traction boards and figured I'd yank the whole thing off and re-paint those faded rails and cross bars. I used some RTV for the holes and screw threads when re-installing and it got a little messy putting everything back together (such a pain to get those end caps off and back on, and you have to wait until every sliding screw base and cross bar is back in place). I like your truck bed spray idea. I used some Rustoleum auto paint.