Running board paint flaking away.

[4RunnERD]

So I was washing the 4Runner the other day and when I hit the running boards with the hose, the paint started flaking off. I have an 06’ Sport with the tubular style running boards. They appear to be aluminum and the aluminum is oxidizing underneath the paint. If they were steel I would have no problem prepping and painting them, but I have never dealt with painting aluminum before. I researched on the web a little and it seemed like I got 50 different ways to prep and paint aluminum. Just curious if any of you Sport owners have ever dealt with this before and what you did to fix it. I would love to do it myself to save money, I just need some guidance on the proper way to do so, as I would prefer to do it right the first time. I don't want to plasti-dip them and I don't think powder coating would be the best choice because the get nailed with road debris constantly and would probably chip up very quickly. At least with paint I would be able to touch up as needed. Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

[4RunnERD]

Well before I would even consider plasti-dip I would still need to do some sort prepping... not sure how well it would bond to oxidized aluminum? Plus, I don't think plasti-dip comes in the factory color paint which is kind of like a gun metal gray... a color I would like to keep.

 

[NJshadow93]

No prep necessary for Plasti-Dip, other than cleaning the surface. You can always Plasti-Dip first, then paint the color you want over the Plasti-Dip.