Trail valance, Silver to Black. Any one try this method?

[CF_Machete]

This might belong in the black out thread, but has anyone sanded/ striped the silver paint off of a trail valance and either repainted it black or just hit it with clear coat?

I've seen a few threads stating "do it right" and buy a pro valance, but is pissing money away the right thing to do? Not in my book.

The usual gripe I see is , "If you scrape the valance, its silver underneath"... which makes me wonder why not get rid of the silver. Its black plastic after all. Stock paint/ clear coat on a pro valance will still show trail damage under the same conditions.

 

[trailstandardoffroad]

That is exactly what I did. But I didn't bother going all the way down to plastic. I just scuffed the whole piece and painted it. When it gets scratched I will do the same the same thing, scuff and paint. That way I'm not worried about a "pro" valance getting scratched or a piece of vynil.

I would not recommend just sanding it down a clear coating. The plastic is not a dark rich black. I don't thing it would give you the look you are going for.

 

[ToyoT4R]

I've seen a few threads stating "do it right" and buy a pro valance, but is pissing money away the right thing to do? Not in my book.

Toyota has stopped selling TRD Pro parts anyway so you probably couldn't get it anyway.
I would do the same as you, paint it. :thumb3:

 

[cdiset]

I masked off the truck, and put about 7 coats of plastidip. Seems to be holding up well. Just be sure to clean it real good first.

 

[trailstandardoffroad]

Toyota has stopped selling TRD Pro parts anyway so you probably couldn't get it anyway.
I would do the same as you, paint it. :thumb3:

They did..?

 

[ToyoT4R]

Apparently Toyota didn't like people making faux TRD Pros. You can get a lot of these parts but you have to show you have the VIN matching a TRD Pro.

 

[Aurora85]

I masked off the truck, and put about 7 coats of plastidip. Seems to be holding up well. Just be sure to clean it real good first.

I was planning to possibly plasti dip mine when I throw on my Pro rims. Was it really as easy to use as the videos online showed? I don't want to have to cut the excess off. I was hearing its good to wash with either windex or rubbing alcohol? The appealing thing to me about it is the ability to pull it off later and have no issues with the paint.

 

[JayToo]

That is exactly what I did. But I didn't bother going all the way down to plastic. I just scuffed the whole piece and painted it. When it gets scratched I will do the same the same thing, scuff and paint. That way I'm not worried about a "pro" valance getting scratched or a piece of vynil.

I would not recommend just sanding it down a clear coating. The plastic is not a dark rich black. I don't thing it would give you the look you are going for.

That's what I did. took them off, scuffed, primed and then painted. I've got a few rock chips on the front but nothing that stands out.

Someone on here used the spray bedliner and I like the way that looks.

 

[blue2016]

I was planning to possibly plasti dip mine when I throw on my Pro rims. Was it really as easy to use as the videos online showed? I don't want to have to cut the excess off. I was hearing its good to wash with either windex or rubbing alcohol? The appealing thing to me about it is the ability to pull it off later and have no issues with the paint.

Wiped mine down with alcohol, used playing cards and painters tape and sprayed it. You use the playing cards to put in between the bumper and front valance, makes for a better line. Waited 10 minutes in between coats and did 8 coats.

 

[pizzashits]

Toyota has stopped selling TRD Pro parts anyway so you probably couldn't get it anyway.
I would do the same as you, paint it. :thumb3:

I just ordered a TRD valance from camelback Toyota. I was going to wrap the front valance black but vinyl chips easy with rocks and such. I'll be wrapping the rear valance since that doesn't get too much stuff thrown to it.

 

[brtnstrns]

I'm planning to pull mine off, sand it and spray it. I'm pretty anti-plastidip (for my own vehicles, I don't give a shit what people do with their own) so I refuse to go that route and spending like $400 for more plastic after spending $600 for the grille/garnish, it seems worth the effort to at least make an attempt at painting it myself with <$50 worth of materials. Worst case, if I screw it up, I'll take it to a professional to paint and it'll still probably cost less than the legit TRD Pro piece.

 

[trapshot68]

I did the plastidip route just to see if I liked the color, but I didn't like the texture or the resilience of the dip.

I asked a couple of vinyl wrap places, and they wanted 250...... (for the front only mind you...) They are out of their mind. I got the full set for like around $300 (front and rear), so it wasn't bad.

I could have also sold or kept the silver pieces as a spare, but a neighbor with an SR5 wanted it, so paid it forward, but selling would have helped take a dent out of the price I suppose.

Full disclosure: If i were to do again, or these black ones get scratched up, I think i'd go the bed-liner route. I came across it on this forum, and it's a great idea/color/feel.

 

[RockHammer]

I'm about to do mine...

I'll be plasti dipping my front. First I'll try several coats of just clear on the driver's mirror painted piece, followed by a coat of 'glossifier'. If that looks OK, then I plan to do the front valence and garnish in black followed by several coats of clear on the entire bumper all followed by glossifier. If the mirror doesn't look good, I'll fade back and punt.

 

[dtrt33]

Just Plasti Dipped mine this week. Rubbed it down with a little Windex, 5ish coats with about 10 minutes between. Over spray rubbed right off with a wet towel.

 

[Aurora85]

Wiped mine down with alcohol, used playing cards and painters tape and sprayed it. You use the playing cards to put in between the bumper and front valance, makes for a better line. Waited 10 minutes in between coats and did 8 coats.

good info! Any pics?

 

[Aurora85]

I'll be plasti dipping my front. First I'll try several coats of just clear on the driver's mirror painted piece, followed by a coat of 'glossifier'. If that looks OK, then I plan to do the front valence and garnish in black followed by several coats of clear on the entire bumper all followed by glossifier. If the mirror doesn't look good, I'll fade back and punt.

I'm curious to see how it turns out. I've read mixed reviews about the glossifier.

 

[RockHammer]

I'm curious to see how it turns out. I've read mixed reviews about the glossifier.

I'll post some photos.

 

[cdiset]

I was planning to possibly plasti dip mine when I throw on my Pro rims. Was it really as easy to use as the videos online showed? I don't want to have to cut the excess off. I was hearing its good to wash with either windex or rubbing alcohol? The appealing thing to me about it is the ability to pull it off later and have no issues with the paint.

Yep, it is that easy. I did my wheels too. And if you get overspray somewhere you dont want it, let it dry and then hit it with goo-gone and it comes right off.

 

[Aurora85]

Any opinions on using the glossifier?

 

[alphabeast]

Take the front valance off and get it painted. Plasti-dip does not hold up. I tried plasti-dip first, but after it started to look like garbage (bugs, salt, stone chips, etc.), I just had it painted.