Rock sliders - paint, powdercoat or linex???

[Steve G]

I just ordered a set of rock sliders for my Tundra and am having them sent bare metal... the powder coating cost seemed a little high and I wanted to keep my options open. Looking for thoughts on coating material? I was planning to just spray them with matte black spray paint when they arrive, but it occurred to me they might be a little slippery in wet conditions. I want my truck to slide over rocks, not me or my kids sliding off the sliders.

Is linex a good choice, or would it chip off in giant chunks when rock makes contact? Maybe just some grip tape near the doors? I plan to use these for their intended purpose, so I want something that allows me to touch up easily in the driveway after an outing.

 

[Kage]

I prefer the rustoleum wrinkle finish (in a can). I've found it to be much more durable than I expected it to be, and it is easy to touch up as needed. I just goop it on on with a brush rather than doing several coats with a can. It 'self levels' pretty well assuming you aren't trying to paint in the freezing cold.

The texture does add a little bit of grip but not much, so I have thrown a bit of sand on the still curing paint of the first coat, and then painted over the sand with a few other coats. If you wanted a little more defined look, grip tape in the correct places works as well for the extra traction.

Hope that helps!

 

[Cully74]

I'm in the same boat. Interested to see the different opinions. So far on line I'm seeing allot of rattle can bed liner.

Sent from my secret moon base...

 

[Stepsride]

I like the look of a good zinc coded powder coating. I run the Rock Hard 4x4 rails on my JK down here in Tampa FL. I have had them 3 years in Salt Sand and Sun the powder coat has held up great. I use Rustoleum wrinkle finish to fix the under side when I use the rock rails on the trail. The top looks near perfect. The wrinkle finish and powder coat match so well some folks think I own a mall crawler.

 

[soonersfan]

I like the look of a good zinc coded powder coating. I run the Rock Hard 4x4 rails on my JK down here in Tampa FL. I have had them 3 years in Salt Sand and Sun the powder coat has held up great. I use Rustoleum wrinkle finish to fix the under side when I use the rock rails on the trail. The top looks near perfect. The wrinkle finish and powder coat match so well some folks think I own a mall crawler.

I agree with this post. I have powder coated sliders and I have beat the crap out of them and they still look good. The line-x coating on my bumpers will actual tear when I’m sliding them off of a rock. I use the rustoleum bed liner to touch up both but the powder coat looks cleaner after touch up.

 

[Smileyshaun]

Rustolium hammer rite paint or van sickle tractor paint , both hold up well to abuse

 

[Old Griz]

I just ordered a set of rock sliders for my Tundra and am having them sent bare metal... the powder coating cost seemed a little high and I wanted to keep my options open. Looking for thoughts on coating material? I was planning to just spray them with matte black spray paint when they arrive, but it occurred to me they might be a little slippery in wet conditions. I want my truck to slide over rocks, not me or my kids sliding off the sliders.

Is linex a good choice, or would it chip off in giant chunks when rock makes contact? Maybe just some grip tape near the doors? I plan to use these for their intended purpose, so I want something that allows me to touch up easily in the driveway after an outing.

You could use 3M rocker shutz spray. That would give you texture for traction on top and you could paint it all matte black.

 

[Steve G]

These are some great suggestions. I'm leaning toward powder coat and using rustoleum products for fixes as needed, if I can get a good deal locally on powder coating. I think I'll also get some scrap metal and do a few samples of the diy products as well and see if that changes my mind.

 

[SeattleBeardo]

On my Wrangler mine are coated with bed liner. I dig it because occasionally I need to use them as a step and it always seems to be when its raining or muddy and the liner gives tones of traction.

 

[Cully74]

Is the bedliner easy to touch up after you come in contact with rocks?

Sent from my secret moon base...

 

[SeattleBeardo]

It is pretty easy to touch up, just be sure to clean super well before applying. Any oil or solvent left behind will let it bubble and flake off. I like this " " for touch up since it has no shelf life and can be sealed and reused but you may want to go with something tougher like Herculiner for the initial coating.

 

[slomatt]

I'm a fan of Rustoleum Hammered for sliders and skidplates. It holds up well, and because of the texture it is easy to touch up when the sliders get scratched.

 

[Tinker]

Powdercoat's the toughest & bedliner has the most grip, BUT... if you expect to utilize them often where the coating will get scratched/damaged then I'd go with paint. With wear the bedliners & powdercoats act like a single encompassing sheet, so when compromised they'll let corrosion run rampant underneath & you'll never know til you get rusty streaks running out of any holes in the coat. If you go with paint you can easily touch up damage with a rattle can right there on the spot & not worry about rust running away underneath. Bedliner isn't too bad to patch when you get off the trail, & patching powdercoat properly is no easy task.

 

[NightCrawler]

I went with powder coat on mine and added clear 15" shower/tub grip tape strips for traction on the top side. They hold up well and are almost invisible since they are clear.

 

[snubby007]

Had my All Pro sliders powder coated satin black with a zinc primer. Need be they can easily be touched up with rattle can paint of matching color. Also used 3 M anti-slip 3 inch tape where needed.

 

[Cully74]

Sounds like everyone has there preference. I did find this on the All Pro website in under Tech Info. See the bottom part:

Sheds some light on how to paint them. I'll probably clean off all the oil/grease that's on them when they are shipped, sand them, prime em, then paint. Depending on what kind of Rustoleum I use will probably dictate how far away I hold the paint can. I'll have to test that on something. From what I hear different distances can give a different look. My thinking is, I'd rather try the paint and realize I was wrong and then powder coat than do it in reverse. Lol.

 

[Ryan Matthes]

I went with paint as well, just for the ease of keeping sealed and repairing any chips or scrapes from use. I use the Tractor Supply tractor implement paint - this stuff is phenomenal. Light coats and it seals like a powdercoat (clearly not quite as good as actual powdercoating) but doesn't run (if you use the light coats) and takes new spray to touch up like a champ. Very durable.

 

[Mike W]

All of those mentioned options will rust. I've been there, done that. Rusted away sliders already and replaced them. Powder coated, zinc rich coatings, all rusted.

I went with a hot spray aluminum metalized process which essentially is like a galvanic protection.

http://www.zincnation.com/itWorks.html

We are so confident that our metallizing process will keep away rust that we make the following guarantee: If your pieces are metallized by us, there will be no visible rust for 3 years! No steel erosion for 10 years or we will metallize your problem pieces again for FREE!* This means that metallizing pays for itself in less than five years!

Then I had them locally powder coated with a black texture powder coat (more for looks then protection). And touch ups with rattle can.

I hope it holds up much longer.

Rattle can is fine, but it only cost me $60 for both my huge sliders with built in skids at a place here in Iowa for good quality powder coat. Took a day to turn around. Definitely not worth messing with rattle cans based on cost, time and results.

 

[northernXoverland]

linex would be repairable whereas powder coat is durable but basically has to be fixed professionally

 

[Revere]

I bed lined mine thinking that I could just spray it every time I scrape it. I scrape it pretty much every time I go out though, so it's getting to be a bit of a pain. I have no idea if I would be better off with anything else though.