Author Topic: Paint for off-road tube bumper  (Read 2077 times)

mtnbkr

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Paint for off-road tube bumper
« on: October 12, 2017, 07:35:06 AM »
I need to paint my new tube bumper (currently unrusted bare steel).  It doesn't make sense spending $200+ on professional paint or powder coating, so I'm going to rattlecan it.

I'm considering either Rustoleum with a self-etching primer basecoat or Hammerite.  Both get good reviews, but depending on which automotive forum you're looking at, one is preferred over the other.  The benefit of Rustoleum is that it'll be easier to source locally.  Hammerite seems tougher and should be easier to apply since it doesn't require any surface prep.

What would you guys use?

Chris

Tila

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Re: Paint for off-road tube bumper
« Reply #1 on: October 12, 2017, 07:36:20 AM »
My advice take Rustoleum

griz

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Re: Paint for off-road tube bumper
« Reply #2 on: October 12, 2017, 07:39:38 AM »
Keeping in mind that I have zero experience painting bumpers, would bed liner be a good choice?
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K Frame

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Re: Paint for off-road tube bumper
« Reply #3 on: October 12, 2017, 07:40:49 AM »
Rustoleum from the simple fact that you can quickly and easily touch it up.
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mtnbkr

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Re: Paint for off-road tube bumper
« Reply #4 on: October 12, 2017, 07:45:24 AM »
Keeping in mind that I have zero experience painting bumpers, would bed liner be a good choice?

Actually, that's another one that gets used a lot.  Touch ups are a concern though.

Chris

mtnbkr

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Re: Paint for off-road tube bumper
« Reply #5 on: October 12, 2017, 07:46:06 AM »
Rustoleum from the simple fact that you can quickly and easily touch it up.

That's kind of what I'm thinking.  It'll be easier to get paint locally as well.

Chris

K Frame

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Re: Paint for off-road tube bumper
« Reply #6 on: October 12, 2017, 07:51:32 AM »
"It'll be easier to get paint locally as well."

That's exactly what I meant. You can go into pretty much any hardware store, big box home center, or even WalMart/Kmart/Sears and have a very good chance of getting the same color Rustoleum.

I've never even heard of the other brand you're considering.

I do know that with a little prep Rustoleum overcoats very nicely.
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dogmush

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Re: Paint for off-road tube bumper
« Reply #7 on: October 12, 2017, 08:39:15 AM »
Actually, that's another one that gets used a lot.  Touch ups are a concern though.

Chris

I touch up my bed liner with rattle can bedliner all the time.  I would co with that since it's durable, and the texture will hide the imperfections inherent in a rattlecan's spray.

Rustoleum makes bed liner in a couple colors, roll on and spray cans, that is available in Wal-Mart and like every auto parts store in the country.

http://www.autozone.com/paint-and-body/truck-bed-coating?filterByKeyWord=spray+bed+liner&fromString=search&isIgnoreVehicle=false&model=liner

That's your best bet.

bedlamite

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mtnbkr

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Re: Paint for off-road tube bumper
« Reply #9 on: October 12, 2017, 08:56:34 AM »
I touch up my bed liner with rattle can bedliner all the time.  I would co with that since it's durable, and the texture will hide the imperfections inherent in a rattlecan's spray.

Rustoleum makes bed liner in a couple colors, roll on and spray cans, that is available in Wal-Mart and like every auto parts store in the country.

http://www.autozone.com/paint-and-body/truck-bed-coating?filterByKeyWord=spray+bed+liner&fromString=search&isIgnoreVehicle=false&model=liner

That's your best bet.

I'll take another look at it, but I recall reading something that made me remove bedliner from the list.  How long does it take to cure?  That's another concern because, living in a townhome, I'll be painting this in my driveway on a tarp most likely. 

ZRC, then bed liner.

https://www.amazon.com/ZRC-Galvanizing-Compound-Aerosol-Z-R-C/dp/B00H9GPY7C

And now we're back up to powder coat price levels (ZRC is $20/can shipped, I'll need a few 12oz cans, plus the bedliner at roughly $10/can. 

I'll give it a look though.

Chris

Perd Hapley

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Re: Paint for off-road tube bumper
« Reply #10 on: October 12, 2017, 09:21:29 AM »
I thought you painted a tube bumper by just smashing into cars, collecting their paint. It's fun and free!
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dogmush

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Re: Paint for off-road tube bumper
« Reply #11 on: October 12, 2017, 09:23:15 AM »
Self etching primer is fine, also at the auto parts store. It's IIRC, what Rustoleum recommends for their bed liner.

The can of Duplicolor bed liner (which is what I have in my garage right now.  Same stuff) says 3-4 light coats, with 20 min between coats.  1 hour cure time before you roll the quart stuff on if you go that route.  It should be dry enough to pick up and put back in the garage in an hour or 2.  I'd let it sit a couple days before I bolted the bumper on.  I can't be more exact then that because I only use this stuff for touch ups.  I just spray it on and walk away after I scratch the two part liner I sprayed in to start with.  

dogmush

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Re: Paint for off-road tube bumper
« Reply #12 on: October 12, 2017, 09:30:09 AM »
FWIW here's what it looks like.

The base liner is Raptor two-part, and if you look around the screws you'll see the rattle can touch up.  Slightly lighter black [/Archer voice].  But it's good stuff, and if you did the whole thing in the same brand, the color's would match.  Then just spray some more as needed.




* Truck is dirty.  the large color variations are dust from a load of rock I carried.

zxcvbob

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Re: Paint for off-road tube bumper
« Reply #13 on: October 12, 2017, 09:39:52 AM »
Rustoleum Rusty Metal Primer.  It doesn't even need a top coat if you like the dull maroon color  ;/
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Nick1911

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Re: Paint for off-road tube bumper
« Reply #14 on: October 12, 2017, 09:42:51 AM »
Most the Rustoleum stuff seems to hold up well.  I use the brush on enamels frequently.  They take a long time to dry, but produce a hard glassy coating.

Kind of odd, but I've also found that the Rustoleum high temperature paint is surprisingly durable.  It only comes in flat black, but I liked how it's held up on my smoker enough that I've taken to using it for other things too.

Ben

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Re: Paint for off-road tube bumper
« Reply #15 on: October 12, 2017, 09:59:24 AM »
I'm not home right now, but I needed to touch up the hitch on my 4Runner just last week and found a Rustoleum version in a matte black that appear to be designed just for stuff like bumpers and hitches. Don't know if it is just marketing, but it applied and blended well,and I was happy with the result.

I got it at Walmart. If you haven't made a decision before I get home tomorrow, I'll post the name of it.
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Hawkmoon

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Re: Paint for off-road tube bumper
« Reply #16 on: October 12, 2017, 10:16:21 AM »
Rustoleum from the simple fact that you can quickly and easily touch it up.

Agreed.

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Ben

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Re: Paint for off-road tube bumper
« Reply #17 on: October 12, 2017, 10:17:32 AM »
Also (tangent - sorry Chris  :laugh: ), those of you touching up your bedliners - are they do it yourself liners? Because I spent nine years beating the hell out of my last liner and am working on the current truck with dump runs, rocks, gravel, shovel blades, etc. and have scraped up, but never penetrated my Line-X liners.

My previous truck had the older Line-X with the kevlar topcoat, the new one just has the standard coating, so maybe I'll end up chipping into it eventually.
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41magsnub

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Re: Paint for off-road tube bumper
« Reply #18 on: October 12, 2017, 10:36:52 AM »
Rustoleum is what I did my land cruiser bumper with.  Holding up great 3 years later.

mtnbkr

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Re: Paint for off-road tube bumper
« Reply #19 on: October 12, 2017, 10:43:34 AM »
How many cans of paint or bedliner do you guys think it would take to cover the bumper?  This is the one I got:
http://www.addictedoffroad.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=2&zenid=ursbto2mfck7qlo2ei8hhj98j5

Mine has the square stinger.

Chris

K Frame

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Re: Paint for off-road tube bumper
« Reply #20 on: October 12, 2017, 10:46:03 AM »
I'm thinking you're looking at at least 3, possibly 5, for two coats.
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Ben

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Re: Paint for off-road tube bumper
« Reply #21 on: October 12, 2017, 10:49:18 AM »
I'm thinking you're looking at at least 3, possibly 5, for two coats.

Yeah, I'd say at least three of the standard sized cans. You're going to lose a lot of paint to overspray when doing the tubing.
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mtnbkr

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Re: Paint for off-road tube bumper
« Reply #22 on: October 12, 2017, 02:28:07 PM »
I just put a few coats of primer onto the box section that mates the bumper to the frame.  Once that cures fully, I'll give it a couple coats of flat black.  Depending on how that turns out, I'll decide if I want flat black or bedliner on the bumper itself.

It took nearly a can of primer for the box section, but it has a lot of surface area.  I'd expect two cans of primer and 3-4 cans of paint for the bumper.

Chris

Brad Johnson

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Re: Paint for off-road tube bumper
« Reply #23 on: October 12, 2017, 05:33:23 PM »
Hammerite will work. Rustoleum Industrial is really good stuff but can be hard to source locally.

Also think about Chassis and Roll Bar paint. It's made for tough environments.

POR15 is about the toughest non-epoxy/powdercoat finish I've come across. Downside is you have to roll or brush it on.

Brad
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dogmush

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Re: Paint for off-road tube bumper
« Reply #24 on: October 12, 2017, 06:14:12 PM »
That's a pretty nice bumper to rattle can.