Painting TJ Flares???

[CommerceSooner]

The Flares on my 99 TJ are really starting to look grey. Can I just pull these and use a high quality plastic spray paint or will that look horrible? Anyone tried doing this themselves or should I just take them to the autobody to have it done?

 

[jps4jeep]

Should be able to spray paint no problem!

 

[L33TJ33P]

I say, Scrub the living tar out of then, Get a floor brush and add some serious Elbow grease. Then get yourself a BIG bottle of Armor-all and soak it to where it is dripping. about 20-30 min later Soak them again in Armor-all. See how it turns out for you.

You gotta get all that Oxidation off before you can blacken them up so don't be liberal with the elbow grease.

 

[Sacredgroove]

heat gun. someone wrote a reply about using a heat gun on fender flares here a few months ago, tried it and it works great!
heat guns are 20 bucks or so at any big auto store. just use the heat from the gun about 6 inches from the flare(dont even have to take them off the jeep) and it brings the black to the surface again. dont get too close or stay on one spot long because it can melt it(its really simple just an fyi)...just go slowly over it and an even speed and flares will be good as new!

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

I've done the heat gun method, works great and they look like new. Don't even have to remove them from the jeep to do it.

 

[numbrsevn]

You gotta get all that Oxidation off before you can blacken them up so don't be liberal with the elbow grease.

I think you meant DO be liberal with the elbow grease. Or, as my co-worker says " Ya gotta go Democrat with the elbow grease"

I also tried the heat gun meathod with my wife's hair dryer on my YJ and it worked wonderfully. I have heard that if you do it more than a couple times that it draws all of the oils out of the plastic and the flares get brittle. I did mine about 2 years ago and I seen the old YJ last month (My brother now owns it) and the flares still look good, so it lasts a pretty good while.

 

[mingez]

hang in there

That's right, conservatism just won't get the job done! Hee hee! JK, I couldn't resist. :mrgreen:

 

[jugghead23]

I tried the heat gun method and thought the results looked marginal at best, very streaky and uneven. I bought a set of brand new OEM flares for < $100 from a guy on ebay. Fortec Jeep does custom jeeps for dealerships and usually replaces the stock flares with sets of bushwacker flares. They sell the "take-off" flares for around $100.
The set that arrived was brand new...installation was a bit of a bitch with those damned plastic 'nuts' behind the quarter panels.

Here is who I bought from, apparently he has a large stack of OEM flares ready to sell:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=33644&item=2477310860

 

[jps4jeep]

Just paint them. The heat gun method does work, but it can cause the flare to become brittle if too much heat was applied. The recoloring comes from bring what moisture there is in the plastic to the top of the surface. Spray paint and forget about it.

 

[88Wrangles]

I would say use the heat gun as minimal as possible, then apply lots of Armor-All. Then keep putting Armor-All on like once a month, and you'll be good to go! The Armor-All actually adds moisture back into the surface, so it will be good for it after the heat gun.

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

There are better treatments for black plastic than armor-all, I know Mother's makes a black plastic treatment that is actually black.

 

[88Wrangles]

Do they just put black coloring on it, or do they (mother's) actually put moisture into the surface? I always use Armor-All just because I don't want the surface to be extremely shiney...looks more natural that way.

 

[OutOfStep]

theres a product out there called Back to Black, havent used it, but it claims to solve the type of problem you are describing

 

[monsterrd]

We're experimenting with the krylon fusion paint for plastic ,I'll let you guys know how they turn out.

 

[exjay33]

The krylon fusion paint works very well just used some on my sons dash. I prefer the good old baby oil method , I have a brand new set of the bushwacker extenda flares still in the box I will sell you for 125.00.

 

[CommerceSooner]

Anyone ever used this to redo your fenders?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...tem=7905514073&category=50452&sspagename=WDVW