2.5 Gen Bumpers!

In my experience, if you bedline or powdercoat the bumper and then it gets scratched, it's much more difficult to repair than just regular old paint.

 

me too!!!

 

Beer right ? Sorry I’m a whiskey man but I’ll find something

 

Always do sir

 

This just happened to me after getting mine powder coated the other day. While unloading it off my truck, it slipped and hit the concrete driveway. Left a nice little gouge where powder coating used to be.

Any tips on how to fix it? Sand it down, add primer to the spot and paint over it?

 

Universe sent you a signal that power coat is not going to last long. Sand it down to metal and coat with Raptor. I did that to 4 of my power coated skid plates made by RCI and Valhalla's, both started to rust badly and power coating stripping by a pressure washer with the weakest nozzle.

 

My bumpers are raptor lined, and I tried to re-raptor a bunch of rock damage. The finish doesn't match the original coating and it looks all blotchy. Not worth the effort. Just paint it. My sliders are painted and all it takes to fix any damage is 5 seconds with a can of rustoleum.

 

Fixing a spot with Raptor is nearly impossible, you have to swipe the whole thing or at least a surface with the damage.

Toyota's paint job is subpar (soft and thin paint and clear coat), yet a typical small business power coating is only a fraction of Toyota's paint quality and longevity.

 

Sounds like coating it with rustoleum (or such) is going to be the most practical solution. Now the question is it better to get it sandblasted first? I used the sand paper for my sliders and it was not an easy task, but may have to do the same with the bumper if that is the way

 

I hit my bumper with some 60 or 80 grit on a power sander then sprayed it with steel-it. Cheap and easy touch-up.

 

Looks great!

 

Thanks everyone for the tips on how to fix that little gouge. I guess I'll sand down that gouge and try Rustoleum on it.

 

Man this is making me think. I’ve done my rear and sliders in a rattle can I just figured the front power coat cause it sees a lot of bugs and what not

 

My WARN semi-hidden bumper came damaged, I fixed it before installing. Raptor adhered well, I see no wear nor debris damage.

 

Question regarding the Demello, does anyone have their front flat top bumper and Fox reservoirs? Spoke briefly with Demello on the phone today and they said it’s doable, but may take trimming of a bracket or two. Was a brief call and appreciate their time, but looking for any first hand experience/pictures if possible.

 

I think powder coat is fine. I had a powder coated ARB bumper on an '03 Tacoma that held up fine and way better than the rattle can paint job I did on an old jeep Willys. I took that Tacoma off-roading way more than I've taken my Tundra, and the powder coating on the ARB never got scratched to bare metal. Powder coating is thicker than primer and paint, so it can take a bit more to scratch it up to bare metal.

The little gouge that happened on my C4 powder coated bumper was because of my own weakness in unloading that heavy thing from my truck. I had it tied to a wooden pallet as I was unloading it, thinking that the pallet would keep it from getting scratched when laying it on the ground. But the pallet added even more weight to it. I struggled and it slipped and fell crashing down on the hard concrete driveway. I'm surprised it wasn't gouged and scratched more so than it was.

The trouble is that because powder coating is thicker, touching up a little gouge or scratch is a bit more challenging than if it had just been primered and spray painted. The gouge will likely be noticeably more uneven after adding some kind of primer and touch-up paint to cover the exposed bare metal.

I guess if you want to make it more scratch or chip resistant, then maybe Line-X or Raptor lining might be a better option?

 

I have that bumper but no resis up front. Happy to take a pic of the bracket if it helps.

 

I don’t see how it could be in the way but

 

Yah I’m in Texas now there is not really any off roading it’s more just a get around truck powder is just something that would last longer

 

Appreciate the response, probably would have helped if I threw in a picture to start with.

 

Some pics of SOB fabrication’s offerings @STravis does great work.

 

What part of Texas are you in? I’m south of Dallas. Texas has several off-road parks offering different challenging levels:

TMTC in Gilmet
Bridgeport OHV in Bridgeport
Hidden Falls in Marble Falls
Katemcy Rocks in Mason (not long-wheelbase friendly)

That’s just a few I can think of off the top of my head. Each one has trails that can scratch or chip bumpers, sliders, frames and body paint. I mostly did 2 to 3 diamond level trails in my Tacoma without scratching front and rear powder coated bumpers, but I did manage to hit the bottom of the frame on a rock on a 4 diamond trail once. I don’t intend to do any of those harder trails in my Tundra, though, given its much longer wheelbase.

 

After further research, I’ll be able to make the Demello and reservoirs work. May have to relocate them a bit, but not the end of the world. Placed my order today.

For anyone on the fence, Demello said it’s around a 6 week wait now, but maybe sooner. They also had the most reasonable freight to a local facility at $250, and I couldn’t be much further from their location being on the water on the east coast. To top it off, they are expecting to increase prices very soon.

 

Im going to tell you right now, that is BS. 6 weeks is not even close. I ordered my demello flat top bumper over 4 months ago. Dont hold your breath lol. I got an email 2 weeks ago that it was going to powdercoat and they expected the bumper to be done in 2-4 weeks. So thats 2-4 weeks for just powed coat.

 

Jason met his quoted lead time when I purchased my bumper earlier this year. I was quoted 8-10 weeks and it shipped week 9. I intentionally ordered bare steel to avoid waiting for powder coat.

 

Bad news and good news!

Kidding, it is what it is. Certainly out of my control, not as if I’m in dire need of it to start with.

I did order bare steel too to cut down on wait time. I could have smoke blown up my skirt, but the conversation on the phone was positive that they were a few weeks away from making more of them.