That is a perfect idea actually and I have it already in my garage. I'm not going for the shiny paint look anyhow. And rocks will eventually chip paint or when you go off road a bit.

 

How durable is powder-coat compared to bedliner? I personally like the powdercoat look but bedliner is getting better and better and almost looks like paint now lol.

 

I have a bunch of friends that have powder coated bumpers and look great and have not had any issues.

I am going to be getting the excursion bumper powder coated when i get a chance instead of painted again.

 

You could get one of these bumpers plus a Hobart MIG welder for the cost of the Fusion.

Agreed. I would go with silver to match my lower paint color, but all in bed liner.

I'd pick bed liner every time. Powder coat looks nice, but IMHO does not hold up in the rust belt. The beautiful blue powder coat on my James Duff suspension components is not even 3 years old and it is chipping horribly. My neighbor used to be in the powder coating business for a living and he said if it is done correctly, it will outlast any paint.... so I am not sure if the parts I have owned have just not been properly cleaned and blasted before coating or what.

 

I guess I've never had something that wasn't the undercarriage powder coated. I do want to try the ceramic powder coat on some exhaust parts. It has to be better than just having exposed bare metal. And if it keeps some heat in, even better.

 

Just caught this thread and read it from the beginning. Nice job on the truck!

 

Thanks! I appreciate. It's a constant work in progress.

 

I got the majority of the work bench done last night. I ran out of screws for the frame brackets and the drill battery died, so I called it an evening.







I am really happy with the way it turned out. And it is HEAVY... which was my goal. Not truck progress, but it is something lol. Loaded up the F250 and headed to camp for the 4th. Hope everyone has a fun and safe weekend!

 

I like it. I put wheels under mine to make moving it out away from the wall a possibility. I'm always surprised by what I find when I pull it out.

Jealous you are off; I'm not leaving until Thursday. enjoy!

 

Thanks. I am still contemplating that.... I also want to run a dedicated 20 amp circuit to the bench for power tools. I was going to sand and poly the top to protect it further. Then I need to make room for it....

I am not off work until around noon on Friday. I accidentally made that sound better than it really was. But everyone else in my group is off tomorrow, so it should be an easy 2 days

 

Nice Job. I get to have a fun filled weekend of moving into a new house and starting projects. Also have to start getting quotes for a new barn.

I get to fly home on Thursday. Been down in Birmingham, Alabama all week.

 

That will be a fun weekend once everything is in the new house. Sucks you have to come home from work and then move...

 

Dont mean to backtrack but back to the bumpers. If you know how to weld real good already and have the stuff to do it then it seems like a good idea if you want to take the time. There is a reason pre assembled bumpers cost so much. Not that Im saying you cant do it, Im all for doing stuff on your own. I hate having to pay someone to do something I know I can do myself, just from my eyes even though its cheaper it may end up being more work then its worth. And unless you know someone who can weld good its gonna cost a lot to have it welded together.

If you did do it though definitely bed line it! I dont have the equipment to weld or spry bed liner so I had a friend fix a few holes that where drilled in my brush guard and bed line it for me. It holds up so much better then anything else. The brush guard on my F150 years ago was powder coated and it pealed off when I used it to pull (with a recovery strap), then push a dead truck off the lot at work. Ended up stripping it down and bed lining it.

 

No problem. You are helping kill boredom at work.

After some practice welding, I think it would be a great project to learn on. I agree, I want to keep doing things on my own because that is learning to me. I can't tell you how many things I've learned from fixing trucks that I apply to engineering. Its worth more to me a masters degree because so few engineers I have worked with know anything outside what a book or computer tell them.

Bed lining will be the answer. I do want to try the ceramic powder coating on the manifolds though. I am curious to see who it holds up. It has to be better than just exposed cast iron.

 

That statement is so true, cant count how many engineering interns we have gotten that cant apply what they have learned to anything other than a 3D CAD model. All the hands on experience makes you a better engineer, you still need schooling but you cant learn everything out of a book most of the interns need to redo models several times because they dont have hands on experience to know that a certain design wont work even if it looks alright on the computer.

...sorry cant count how many interns claimed they knew what they were doing and didn't listen to me because i didn't have my degree yet only to find out they were wrong lol.

BTW I'm hoping to close on our house in the next week or two so i should hopefully be able to get those manifolds off for you. My wedding is Friday so i have been busy doing last minute things for that and trying to get the house closed on lol.