My front bumper started rusting this winter. Its non-chrome, standard XL flat black bumper.

Anyone paint theirs? Will it look OK with spray paint, or do I need to find someone with an air gun to paint it?

 

I would say it depends on how picky you are, and how good you are with a can of paint. I paint my headache rack with spray or brush on paint about once a year since I haul stuff on it and tend to scratch it up a bunch.

Keep in mind that 1) spray paint won't last a long time, and 2) if it's rusting you should clean the rust (wire brush) and prime the rust spots before painting.

The spray paint fades, it doesn't peel off. If you don't like the way it looks you could always have it painted with a gun later.

 

I agree with Chris on this one. You could go a couple of extra steps and prime fill scratches with red lead then pain with Duplicolor spray bomb or Rustoleum. Use a quality spray paint and not the cheap stuff.

 

Just painted the wife,s step bars on her expy, rust all over the place. Sanded them and hit them with some high gloss enamel, nice. Pick your poison. What the guys said above.

 

Maybe see how much it would cost to LineX it. I seen one on here that looked pretty cool a while back.

 

Thanks, I was considering the Linex, but decided to save my money for next winters home heating fuel! Looks like I'll be paying double, from $2K to $4K, so gotta save my money!

I've also been watching Craigslist for chromed used bumpers but haven't seen any recently.

 

I have the same problem with my 2000 E350 which has painted bumpers. They seem to need paint about every 4 years. Automotive paint shot from a gun will last longer than "rattle can" paint due to better paint quality and no porousity in the paint from dissolved propellants.

 

I have the chrome bumper. It has a small dent in it from the PO, nothing serious or very noticeable. I installed a Buckstop bumper so it is just laying in the backyard. Probably a little too far to send it though. I think you can get a new chrome bumper for around $150, IIRC, as I was trying to haggle with the price of the truck when I bought it and seem to remember trying to equate that into the deal.

 

i've got the same color bumper on my 99 and painted it about three weeks ago. right now it looks great but i don't know how long it will last. i don't expect it to last forever but for 25 bucks i got sandpaper-primer-and 2 cans of rustoleum. i would definately do it again. also the original color seemed like a flat but i put on a semi gloss. looks great

 

Yeah, mine is flat black too, but I've only owned it for a year or so and wasn't sure if it faded.

 

the best advice i could give on this is the preparation-sanding as much rust off and using a rustproof primer-good luck