I'm thinking about giving my truck a rattle can job in the somewhat near future and would like to pull all the trim off it since I hate chrome. I was wondering how it's held on and if it's going to leave holes in the body if/when I take it off. Considering it has lights in the trim, I'm guessing it will at least have holes for the wiring for those.

If this has been covered, sorry. I've had many adult beverages this evening and don't feel like wading through a bunch of posts looking for an answer.

Here's a shot of it so you guys will know what I'm dealing with.

Attachment 294450

 

Nice truck! Personally, I like the chrome but that's just me. The bigger pieces (upper moulding) are bolted on. You have to reach up underneath on the sides of the bed and loosen the nuts. On the doors, there is a capnut just in from the inside edge of the doors that you need to remove. Same with the front fenders altho the nut is a little more difficult to get at. After you remove the nuts, the moulding will slide off of nylon retainers that are attached to some nibs that rise about a 1/2" or so from the metal. If you don't want the mouldings on again you'd probably end up having to cut the nibs off then smooth it out.

The chrome over the drip rails basically snaps on and off but my luck has always been when I take them off, I usually end up kinking them but not a big deal if you don't plan to put em back on again!

 

Man would I love to have your trim.

 

Some are spring clips, some are held on with little plastic brackets slipped over welded studs, and some are screwed on.

An LMC or Dennis Carpenter has pretty good pics and illustrations of the fastener types and where they are used. IIRC, I think four types of clips in various configurations depending on where a moulding is mounted on the body.

It's kind of nuts in my opinion. I still dont understand why the various mounting methods.

 

It sounds like it may just be easier to mask it all off and just live with it, especially since most of it is straight.

 

Good 'racetrack' trim is hard to find. If you remove it, be careful not to damage it.