This is in reference to my '55 F100, but is really relevant to any truck with the skid strip/wood style bed floor.

Anyone who is going for colored skid strips try any type of coating besides paint? I painted mine, but I also like to use my truck as a truck, which leads to the paint getting torn off the skid strips. I was thinking maybe powder coating them would help this. Any opinions?

 

Depending on the color you want, I know that they make spray in bedliners that match many colors. I would try and talk to a line-x shop or rhino liner shop and see if they can spray the strips. I'll probably go that route since I'm painting the truck black. Might be worth a shot. They may even guarantee it like their normal sprayed beds.

 

Mine are painted the body color, Meadow Green. I usually lay down a sheet of plywood or a tarp or carpet before I haul stuff. Depending what I am hauling dictates what I cover the bed with. Yes, I do have some chipped paint. Will powder coating be better? Good idea....

 

I painted my wood and powdercoated my strips and I'm happy with the results. However, the only thing I haul in the bed is a cooler and a lawn chair. One downfall with powdercaoting (hasn't happened to me, but has happened to others) is that if it chips there isn't any touching up.

There are some pics in my gallery.

 

you should be aware that you cant match powder coat to paint. but most of the time you can match paint to powder except for candy color powder coating. although i just did an upper roll cage on a dragster and matched the candy powder pretty dang close. paint can be as durable as powder BUT it requires certain products. i use a polyuroxy sealer over bare metal, then base and scratch resistant clear. he!! for strong! but for what it costs, powder is way to go or like a rhino/spray coating.

 

The purpose of the skid strips is to make it easy to slide things in to the bed. Spray in bedliner is suppose to keep things from sliding. I would guess powder coating or bediner material would work but give you different end results.

Some place I saw stainless skid strips, that might be what you need.

 

Although powder coating is a little more durable than paint it will still wear. And when it chips my experience is that the chip will start to become bigger. I have had good luck with recoating small areas with a heat gun in order to not have to redo the whole piece again.

Just my 1/2 a cent;-)

John