Has anyone spray painted their bumper?

[Chris]

My Mopar Rock Crawler rear bumper gets here tomorrow. I plan on using aircraft stripper to get it down to bare metal, remove the tiny bits of surface rust with my wire wheel, then I was thinking about premiering it with spray paint, then repainting it with SEM trim black spray paint (used this stuff before in the past for plastic trim pieces and it works awesome!).

However, I'm curious as to how well spray paint will actually hold up on a bumper. I never smash my bumpers into things, so I guess I don't have to worry about that. I'm just curious if it will have any durability to it at all.

Have any of you guys or girls used spray paint on a bumper? How has it held up over time?

I could just have it powder coated if I want, but the powder coat guy said he's 4 weeks out, and it would be $220 to strip and powder coat it.

 

[Jeep9748]

I have spray painted the ENTIRE Jeep. oh and the bumper. That was roughly five yrs ago. The key is prep. and quality paint...

 

[Chris]

I have spray painted the ENTIRE Jeep. oh and the bumper. That was roughly five yrs ago. The key is prep. and quality paint...

So it’s held up nicely?

Yes, prep is key, I agree. That spray paint is some of the highest quality spray paint you can get in a can too!

 

[Jeep9748]

here is a picture of the painted jeep. This is about a year or two after painting. I actually painted it in my driveway. Original color was a lighter green color. I started by obviously washing it, then I used steel wool and went to town. Washed it again. then I used about four cans of auto primer, then I used six cans of rustoleum green. (sorry cant remember the exact color). But I do know that spray paint can actually change in pigments. So if anyone paints this way make sure the paint code on the can are the same not just the color.

 

[Jeep9748]

The color I am discussing is the OD green in the picture, I did abuse it so I feel it held up pretty good.

 

[Chris]

The color I am discussing is the OD green in the picture, I did abuse it so I feel it held up pretty good.

Nice, it looks good too!

I may just go this route. Being as though it's just a bumper, I can't imagine anyone would even notice it was spray painted.

 

[bobthetj03]

I've painted both my front and rear bumpers with SEM. It holds up as good as a plastic coating can. If you use your bumper as a step, it'll scuff the paint just like it would if you were to step on your hood.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Use a self-etching primer Chris, that will adhere better than most other primers. I have always rattle-can spray painted my bumpers, I won't pay to have them powder coated which is just another form of paint.

Take care to adhere precisely to the timing instructions on the can for applying 2nd or 3rd coats. Additional coats applied too late after the initial coat or too soon before completely curing (which takes days) will cause the paint to craze and wrinkle.

 

[Starrs]

So you searched months for a bumper and made it without gong crazy....now you have to wait another 4 weeks for PC, and you don’t want to wait so your debating whether or not to spray paint this bumper it took you months to find lol. I’ll be in the minority’s I’m sure, but I would wait and have it PC. Just my 0.2

 

[Starrs]

So you searched months for a bumper and made it without gong crazy....now you have to wait another 4 weeks for PC, and you don’t want to wait so your debating whether or not to spray paint this bumper it took you months to find lol. I’ll be in the minority I’m sure, but I would wait and have it PC. Just my 0.2

 

[JMT]

I've painted three bumpers; stock front and rear and a Warn Rock Crawler rear. I do them all the same, sand the surface with 220, wash with soap and water, dry, wipe down with acetone or alcohol, use 2-3 coats of self-etching primer as @Jerry Bransford suggested, then 4 or 5 coats of Black Satin Wheel Paint by Duplicolor. SEM would work well too. It's all in the prep. Follow exactly what the can says for time between coats, et al

I'm refinishing a MTB now. It's going to be Flame Red, just like my TJ. I got the factory match Chrysler paint this morning. I had to bondo spots on the bike and will sand it later today to 320 and then shoot it with the same process described above. I like doing it myself because I can easily touch it up if something does get scratched. My past bumpers have held up well.

I'm also doing the same process with our front door hardware. It's gonna be way better.

 

[ac_]

Use a self-etching primer Chris, that will adhere better than most other primers. I have always rattle-can spray painted my bumpers, I won't pay to have them powder coated which is just another form of paint.

Take care to adhere precisely to the timing instructions on the can for applying 2nd or 3rd coats. Additional coats applied too late after the initial coat or too soon before completely curing (which takes days) will cause the paint to craze and wrinkle.

+1
I did my rear Dirtworx and I stripped my powder coating off of my front warn because it was a crappy job and the vendor was being an ass to take it back so I stripped it and painted it and I actually like it much better. It is holding up nicely so far. I did my Dirtworx over the summer so it has seen some high temps.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

So you searched months for a bumper and made it without gong crazy....now you have to wait another 4 weeks for PC, and you don’t want to wait so your debating whether or not to spray paint this bumper it took you months to find lol. I’ll be in the minority’s I’m sure, but I would wait and have it PC. Just my 0.2

Do you believe PC to be better able to hold up to trail damage than paint? If you do you should see the couple items on my Jeep that were powder coated. They have been touched up with rattle can paint so much that they're mostly covered in rattle can paint now. Then do you take your powder coated items to the powder coating shop to have them touched up? And with powder coating a bumper costing no less than $200, $20 for rattle can paint sounds pretty darned good. And in my area, it's more like $300. And you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the finish on something I rattle can painted vs. powder coating.

Keep in mind that PC is just as easily damaged offroad as rattle can paint is. Personal experience there.

 

[JMT]

+1
I did my rear Dirtworx and I stripped my powder coating off of my front warn because it was a crappy job and the vendor was being an ass to take it back so I stripped it and painted it and I actually like it much better. It is holding up nicely so far. I did my Dirtworx over the summer so it has seen some high temps.

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How did you strip the powder coat off? I want to do this to my e-autogrilles

 

[Starrs]

Do you believe PC to be better able to hold up to trail damage than paint? If you do you should see the couple items on my Jeep that were powder coated. They have been touched up with rattle can paint so much that they're mostly covered in rattle can paint now. Then do you take your powder coated items to the powder coating shop to have them touched up? And with powder coating a bumper costing no less than $200, $20 for rattle can paint sounds pretty darned good. And in my area, it's more like $300. And you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the finish on something I rattle can painted vs. powder coating.

Keep in mind that PC is just as easily damaged offroad as rattle can paint is. Personal experience there.

I apologize I thought the OP was asking for opinions which I clearly stated was just my opinion. I am more apt to have it PC then spray painted. I’m my opinion I believe a powder coat will hold up longer then a spray paint. Chris isn’t rock crawling in his jeep as he has stated millions of times. 220 bucks is money well spent to have a nice bumper coated the best way...again in “my opinion”

 

[Chris]

And truth be told, that's why the rattle can method appeals to me. My thought is that if it gets scratched, it will be easy to fix it myself.

 

[JMT]

Do you believe PC to be better able to hold up to trail damage than paint? If you do you should see the couple items on my Jeep that were powder coated. They have been touched up with rattle can paint so much that they're mostly covered in rattle can paint now. Then do you take your powder coated items to the powder coating shop to have them touched up? And with powder coating a bumper costing no less than $200, $20 for rattle can paint sounds pretty darned good. And in my area, it's more like $300. And you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the finish on something I rattle can painted vs. powder coating.

Keep in mind that PC is just as easily damaged offroad as rattle can paint is. Personal experience there.

Any experience with Hammerite, or other paints like lacquer or enamel that claim to hold up better and resist chipping? Just curious for when I do my rock sliders.

+1
I did my rear Dirtworx and I stripped my powder coating off of my front warn because it was a crappy job and the vendor was being an ass to take it back so I stripped it and painted it and I actually like it much better. It is holding up nicely so far. I did my Dirtworx over the summer so it has seen some high temps.

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If you ever get rid of that Warn front bumper, consider it sold!

 

[Starrs]

I guess my other question would obviously be why do companies charge 200-350 bucks to powder coat items if a 20 dollar rattle can will do a superior job? I’m no engineer on this subject lol so I’m just wanting clarification I guess.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Any experience with Hammerite, or other paints like lacquer or enamel that claim to hold up better and resist chipping? Just curious for when I do my rock sliders.

No, I just use either Krylon or Rustoleum satin black after applying the primer. Neither brand of spray enamel chips on its own, that only happens after an impact or scrape against a rock.

 

[EJD]

Have any of you guys or girls used spray paint on a bumper? How has it held up over time?

I have sprayed my stock bumpers with one of those rugged bedliners that I did my tub rail armor with. Its probably been a year now and they have held up great. Funny thing though is that its rubberized so whenever I spray my tires with that cleaning foam, I always spray my bumpers too and it makes them glow for like 2 weeks. Lol.

IMO i'de say you could certainly get away with spray painting, but then again if you have little OCD like I do I would be kind of wanting them to be an identical color matching set...so it's hard to say.