I've been thinking into having my bumpers painted as well as the fins on my hood (07.5 Chevy fish fin looking things)

The bumpers are exposed to lots of rocks, bugs, debris, etc. It is almost guaranteed that its going to get scratched and dinged.

The plastic on the hood are subject to alot of heat, I cannot stand the plastic look next to the painted hood.

So is this even worth it? How much coin might this cost and how long do you think it will be out of commission? How will it preform as it relates to fading, flaking, bubbling, and/or peeling?

Thanks for the input.

 

On a truck you take pride in that clean look with it is deffinatley worth it. A decent painter can make them look like factory finish to blend right in with the truck, you will never be able to tell they were add ons. They won't hold paint as well as the metal, but will will get at least 3 good years out of em before they start fading faster then the metal will. On the money side they are usually pretty cheap to have done because they are so easy to paint. Clean em up good with solvent, tape em off and spray em. Not much prep work at all.

Fiberglass campers and such are the worst. The factory paint on them will last for a few good years but anything aftermarket paint is usually ready to be re-sprayed within 2 years. You can also extend these time frames out if your parking in a garage or carport.

 

bubba covered alot of it. i'd put 2 or 3 coats of clear on it. the clear will really help with fading. if your worried about the bumper you could always pick up that clear 3M film after the paint cures. it comes in different thicknesses, does a decent job of protecting from rocks and road debri and holds up to UV pretty well too.

 

Aaron, the bumpers are expensive to paint as I was looking at that a year ago. Every shop I went to said that I would have to pay big bucks to get the chrome stripped off first. Thats why I decided to start looking for the SS bumpers to install on mine.

 

I didn't catch on that it was a chrome bumper you were painting. You can get it done much cheaper if you pull it yourself. You can either have it sprayed with bed liner, that will stick to chrome and can be made to custom colors. Or you can get it sandblasted to strip it the cheap way cheap, sand the little bit of pitting out of it and then have it painted. But paint is not gonna be anymore immune to chipping then the chrome. Bed liner is the best route by far for bumpers. You can't ship that stuff with a hammer unless you really try to.