Powder Coated Rails

[jdtech65]

Well after reading the powdercoating a tunnel thread, I took off my suspension rails and had them powder coated. Only had one bolt slow me down on dissassembly. I got it half way out and then had to heat the rod a little bit to get it the rest of the way out. A cordless impact took the rest of them out with no problems. It looked like the factory lock tights every bolt to go along with either lock washers or lock nuts. Assembly took longer than it should have. I had the bogey wheel brackets and cross braces powdercoated too. However I never thought to not get the little shoulder that the bogey wheel bearings go out powdercoated. I had to sand the powdercoat off of the 6 shoulders to be able to reinstall the wheels. I also had to remove the powder coat on the inside of the rectangle where the rear wheels attach to be able to install the rear wheels. I also took the time to tap all the bolt holes to remove the locktight that was in there - this made reassembly a little easier. Well enough talking heres some pics.

 

[guidoxpress]

that looks KILLER...

great work...just need to see the tunnel now

 

[jdtech65]

that looks KILLER...

great work...just need to see the tunnel now

Ok. Heres a picture of the side of the tunnel. If I had a black hood I would seriously consider doing the tunnel too but I think I am going to stick with the polished look with my white hood. I also have a white float plate and polished skinz bumper so there is too much cost involved to black it out completly, especially since I just bought a brand new truck. I was thinking about powdercoating the spindles too but decided to polish them instead.

 

[TEC800]

that looks sweet! I just took mine apart this morning to do the same thing, only I'm having it hardcoat anodized. and I think I'm going with black hi fax.while its out i'm throwing a challenger extreme track on, too. can't wait for winter! Some of those bolts are in there crazy tight. had to whale on them with an impact and then some still barely came out. tapping the threads to get the locktite out is a great idea, i will definately do that. Really does make a guy want to black the whole thing out

 

[braapin]

About how much was it to Powdercoat your rails?

 

[jdtech65]

About how much was it to Powdercoat your rails?

I have a local place that is about 35 miles away that all they do is powdercoating. I brought them there wednesday morning and they called me thrursday afternoon saying I could come get them anytime. It cost me $50 for both rails, all the cross bars and other little bars, along with the 6 bogey wheel brackets. I was very pleased with how it turned out and the quick turn around.

 

[rmkboxer]

I like the powder coated rails they look good, I have the alpha x going in mine with the powder coated rails

 

[Rob1334]

PC mine too. A lot of the cost for doing any of the parts is how much prep work is required before they can shoot powder. The biggest cost is the sanding, cleaning, etc for them to do, prep work is critical for the powder coat to stick and look good for many years.

 

[Mag]

I have a local place that is about 35 miles away that all they do is powdercoating. I brought them there wednesday morning and they called me thrursday afternoon saying I could come get them anytime. It cost me $50 for both rails, all the cross bars and other little bars, along with the 6 bogey wheel brackets. I was very pleased with how it turned out and the quick turn around.

OMG I paid $150 to get both brand new rails coated. I feel violated!

 

[F-Bomb]

I wouldn't feel too "violated" just yet. If yours will stick and give you a long long life then the $150 was a good deal. Even free isn't a good deal if it falls off and looks crappy after a few trips!

We charge a standard local shop rate of $62.50 per hour with no powder charge on small projects and bid on large. How much prep, shop's process, and type of equipment that your coater has will directly relate to the cost.

Also keep in mind that you can do powder with a $175 kit or you can do powder with a $100,000 "facility". The right guy with knowledge can do as good a job with a cheapo home setup as a poor lazy guy can do with a high end industrial production setup.

 

[rmk727]

Off subject a little, F-bomb I'm getting ready to send u my rails for red, leaving the rest ( Timber Sled ) black. Question those fancy wheels look so nice will it hurt to run them I know they only look good if you look for em but they are way cool, will they last or just stay stock? IYO

 

[Mikew5j]

Here is the skid for my 09 800 RMK. A little powder coating really dresses up a sled.