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Painting Frame, axels, suspension etc...

TC4x4

TC4x4

1/2 ton status
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Michigan
Good evening everyone,
I am at that point, first stripped down axle, ready for paint before I reassemble. What is everyone's thoughts on paint? Powder Coat, Spray on (Normal lol), or what? Let me know your thoughts, much appreciated.
 
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How much do you want to spend? How high of quality are you looking for? Powder is the best and will run you the most. At a bare minimum buy a hvlp and spray on a couple coats and primer and some chassis black. Call Eastwood or a similar company and they will set you from there.
 
beags86 said:
How much do you want to spend? How high of quality are you looking for? Powder is the best and will run you the most. At a bare minimum buy a hvlp and spray on a couple coats and primer and some chassis black. Call Eastwood or a similar company and they will set you from there.
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We are looking for high quality. So we were leaning towards powder coat originally but wanted to throw the topic out there being we also wanted to (for memory sake) complete as much work in house as we can. Realistically, we know ALL work work be in house, such as powder coating.
 
I'm using an 87 R10 chassis for my Apache build. I totally stripped the chassis down and had the frame blasted. Then I primed it with a good primer and sprayed it with satin black. All off the shelf spray paint that is readily available. 2 good coats of primer and 2 good coats of paint, some areas got a 3rd as I was working on different stuff in that location. I had people telling me to powdercoat. I didn't know if I was going to have to make changes to the chassis as this is a custom build. Good thing I didn't, since later on I realized a crossmember had to be removed which left an area of the frame that I had to strip down and then spot in the primer/paint.

I did have a few parts powdercoated as the weather wasn't very good at the time and I was a little busy at work. They had 2 spring hangers, 2 u bolt plates and 2 motor mount plates for 2 weeks. While working on something near the spring hanger, my hammer missed it's mark and hit the spring hanger, a piece of powdercoat chipped off....I don't think I'm going to waste my time with powder coat on this truck any more.

With my offroad truck, I painted the frame and axles with Rustoleum gloss black with a paint brush. Laid it on thick. Didn't look nearly as nice as my Apache chassis, but it held up quite well for the several years I had the truck.
 
I can almost say for sure, there will be changes to the chassis along the way that would result in disrupting the paint. I will need to chew on this a little more. A more intensive option would be to proceed with the build, and then disassemble once more parts are in a final resting place. (either paint option, I think this will be happening a lot) Thanks for sharing your input guys! :woot:
 
What I've found is most off the shelf satin black is shiny compared to actual chassis black from the specialty manufacturers. Even then, though, it looks good as long as everything is painted with the same paint.
 
There's a huge difference in durability between rattle can products and real catalyzed paints.
 
Powder coat sucks in my experience ,everything I have had like brush guards ,receiver hitches and other items that had it let moisture get under it and rot the metal out --by the time you see the coating peeling off,there's nothing left under it but a hole..

A good automotive paint with hardener is much better on a chassis--I'd use Imron if I were doing a frame off resto,that stuff wont come off ,even sandblasting it off is tough..
 
Eastwood chassis and por15
I’ve got por15 on the inside of 3 cooling towers at work. Some straight over rust and some over sanded down rust lol. Still holding strong years later.
 
Friend of mine is using Eastwood chassis paint for the 51 Chevy Styleline he's building. He ordered satin black. The rear axle he painted with the stuff is about as glossy as you can get....keep that in mind if you wanted a more dull shine
 
muddermilitia said:
Friend of mine is using Eastwood chassis paint for the 51 Chevy Styleline he's building. He ordered satin black. The rear axle he painted with the stuff is about as glossy as you can get....keep that in mind if you wanted a more dull shine
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Could always add some flattener to it.
 
I'm leaning towards a good automotive paint with hardener because we're going more gloss black on the chassis at this time. I'll have to dig real quick to see if POR15 has gloss black. We used it on work trucks that plowed for the last 8 years and it's still holding strong. Not that I need that kind of durability. This truck is only going to be out on nice days. Fading will be an issue with POR15 I believe, correct me if I'm wrong but that is based on observations on dump trucks at work.
 
TC4x4 said:
I'm leaning towards a good automotive paint with hardener because we're going more gloss black on the chassis at this time. I'll have to dig real quick to see if POR15 has gloss black. We used it on work trucks that plowed for the last 8 years and it's still holding strong. Not that I need that kind of durability. This truck is only going to be out on nice days. Fading will be an issue with POR15 I believe, correct me if I'm wrong but that is based on observations on dump trucks at work.
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Why do you want a high gloss?
These trucks didn't have a super high gloss on the frame from factory. In my opinion your Better if the frame is a semi gloss at best.
 
Personally I think POR15 is snake oil. I have used it a couple times with poor success. But none the less. If your not going to drive the truck that much and it's only got to be out on nice days, what's the difference if POR15 fades. It would take a long time to affect a Sunday cruiser.
 
There is a gloss black top coat option. Something to chew on. The rust prevention perk of POR15 really isn't needed in this case so :dunno: .

Capture.JPG
 
Later this summer I'm going to sandblast my dump truck frame. Lay down some zinc epoxy primer, a filler primer, (just to fill in some of the rust pitting)
And then come back with Eastwoods 2k ceramic chassis black.

Screenshot_20190504-075636.png
 
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POr-15 requires some rust to activate it and properly cure--it needs moisture to harden it better also..
I have used it 15+ years ago on my van's floors and several other vehicles and it has held up remarkably well..it will fade or get chalky if exposed to UV rays and not topcoated,they do sell a version that is more UV resistant..but under a vehicle it wont get much sun exposure..

My main dislike about POR-15 is the price,and the fact it isn't really able to be stored away for future use--even putting a plastic bag or aluminum foil under the lid on the can wont keep it from skinning over or hardening up in the can,its best to only buy just enough to do what you need and use it all at once..

Some guys I know who built rat rods used Rustoleum BBQ satin black hi-temp paint on the chassis and they say it holds up well,better than most other paints..
 
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