Painting the sidesteps?

[WECole]

I'm going to black plasti-dip the tan trim on my Expy once the weather warms up a bit more but I'm not sure what to do about the sidesteps.. they're in good shape but have been out in the weather for 14 yrs and have that slightly faded look to them. I don't think faded sidesteps next to newly dipped trim is going to look very good, but I've gotten the impression that plasti-dip isn't going to hold up too well to foot traffic. Anyone have some suggestions (other then replacing the sidesteps with new ones)?

 

[GAINMOB]

theres a product...back to black...try that

 

[tonydiv]

Clean them a few times with paint prep solvent and then a couple of coats of adhesion promoter. Once it drys you can put on a few coats of duplicolor bedliner paint (the one in the spray can) It should hold up really well to the foot traffic.

Just be sure to scuff up any smooth, shiney areas first.

 

[WECole]

I tried Mother's back-to-Black and it polished up the side steps real nice. My wife even came outside and said she liked it too, which just about shocked me into a heart attack. (This is the same woman who once famously said my Expy was "just a car.." - the heretic!)

I'll see how well the polish holds up over the next week or two. If it holds up, great, and if not - then I'll try the bedliner spray.

 

[GAINMOB]

post pics

 

[Nathanialson 08]

bed liner your footdteps, ive seen it done on a Chevy Tahoe's factory footsteps

 

[WECole]

Well, here's my take on the Mother's Back-to-Black:
You have a choice - good looks or safety; pick one.

The Back-to-Black really made the sidesteps look almost new (a friend at work with an Expedition himself really liked my results), but the conditioner in it is oily and makes the sidesteps slick - my foot slid right off it this morning climbing into the truck. I'll try the bedliner idea next.

 

[Lane24]

X10 on the plastidip not for the steps. I use it for trim and rims with no problems, but last week I stepped on my bumper with workboots on and scuffed a mark about 1 inch by 1 inch off of the top coat. Easy to touch up with a single spray, but it's not really gonna hold up to constant foot traffic.

I don't think you have to worry about the colors looking bad together. The plastidip is kind off a matte black. Not a true glossy dark black. It blends very well with my old faded steps... you can see in these pics,




and the rims and rockers on my Jeep. The plastidip is no more dark black then your tires are..



It looks as good with the old faded plastic of a 1998 vehicle as it does with the brand new plastic of my 2011.

 

[98EXPY 5-0]

I saw a product that is a spray on grip adder (for lack of remembering what it's really called). It looked like a clearcoat type spray with some kind of grit in it. It showed a picture of steps as in "spray it on steps to make them less slippery." I was planning to spray mine with that on top. Perhaps the clearcoat effect will give your steps the "wetlook" as well. I know on my Dodge, I put tire wet on my faded black side mirrors and they turned back to black for a while.