Has anyone painted their front/rear bumpers?

[LuvMyTruck05]

I have an 05 explorer and the front and rear bumpers are black, and my truck is a dark blue pearl..has anyone had their bumpers painted to make it match the rest of the truck? and how much did it cost? thanks

 

[asimp]

Plenty of people have done it. There are plenty of threads about it, just do a search. But price is gonna vary, best to just go and get some estimates. But I always recommend mono toning the Explorers, it looks soooo much better that way.

 

[LuvMyTruck05]

thanks, ill look into that

 

[jluv]

Lots of threads about this, but I have yet to see someone post that they had the original textured bumpers smoothed and painted to match the truck. I've seen some paint it black, some paint over the texture, etc.

I've heard it's a nightmare to get the finish just right (smooth). My plan is to buy smooth bumpers, like from a Limited, and have them painted. I have had zero luck finding any take-offs, and very little luck finding where to buy them new.

Ah well....

 

[Aero540T]

Lots of threads about this, but I have yet to see someone post that they had the original textured bumpers smoothed and painted to match the truck. I've seen some paint it black, some paint over the texture, etc.

I've heard it's a nightmare to get the finish just right (smooth). My plan is to buy smooth bumpers, like from a Limited, and have them painted. I have had zero luck finding any take-offs, and very little luck finding where to buy them new.

Ah well....

Isn't there another option? To remove the trim and clean off the areas below it? Or repaint colormatched to car if needed
I thought I saw someone do that too, maybe not

 

[jluv]

Isn't there another option? To remove the trim and clean off the areas below it? Or repaint colormatched to car if needed
I thought I saw someone do that too, maybe not

I don't understand what you are talking about. If you remove the front and rear bumpers, then you just won't have bumpers. Not cool, lol.

As for colormatching them, that's what I was saying - the stock ones are textured. Painting over the texture is an option, but imo it would look retarded. Smoothing them down to repaint and having them come out looking just like the finish of the rest of the truck, well, that seems to be impossible. A logical solution is to buy them smooth/untextured (like what comes on a Limited) and have them painted to match. Finding them is the challenge.

 

[mikeh44]

my 04 the bumpers are the same color as my truck

 

[LuvMyTruck05]

I just dont like the way it looks, the black on the blue....IMO i dont like it..im sure it would cost me some money to goto a paint shop to get them to paint it...wouldnt they sand it down real good ..paint it then add a clear coat? (im a girl so sorry if i ask stupid questions, im new to this, lol ) ....and my doorhandles are black too..im thinking about getting them painted to match the truck or just going chrome.

 

[bigapple]

if u paint over ur existing plastic it wont be as good... it will be costly to put in a flexcoat primer plus a flexcoat paint to go over the plastic.. if u go to ebay and search for a bumper, u can get it for about 140 and it comes primed ready to paint.. u mite save a little cash... im putting an xlt bumper on my xls to add the fog driving lights and i have to get the top portion painted

 

[jluv]

..im sure it would cost me some money to goto a paint shop to get them to paint it...wouldnt they sand it down real good ..paint it then add a clear coat? (im a girl so sorry if i ask stupid questions, im new to this, lol )

That's what they would do. But because of the texture, it would take several steps of prep to get them smoothed out, all the while making them thinnner and weaker just to get down to a smooth surface.
Better to buy them smooth.

On that note, if anyone here has a solid link to a place that sells the smooth front and rear bumpers, please post it.

 

[Aero540T]

I don't understand what you are talking about. If you remove the front and rear bumpers, then you just won't have bumpers. Not cool, lol.

As for colormatching them, that's what I was saying - the stock ones are textured. Painting over the texture is an option, but imo it would look retarded. Smoothing them down to repaint and having them come out looking just like the finish of the rest of the truck, well, that seems to be impossible. A logical solution is to buy them smooth/untextured (like what comes on a Limited) and have them painted to match. Finding them is the challenge.

I'm retarded, haha I was talking about the trim around the car I forgot we were talking about the bumpers, nevermind me i'm in my own world here

 

[jluv]

I'm retarded, haha I was talking about the trim around the car I forgot we were talking about the bumpers, nevermind me i'm in my own world here

LOL. That's kinda what I thought you were referring to. My XLS doesn't have those.

 

[bigapple]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/02-05-04-03-FORD-EXPLORER-E-B-LTD-FRONT-BUMPER_W0QQitemZ180056930439QQihZ008QQcategoryZ33640QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

theres an example of wut im talking about... it comes primed so u can just bring that to a paint shop without the trouble of all the prepping