There's a thread on here about taking the cladding off. I also put a little information about removing the cladding in my thread about fitting the 35s, I think. I didn't remove the cladding to paint it, though. I just used a large sheet of plastic and some careful edging. I was worried about damaging the plastic clips that hold it on. And to be honest, I lost one when I did the trimming for 35s and just found it laying in the driveway yesterday.
About to go replace it and put my step bars back on. I've split two pairs of jeans getting into my truck now. But mainly my wife can't get into it like a lady if she's wearing a dress and she wears dresses most days. Gotta keep the lady happy...and I need to lose some weight!
Edit: there's those great projects, too. That's actually what I used to figure it out.