Herculining Running Boards
11-21-2011, 09:00 PM
#1
Herculining Running Boards
Hey all, I took some pictures along the way while I was Herculining my running boards and figured I'd put up a "how to"' so others can do this.
I started with my 2010 F150 FX4. The running boards are made by Ford and came with the truck. I do not like chrome so I decided Herculiner was rugged enough for my truck. I did not consider that plasti-dip stuff because I dont understand how something can be easy to remove but also rugged enough to withstand the beating my running boards take from boots and corn/soy stalks during hunting season.
Materials needed:
1. 1 quart of herculiner
2. Xylene (Xylol)
3. Herculiner blue roller and handle
4. Self Etching primer
5. 80 grit sand paper
6. orbital sander
7. Jackstands
1. So here she is before:
2. Start by removing the 10 mm bolts holding the chrome pieces to the brackets. There should be at least 2 bolts on every corner so a total of 8 bolts.
3. Once the running boards are off your truck start by removing the plastic platform and end caps. Use some needle nose pliers to pinch and push the plastic piece through. There's a lot of these so be patient and take your time not to break any pieces.
4. Using a hammer, carefully tap out the end caps.
5. Once all the plastic is removed now is a good time to hose down the boards to get all the road grit and mud out of them. A road out by me was recently repaved so I can a good deal of tar on my running boards. I started by using bug and tar remover to take off most of the tar then went at the rest with a razor blade. You want to make sure you get as much as you can off before you sand the boards. Sanding will impact the tar and you wont have a clean surface.
6. Once they were cleaned I went tot own with 80 grit on an orbital sanding. Make sure you sanding it enough to where you no longer see any shiny portions. The entire board should look like brushed steel when your done. Here a picture of a sanded board next to the un-sanded one.
Take your time with sanding, its really important that you give the primer something to grab on to.
7. Wipe down both boards with Xylol to clean off the sanding dust entirely. I used jackstands to make a holder so the boards were easy to paint. I draped a drop cloth over the jack stands then rubberbanded them so I could get to every exterior surface of the part.
8. I did 3 light coats of the self etching primer qith 15 minutes between coats. After the final coat, the primer is ready for top coating 2 hours after the final primer coat. No need to sand the primer for a smooth finish since we are using herculiner, we don't care about the surface texture. Make sure you cover every surface you just sanded with primer.
9. After 2 hours, you're ready to herculine the running boards. I hung one board and let the other on the jack stands. The jack stands is the way to go. It holds the part flat so if you do have drips they only show up on the bottom where you wont see them. Thank god I hung the other board with the inside portion closest to the ground so you cant see the drip marks.
10. Use a paint stick to mix the herculiner. At first its really chunky but after some serious stirring, the paint should be a uniform viscosity. You're ready to start applying the first coat of herculiner. The first coat of liner should be enough to cover the entire board but not too much where you start seeing drip marks.
Disclaimer****** This stuff splashes...a lot! Its like painting with mud so make sure you take the necessary precautions to cover anything you don't want to. Use gloves! This stuff will get on your hand and unless you clean it off with Xylol immediately is will stay on your hands for a while.
You should wait an hour between coats to let the previous one set. The second coat I put on a little more liberally (which is probably why I had some drop marks but you cant see them).
I made sure the areas that would get the most abuse were the most covered.
After painting I let them sit over night and installed them on my truck the next morning once I reinstalled all the plastic parts and end caps.
Here's some final pictures of the boards. Hope this helps.
And the after picture:
I'll keep you all updated as far as how this stuff holds up.
Edit- total cost was $60
I started with my 2010 F150 FX4. The running boards are made by Ford and came with the truck. I do not like chrome so I decided Herculiner was rugged enough for my truck. I did not consider that plasti-dip stuff because I dont understand how something can be easy to remove but also rugged enough to withstand the beating my running boards take from boots and corn/soy stalks during hunting season.
Materials needed:
1. 1 quart of herculiner
2. Xylene (Xylol)
3. Herculiner blue roller and handle
4. Self Etching primer
5. 80 grit sand paper
6. orbital sander
7. Jackstands
1. So here she is before:
2. Start by removing the 10 mm bolts holding the chrome pieces to the brackets. There should be at least 2 bolts on every corner so a total of 8 bolts.
3. Once the running boards are off your truck start by removing the plastic platform and end caps. Use some needle nose pliers to pinch and push the plastic piece through. There's a lot of these so be patient and take your time not to break any pieces.
4. Using a hammer, carefully tap out the end caps.
5. Once all the plastic is removed now is a good time to hose down the boards to get all the road grit and mud out of them. A road out by me was recently repaved so I can a good deal of tar on my running boards. I started by using bug and tar remover to take off most of the tar then went at the rest with a razor blade. You want to make sure you get as much as you can off before you sand the boards. Sanding will impact the tar and you wont have a clean surface.
6. Once they were cleaned I went tot own with 80 grit on an orbital sanding. Make sure you sanding it enough to where you no longer see any shiny portions. The entire board should look like brushed steel when your done. Here a picture of a sanded board next to the un-sanded one.
Take your time with sanding, its really important that you give the primer something to grab on to.
7. Wipe down both boards with Xylol to clean off the sanding dust entirely. I used jackstands to make a holder so the boards were easy to paint. I draped a drop cloth over the jack stands then rubberbanded them so I could get to every exterior surface of the part.
8. I did 3 light coats of the self etching primer qith 15 minutes between coats. After the final coat, the primer is ready for top coating 2 hours after the final primer coat. No need to sand the primer for a smooth finish since we are using herculiner, we don't care about the surface texture. Make sure you cover every surface you just sanded with primer.
9. After 2 hours, you're ready to herculine the running boards. I hung one board and let the other on the jack stands. The jack stands is the way to go. It holds the part flat so if you do have drips they only show up on the bottom where you wont see them. Thank god I hung the other board with the inside portion closest to the ground so you cant see the drip marks.
10. Use a paint stick to mix the herculiner. At first its really chunky but after some serious stirring, the paint should be a uniform viscosity. You're ready to start applying the first coat of herculiner. The first coat of liner should be enough to cover the entire board but not too much where you start seeing drip marks.
Disclaimer****** This stuff splashes...a lot! Its like painting with mud so make sure you take the necessary precautions to cover anything you don't want to. Use gloves! This stuff will get on your hand and unless you clean it off with Xylol immediately is will stay on your hands for a while.
You should wait an hour between coats to let the previous one set. The second coat I put on a little more liberally (which is probably why I had some drop marks but you cant see them).
I made sure the areas that would get the most abuse were the most covered.
After painting I let them sit over night and installed them on my truck the next morning once I reinstalled all the plastic parts and end caps.
Here's some final pictures of the boards. Hope this helps.
And the after picture:
I'll keep you all updated as far as how this stuff holds up.
Edit- total cost was $60
The following 4 users liked this post by Waterfowler41:
12-21-2012, 01:18 AM
#3
...is a sweet ride
Stuff looks tuff on your rig! Nice.
Thanks for giving a play-by-play and with pics. VERY valuable as a reference.
One thing I believe is true with Herculiner...you can easily touch up spots. Herculiner adheres to itself extremely well.
Thanks for giving a play-by-play and with pics. VERY valuable as a reference.
One thing I believe is true with Herculiner...you can easily touch up spots. Herculiner adheres to itself extremely well.
12-23-2012, 08:48 AM
#5
Some heavly used areas are wearing thin. I have another can I plan on touching up the boards with its just finding the time.
One other thing I notice d and its small. Now that theirs a rough surface, ice and frozen slush definitly holds on a bit longer than when I had the stock finish.
One other thing I notice d and its small. Now that theirs a rough surface, ice and frozen slush definitly holds on a bit longer than when I had the stock finish.
