I like the way my XJ looks with the flares on it, but I think it would look better if they were black. As much as I would like to have a set of bushwackers, I'm not going broke for flares. I was thinking about painting my red ones black. Has anyone done this, and if so any tips? Any other suggestions on cheap flares? Thanks.

Drew

 

I havent done it myself, but I can tell you how, that is, incase you dont know lol.

Just like anything else, prep is important. First, get rid of all the gloss on them. Start with courser sandpaper, then go to finer so it doesnt look all scratched up. Then just get some Krylon Fusion paint (Satin Black, Flat looks like crap on a nice jeep). Let it dry, then you are done. Pretty hard huh haha.

 

Might want to get 1 or 2 from the junkyard to test it on before you mess yours up, just in case you dont like it

 

Yeah, that too.

 

I have a sport so my bumper caps didnt come painted. When i painted mine i used Krylon Fusion. It said they wouldn't peal or blister but that was a lie. haha. It must be the NC heat or something because they peal on a daily basis. I primered one before I painted it and that helped a bit but in the end it blistered too. If your gonna paint the fender flairs I would definitely get the gloss off like ritter stated.

 

Thanks for the advice. I took the grill off and sprayed it black for "practice," and because I think it looks pretty awesome. Here are some pic's. I used a Valspar paint that bonds to plastic, probably a lot like the Krylon paint. I'm gonna see how it holds up before I paint the flare's. Next step is replacing the front bumper. It never ends. hahah.

 

I was thinking about painting the platic around the headlights also. What do ya'll think? To much??

 

Paint the surrounds will look much better

 

x2 i say paint it. it looks good as it is but painting around the lights will look better

 

That's what I thought too. Thanks for the input. Hopefully this paint will hold up well. It's only been a few days, but so far so good. I think it will look pretty sharp with the flares painted also. Thanks again. I'll post some pics of the surrounds when I get them done this week.

 

sounds good.

 

take your side markers off rough em up good and paint em black. give it a few coats. then when you re-install them duck tape the light bulb and just push it back. that way no light shines through showing a orange black(not pretty)...

 

also go flareless. cut the fenders. and paint your rockers as well as maybe 1 inch around the wheelwell black!

 

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm gonna try to get the surrounds done this evening and post some pics.

 

The same thing happened to me.. I followed the proper sanding procedure and everything.. I didn't cut corners.. the odd thing was it worked on my rear end caps but not on the flares...