If you are reading this, you’re probably like me – you do things yourself as opposed to paying someone else to do it for you. You take pride in your work, and you are willing to do research, learn, and possibly even risk making a mistake or two so you can hold your head high at the end of the day and say “hey – I did this myself and I’m proud of it,” and I didn’t need to pay some ridiculous price to have someone else do the job for me. So, if you are like me and you are willing to go down the path of painting your ride with Raptor liner on your own, I salute you!
So, here’s the bottom line – I have a 20-year old black Toyota Tundra that I love and I will keep forever - because that’s how I roll - and the paint was getting very tired with the clearcoat pealing badly despite my best efforts over the years. I pondered my options – including wrapping it with vinyl, but ultimately, I settled on Raptor after a good deal of research on the product and the application methods. And as far as application methods go, I actually settled on rolling it on as opposed to spraying it (and I have the capacity to spray it I might add).
To cut to the chase, the end result is absolutely amazing. The texture looks fantastic and the non-tintable Raptor coating is as tough as nails! I will say this – I spent two solid days prepping my truck prior to painting. I DA/orbital sanded the entire exterior of my truck with 120-grit paper, down to the primer in many locations, blew it off, power-washed it, and did a quick degreasing of the truck. After that I taped-off the rubber around the windows, the door bumper guards along the midline of the truck, and the fender flares as well as I wanted them to retain the glossy/semigloss black of the original paint. I taped off the edge of the plastic step on the rear bumper, and I taped the headlights off as well as the front side markers. I also removed the rear tail lights and the plastic bedrail/tailgate cap guards.
I applied the Raptor coating outdoors about three weeks ago using a roller kit that is made for this particular purpose, including a short foot-long extension handle which I used for the entire project and found it to be much better than not using it. I also purchased a bunch of extra rollers so if I took a break or damaged the rollers (and they do wear out) I would have plenty of extras. Since my truck was already black, repainting it with black Raptor was a no-brainer for me, and I really have to say that over the course of two days to completely paint the entire truck, including using small (1-inch) brushes for hitting areas the roller could not reach – the job came out better than I could have ever imagined. Random people stop and stare, and they say it looks great – the best reward I could have hoped for.
I will admit, just so you know, I was utterly and completely terrified at the beginning of this project, particularly when I first took the DA/orbital to the paint! Watching your paint grind away in front of your eyes in a cloud of dust is one heck of a way to give yourself a good bunch of butterflies in your gut! It was at that moment, almost immediately after that 120-grit hit the paint, that I knew I was committed, lol.
But, once those initial jitters subsided, (as well as the gazes of my neighbors wondering just what the heck I was up to, lol) I knew that if I stayed the course and didn’t cut corners or get lazy, that I would be on the best path for success. I’ve been doing things myself for decades, and I’ve learned to maintain discipline, and to remain focused on the importance of prep work if you want the job to come out well in the end, and my advice to you is the same – put in the time on the prep work, don’t cut corners, stay focused, and remember that all the prep work is what makes the ultimate difference between a great outcome and a terrible one.
And also, keep in mind, things are going to look worse before they get better, so just stay the course and remember that you’ve got to do the prep, and it’s going to look worse before you reach the reward of the finished product! My truck looked like a Spotted Hyena when I got done sanding it – it was a sight to see! But, guess what, it paid off bigtime in the end! The finished product is top-notch, and yes, top notch with a roller! I honestly don’t see how spraying it could have come out any better. Once you get started and comfortable with the roller, you would be surprised just how nimble it can be to reach virtually all the paintable exterior surfaces on your truck. The only place I could not really get with the roller is that small gap between the rear bumper and the rear body (bed) panels. But that is where the brush comes in, and it is easy to mimic the texture of the roller while using the brush with just the littlest bit of practice. I also used the brush inside some tight locations on the front grill.
As to durability, so far, this stuff is like armor plating. With all the prep work I did, I don’t anticipate this stuff is ever going to come off unless you take an angle grinder to it. Also, while I’m not advocating skimping on prep work, I did a little testing just slapping this stuff on random unprepped items around my shop area – and guess what – it sticks and stays on everything, including the clothes I used for two days to apply it to my truck, and a few drips on my driveway – it’s on there and it’s on there good! It may eventually come off the driveway, but it’s never coming off the clothes! In fact, just a couple days ago I went to the grocery store with my girlfriend and we were loading up some items in the truck bed. That’s when I heard that lovely metallic sound of something scraping across the back of my truck as she was lifting an item over the bed rail – that would be the metal zipper on the jacket she was wearing. That scraping sound seemed to last forever, lol, as I stood there, jaw wide open, as the sound of metal zipper versus three-week-old Raptor coating sank into my bewildered brain. She looked at me, confused, and said “what?” I think my blank stare and mouth hanging open had her concerned that I might be having a medical issue, lol. I explained to her that I was scared to look at the paint and she snarked at me –“It’ll be fine.” And after extraordinarily close and detailed examination of the area - with her looking at me in a less than pleasant manner - she was right – not a mark on the mighty Raptor coating!
A few last details before I wrap up here. I used 10 bottles (2.5 gallons) to paint the exterior of my truck – that’s two coats. I believe I used three rollers, possibly four total, and two small 1-inch paintbrushes. Again – this is just the exterior of my truck, not the inside of the bed. And total work time would be two full days of sanding including handwork in the tight areas, as well as two full days of applying the actual Raptor coating – so four full days total for the job. I was also surprised at what little mess was created applying the Raptor coating. I did the job outdoors, wore nitrile gloves, and aside from a plop or two off the roller onto the driveway (which I somehow managed to sit in BTW), there was very little mess to be seen at all – you would never be able to tell I was there aside from that plop or two. I will say this though, when you are rolling the product on, it gets a little tacky as you move back and forth, and you can see the texture forming in front of your eyes – during this process you will have very tiny bits of the material come off – I couldn’t see it happening until afterward when I noticed some speckles on my shirt and pants. Don’t let this scare you off – it’s not a big deal and did not pose any issues for me whatsoever. Some tiny speckles were on the glass of my truck and they were easy to remove with a razor blade.
I will leave you with this – you can do this, my do-it-yourselfer friends! Do your research, watch some YouTube vids, set aside time, and take your time. Hope this helps!
| Brand | U-POL |
|---|---|
| Color | Black |
| Finish Type | Matte |
| Size | 1 Count (Pack of 1) |
| Item Volume | 3790 Milliliters |
| Special Feature | UV Resistant |
| Unit Count | 1.0 Count |
| Paint Type | Spray |
| Specific Uses For Product | Exterior |
| Surface Recommendation | Wood, Plastic, Concrete, Metal |
| Item Form | Liquid |
| Included Components | Black Truck Bed Liner Kit - 1 Gallon |
| Age Range (Description) | Adult |
| Is Waterproof | True |
| Model Name | 0820 |
| Package Information | Can |
| Coverage | Average Truck Bed |
| Global Trade Identification Number | 05010796108786 |
| Manufacturer | U-Pol Products |
| Item Weight | 10.91 pounds |
| Product Dimensions | 9.06 x 6.69 x 10.35 inches |
| Item model number | 0820 |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Manufacturer Part Number | 0820 |
| Special Features | UV Resistant |
