Paint Brake Calipers or Not ?

[johnaflo]

I’m thinking about painting them black, but not committed. Ideas, experience, thoughts ?

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[Floyd]

They make caliper covers which come in a variety of colors.
They ain't cheap, but they are nice!
On the other hand they already match your paint job.

 

[Sarge104]

Powder coating I could get behind...I'm not a fan of painting myself.

 

[Desert_5G]

if your going to do it. do it right. take them completely off and get them powder coated.

 

[dguffin]

I’m thinking about painting them black, but not committed. Ideas, experience, thoughts ?

Mine will be red, but waiting for MGP Caliper Covers to develop them. I'm on a list with them.

 

[DHMag]

I have had good luck with painting calipers. Prep is always key for painting.

 

[LewisLegacy]

I have had good luck with painting calipers. Prep is always key for painting.

Yeah, I've done them before on other vehicles. I think you won't notice imperfections as much if you're going with black paint. My new wheels will be hiding the calipers, so i'm personally not gonna bother.

 

[djrobb]

Hmmmm... I was thinking of painting mine red but I like those caliper covers. Maybe it's something @PandaMotorworks will carry in the future when a manufacturer makes them available.

 

[rangerdanger]

You have to do 4 calipers (2 front & back) to get the best results. Sounds expensive and unnecessary.

 

[Msfitoy]

I've always painted my calipers. Use 2 coats of G2 epoxy based high temp paint. It takes 24 hours to cure so one kit will cover the four calipers. The paint is mixed with hardener and starts setting within 30 minutes so prepare to have the entire truck to be up on jacks and work fast. If possible do this in the garage so bugs/dust don't contaminate the paint as it hardens. The mixed paint is brushed on but levels itself. The second kit will provide extra gloss and protection and a personal preference. Main reason I do this is that the uncoated calipers will stain and pit over time. My Mini's rear calipers are stock and the two coats I've put on 16 years ago is still smooth/glossy with no chips. I also coat the disk hats for the same reason.

BTW, this is the reason I asked about how to put a tall 4x4 up on jack stands

 

[djrobb]

I’m working on painting mine today. Hit it with brake cleaner first then lightly masked anything that looked like it shouldn’t be painted. Used the International Harverster Red industrial acrylic paint you see in one of the pictures. I wanted that specific color which is a deep red and matches my tow hooks. Also has a 10 minute dry time making it easy to sit there and revisit until it looks good. Not too bad on a nice day but definitely took a few hours. I wonder how much more stopping power I will get now that they are red.

 

[Msfitoy]

Looks great...that adds 5hp to each wheel...is that heat proof paint? Hope so...

 

[ebFX4]

Looks great...that adds 5hp to each wheel...is that heat proof paint? Hope so...

At LEAST 5HP. And an extra LB's of turbo boost.

Does look solid.
Same question -is that paint designed for that level of wear/heat?

 

[Roofhopper]

Just looked it up Krylon Tough Coat is NOT high temp rated. Good luck

 

[djrobb]

Just looked it up Krylon Tough Coat is NOT high temp rated. Good luck

Specs say it can discolor over 200 degrees. After a few hundred miles it still looks like I just painted it so we will see. If I was to give advice I’d use brake caliper paint, which they sell, but I wanted this specific color and was willing to give it a try. Fingers crossed and so far so good.

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