Painted Retrax Bed Cover

[ProtonDecay]

In an effort to lower the bed temperature for my camping fridge I painted my bed cover to match the rest of the truck (Oxford White). Not sure how long it will last as I plop stuff down on it, but it opens and closes without mucking anything up. I may put some clear wrap if I can cut it cleanly to match the slats.

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[PltFX4]

NICE!!
Bunch of questions... (first, I have the Ford soft tonneau cover now):
1. How water tight is this?? I have a Bed Rug and I notice some wet spots after a good rain. Looking for a more water tight solution.
2. Poly or aluminum??
3. How/who painted it?? A shop or yourself??
4. Rattle can or real spray equipment??
5. Oxford white, then clear coat??
6. How disassembled did you have to take it (the bed rail sides of the top, etc)?? Easy or hard to do??
7. When can I bring mine over (when I get it) and have you spray it??

I am having some new wheel arches and the bed rails and tailgate lip being sprayed body color now and adding some thing like this would make perfect sense.

Appreciate any insights.

 

[RedDakooter05]

Dang, that looks a lot cleaner than I expected. I'd imagine a few coats of good clear coat will keep it durable.

Hopefully it won't cause too much glare or distraction in the rear view mirror on them sunny days.

 

[ProtonDecay]

NICE!!
Bunch of questions... (first, I have the Ford soft tonneau cover now):
1. How water tight is this?? I have a Bed Rug and I notice some wet spots after a good rain. Looking for a more water tight solution.

PD--> Leaks like a sieve - the Retrax is basically aluminum slats on rollers. There are channels for the rollers and drain tubes in the roll case, but these are only effective in a straight down rain - if underway the rain gets pushed out of the channel by the wind and pretty much soaks the interior.

2. Poly or aluminum??
PD-->Aluminum - this is actually the Ford Retractable Bed Cover, with Retrax as the OEM.

3. How/who painted it?? A shop or yourself??
PD--> A shop. International Auto Body in Santa Clara. Wonderful family business that has been there for many years. I have been a customer for about 10 (since my boys got their driving licenses). Great work at rates much less than others and they're always willing to work with me rather than just unbolting anything scratched and bolting on a replacement.

4. Rattle can or real spray equipment??
PD-->Real spray equipment. The job started as a request that they paint my overlanding trailer to match the truck. Once we got done aligning on that I mentioned that I was thinking about doing the bed cover and they threw that in for free, saying they weren't sure how well the Retrax coating would hold the paint, and they were concerned that rolling/unrolling the cover would mung it all up, so doing it for free meant they were off the hook if things didn't work out. They did the trailer outside (owner used to paint semi tractors so knew how to make that work).

5. Oxford white, then clear coat??
PD-->Yep. I should know after our next trip (Baja for pretty much all of October) whether I need to put on some wrap to protect it, but for now (three days in, numerous openings and closings), it seems to be holding up just fine.

6. How disassembled did you have to take it (the bed rail sides of the top, etc)?? Easy or hard to do??
PD-->Incredibly easy. I gave up on the cheesy Retrax clamps months ago and bolted through to the bed railing (no more slipping while off-road or getting out of alignment). I just undid the bolts and the whole bed cover lifts right out (another reason to bolt it - since the clamps fall off so easily this thing was essentially open to whoever wanted to lift it up before I tightened things down). This, along with disconnecting the actuator on the tail gate means I now have a somewhat more secure space to keep things; the cops in CA aren't even interested in answering the phone for clouts anymore - between a bit of larceny, stimulus checks and EDD fraud the criminal element is doing just fine around here. Anyway, before I go too far off topic, after lifting it out (2 people min, four makes it easy) and carrying it into the booth, I am pretty sure he just prepped it and then masked the rails. I am sure if I looked deeply enough under the rail I could see where the pain didn't reach, but for the way I bash this thing around that's the least of my worries. If I were doing it again I would keep the front cap black - that would be more consistent visually with the rails and tail gate.

7. When can I bring mine over (when I get it) and have you spray it?? -
PD--> heh, you wouldn't like the quality of my work. I do have the requisite rattle cans and sandpaper for simple scratches, but something like this I think you want a skilled operator.

I am having some new wheel arches and the bed rails and tailgate lip being sprayed body color now and adding some thing like this would make perfect sense. PD-->sounds awesome. I think Rial, the owner of IAB, would be willing to chat you up a bit on any surface prep he did. Best of Luck!

Appreciate any insights.

 

[Fawnbuster]

In an effort to lower the bed temperature for my camping fridge I painted my bed cover to match the rest of the truck (Oxford White). Not sure how long it will last as I plop stuff down on it, but it opens and closes without mucking anything up. I may put some clear wrap if I can cut it cleanly to match the slats.

Looks great, is your bedcover plastic or metal? How did you deal with painting the slats without them sticking together?

 

[ProtonDecay]

Looks great, is your bedcover plastic or metal? How did you deal with painting the slats without them sticking together?

Thanks - this is an aluminum Retrax (purchased via Ford as part of my truck order). This was done professionally, so I am not sure if they opened it after the color paint before the clear coat or not.

 

[ProtonDecay]

Thanks - this is an aluminum Retrax (purchased via Ford as part of my truck order). This was done professionally, so I am not sure if they opened it after the color paint before the clear coat or not.

Quick followup after putting on a few thousand miles in different weather and operating conditions. Paint on the bed cover is holding up surprisingly well, way better than I expected. I am a bit careful about putting stuff onto the cover, but sometimes that empty horizontal surface is just too tempting. So far, no scratches, flakes or bubbles, despite bashing it all the way down to Cabo San Lucas and back (a bit over 3,000 miles, about 2/3 MX regular roads, which in places can be challenging, 1/3 off-road/off-map, which was often very challenging). Anyway, thumbs up!

 

[taildraggerpilot]

Dang, that looks a lot cleaner than I expected. I'd imagine a few coats of good clear coat will keep it durable.

Hopefully it won't cause too much glare or distraction in the rear view mirror on them sunny days.

That‘s the issue. Certain sun angles / times of day might create a problem

 

[ProtonDecay]

That‘s the issue. Certain sun angles / times of day might create a problem

Hasn't been so far, and we were south of the Tropic of Cancer, where the sunlight is quite strong. Glare hadn't even crossed my mind until I read the above. This is under a wide variety of conditions - early morning, late afternoon, full sun, partial cover, clean, dusty, wet, dry, etc.. TBH, can't see why glare would ever be a factor from this location. The hood is a much more likely source and that hasn't been a problem either. Maybe if it was more reflective, but Ford's Oxford White is not known for its brilliant sheen - more of a workingman's white, IMHO. As always, YMMV.

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