I finally got my undercoating guns in the mail so I decided to spray my Durabak in yesterday. I'll tell you what, I may have saved $350+ over Line-X or Rhino, but this was a royal PITA! Durabak is soooo messy. But I think it turned out good. I decided to go under-rail and then add some OE plastic trim pieces, which I need to get yet.


I used a full gallon of Smooth, UV protectant Durabak. Because I sprayed it there is a slight texture, but no hard grainy stuff.

 

4x4,

Looks good from here. Couple ?'s if ya would.

What gun did you order? Were you able to clean the gun well enough for later use, or is it too much of a PITA to clean?

How thick were you able to build up on the floor of the bed?
Is the Durabak hard like Line-X or rubery like Rhino?

 

I just used the $5.99 Harbor Frieght Undercoating gun. When I was finished I just sprayed a bunch of xylene throught it and then wiped it off. I bought two with the intention of just throwing it away when finished, but it cleaned up easily and I think I'll definately be able to use it again.

The bed is probably between 1/8" and 1/4" thick (closer to 1/8"). When I do my rocker panels later this year I'll probably have some left over and I'll just spray that into the bed, since Durabak sticks to itself.

So far the finish is pretty rubbery, but it hasn't fully cured yet. From the other Duraback that I have seen it seems like it isn't quite as hard as Line-X, but not as rubbery as Rhino.

 

Looks like a professional job to me...you could always do someone Else's truck and recoup your initial investment lol.

 

I noticed you are in NOVA as well.... where at? I live in Reston, work in Springfield

I took a close-up of the texture for anyone that wanted to see it. Bad picture, but it gives you the idea. The Durabak is close to fully cured and has a slight rubbery feel, and is definately non-skid. I think it will work good for my uses (non-commercial/industrial)

 

Good job!

Durabak, Duplicolor, and Herculiner are all solvent based (also called one-part) polyurethanes. They will not be as hard or as durable as two-part poly's that use a polyol resin and isocyanate like LINE-X or Rhino. But, if it works for you, then more power to you!

 

I definately agree this won't be as tough as the commercial stuff, and if this were a dedicated WORK truck or I used it hard every day (like on a farm) then I'd definately spring for Line-X or Rhino. But 95% of the time I keep the bed clear of stuff.

 

When you were spraying the sides of the bed (vertical), did you notice any sagging at all before it was able to cure? I want to spray my rocker panels something awful as my 315s have almost sandblasted them from traveling lots of gravel roads. I worry about running into problems doing it myself. That stuff is almost impossible to sand off and start over. Local Rhino dealer wants $700 for a set of rocker panels.

 

If you spray it on in several light coats you won't have any problem with it running and sagging. I only had a problem in a couple spots where I layered it on pretty thick by accident (in a couple of the corners). The key is to NOT thin it with xylene. The undercoating gun can easily handle the "thickness" of the Durabak.

I will be doing my rocker panels in the near future. I'll probably get two gallons this time, and do the interior of a my Jeep and a buddy's Jeep, and the rocker panels. I think I should have enough.

 

Maybe it is just the picture, but does that stuff have a gray or greenish tint to it?

 

Hi,
Does the spray gun that you used use compressed air? If so, Does it require a large compressor?
I have a Campbell-Hausfield, 2 HP., 20 gal. tank. My guess is that it is way too small for this job. Am I correct and if so, how large a system do you need?

Thanks.
Joe F.(Buffalo)

 

What prep work did you have to do? Remove the paint, or sand it a little to get rid of the shine?

 

To answer the questions:

Green tint: Not at all. It is very black and pretty shiney so far. My camera sucks so that is probably why it looks a bit green

Spray gun: It uses an air compressor. I used my Jeep's On Board Air w/ 2 gallon tank and it kept up fine. I set up a regulator that kept the air pressure at ~50psi, while the compressor is set to 110psi. I left the Jeep at idle which puts out about 3-4cfm at 100psi, and it never went below the 50psi mark. A small compressor will probably be fine.

Prep work: I just used coarse grit sanding sponges to rough up the paint pretty good, then brushed the dust off and wiped it down with xylene. Took me about a half hour.