Rhino Line/Plastidip Body

alleyehave

New member
I'm looking to rhino-line or plastidip the "lower" section of the my 2017 4x4 on the sides and possibly rear. Has anyone done this, or is there a better material that I don't know about? Any tips, videos or websites would be greatly appreciated. I have searched it but not finding anything too helpful.

Take care
 

jostalli

Member
We have used a shop that sprays Raptor liner that came out great. We just dropped off another van at LineX. LineX is a superior product but check to see their experience. Our local LineX guy has almost 10 years experience.
 

Matt Foley

Down by The River
Yea, don't use PlastiDip for that. Raptor would be a good DIY solution. I used a gallon of Herculiner roll-on on my T1N bumpers and fender flares and it was easy to do and turned out nice. The biggest thing with applying any of this stuff is to prep well and thoroughly.
 

sepudo

Member
I had my rig coated with liquid Kevlar and enjoy the Teflon like properties of nothing sticking to it. After a trip to baja I just hit it with water, spot free rinse and ready for another adventure.
Pricey though, around $6k


Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
 

Shawn182

Well-known member
Seen it done quite a bit....having lined many truck beds and tried a few DIY kits in vans...IMO have your local Rhino Liner or LineX dealer do it professionally if you want it to last and look half way decent.

...or just slap on some FlexSeal...what could go wrong?
 
Sepudo, Liquid Kevlar? That is a new one. Who does that? I wonder if anyone in TJ could do that?

Did you spray the whole exterior or is the camera lighting just showing some different looks on some of the panels?

Are the colors limited, like some of other bedliner products?

The texture looks smoother than the others too, and that is a good thing. Thanks for sharing.
 
Never mind. Now I see it all cleaned off in the second photo and the panels all look the same. Very cool Sepudo.

Who, where?

I wouldn't need my roof done since my full rack covers the whole top. That could save a few thousand $.
 

patineto

New member
A tip..

In the scale of sun rays reflection the smother the surface the better, also silver, gold or white reflect much, much better than darker colors and the least effective will be mate black..

unrelated example..
Depending in the sun location, strength, ambient, temperature from 40 to 70 degrees difference with the foil on.
 

surferJ

Active member
Plastidip is temporary. You will not be happy long term.
I was planning to redo the steelies, plastic body parts, the front hood, and under the roof rack on a new van with some plastic dip. https://plastidip.nl/
Could you expand on the negatives. One characteristic that I found interesting was the removability of the product, “just peel off”.
Thanks
 

Matt Foley

Down by The River
I was planning to redo the steelies, plastic body parts, the front hood, and under the roof rack on a new van with some plastic dip. https://plastidip.nl/
Could you expand on the negatives. One characteristic that I found interesting was the removability of the product, “just peel off”.
Thanks
Plastidip is pretty great for wheels and plastic trim bits. It will do good on the hood as well. The negatives are that it will start to peel after a while, and to apply it correctly you really do need like at least 5 coats. Depending on how bad it gets after a couple years you'll have to remove and reapply or respray over.

It's not a great solution for doing large areas. It comes in a rattle can and it would be hard to get a good even coat and it would be a big pain in the ass to do an entire van or even an entire roof. Most of the DIY bedliner ideas can be done with a pneumatic paint gun or rolled on.

I've used Plastidip on at least 4 vehicles and in my experience Rustoleum's version (Peel Coat) is a better product. It goes on smoother.
 

surferJ

Active member
Thanks for the experience share. Helps to reassure the van partner(wife) of my plans. The first surfaces I wanted to cover seem ok then with the manufacturer also recommending 5 coats.
The roof area under the rack was an idea that I got later. I am planning a low profile platform and solar covered rack where it will be hard to access for cleaning.
 

Matt Foley

Down by The River
Thanks for the experience share. Helps to reassure the van partner(wife) of my plans. The first surfaces I wanted to cover seem ok then with the manufacturer also recommending 5 coats.
The roof area under the rack was an idea that I got later. I am planning a low profile platform and solar covered rack where it will be hard to access for cleaning.
I see some folks using a bedliner up there, which could give some added waterproofing to the Sprinter's already suspect roof seams although I see you're in a 2017, not sure if they have any of those issues like the T1N does.
 

Midwestdrifter

Engineer In Residence
Don't trust bedliner to seal seams. It is not flexible enough in most cases. Either cover the seams with something like sikaflex or eternabond tape, or cut out the crap factory sealer, and use a quality urethane product.
 

Mickyfin

Member
I plan on tidying my lower panel below the plastic side strips with smooth black hammerite. Of course, I will be sanding the areas and wiping clean with alhohol.

Will do it when I remove the plastic panels to seal up the holes the plastic clips fit into.

I will be removing and renewing x 4 mud flaps too when done.
 

Matt Foley

Down by The River
Don't trust bedliner to seal seams. It is not flexible enough in most cases. Either cover the seams with something like sikaflex or eternabond tape, or cut out the crap factory sealer, and use a quality urethane product.
I agree

I plan on tidying my lower panel below the plastic side strips with smooth black hammerite. Of course, I will be sanding the areas and wiping clean with alhohol.

Will do it when I remove the plastic panels to seal up the holes the plastic clips fit into.

I will be removing and renewing x 4 mud flaps too when done.
Just make sure to read the instructions of that paint, some stuff doesn't like alcohol to be used as the cleaning solvent. You may have to use acetone, xylol, xylene, mineral spirits, etc. The product will usually tell you what solvents are OK to use for prepping underneath it.

I'd also spot-test whatever solvent that you end up choosing on some interior part of the van that will get covered up eventually, because some of those solvents can damage your paint instead of just prepping it.
 

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