Painting Brake Calipers

[Oldfart]

Decided to break it up into front one day, then rear another day. After doing one side and having to push my ***** into the gaps, etc, it gets pretty bushy making it hard to be precise. Ended up not quite perfect up close.

The calipers look really good, but your story sounds suspiciously like something I ran into with an old girlfriend.

 

[Troutrad]

The calipers look really good, but your story sounds suspiciously like something I ran into with an old girlfriend.

Geez...I had to read what I wrote again then could not stop laughing...still laughing.....

 

[Jake226]

Hahahahah. This has got me laughing hard. Just ordered some 17” VR-602’s from offroad alliance and now the “red tow hook/caliper” bug has bitten hard. My local shops don’t want to paint them and have pushed me to look for powder coating options. Your results look great to me. Would you guys do it again all things considered? Or would you go the powder coat route if it were affordable?

 

[Troutrad]

Hahahahah. This has got me laughing hard. Just ordered some 17” VR-602’s from offroad alliance and now the “red tow hook/caliper” bug has bitten hard. My local shops don’t want to paint them and have pushed me to look for powder coating options. Your results look great to me. Would you guys do it again all things considered? Or would you go the powder coat route if it were affordable?

The painting is the way to go in my opinion. This is a tried and true technique and paint with good results. I can’t personally attest to durability since I just did this just recently but others have very long term results. In addition, it’s pretty inexpensive. $37 for one or I bought 2 for $74 and did front one day and rear the next. See my previous post for technique/tips. There are several good YouTube vids too for reference out there.

By all means, go for the powder coat if you don’t mind removing the calipers and the extra expense. I just think it’s not necessary. If you decide to do the tow hooks, they need to be painted anyway.

 

[Jake226]

The painting is the way to go in my opinion. This is a tried and true technique and paint with good results. I can’t personally attest to durability since I just did this just recently but others have very long term results. In addition, it’s pretty inexpensive. $37 for one or I bought 2 for $74 and did front one day and rear the next. See my previous post for technique/tips. There are several good YouTube vids too for reference out there.

By all means, go for the powder coat if you don’t mind removing the calipers and the extra expense. I just think it’s not necessary. If you decide to do the tow hooks, they need to be painted anyway.

Sounds good. I’ll likely let it warm up here a bit and give it a whirl. Thanks for the suggestions and posting all the details. Your results look great to me.

 

[titanjc]

Hahahahah. This has got me laughing hard. Just ordered some 17” VR-602’s from offroad alliance and now the “red tow hook/caliper” bug has bitten hard. My local shops don’t want to paint them and have pushed me to look for powder coating options. Your results look great to me. Would you guys do it again all things considered? Or would you go the powder coat route if it were affordable?

The same bug bit me... I have 602’s on my truck and painted my front tow hooks red a couple months back. FYI, Power Stop sells front and rear calipers that are powder coated red. I believe they’re around $500 for the complete set. If I go the red caliper route, I’ll definitely go with those to minimize truck downtime as well as have the durability of powder coat vs. paint.

 

[Raptor911]

Just a fyi ... I looked into the Power Stop powder coated calipers and those calipers are rebuilt calipers and are not new calipers.

The same bug bit me... I have 602’s on my truck and painted my front tow hooks red a couple months back. FYI, Power Stop sells front and rear calipers that are powder coated red. I believe they’re around $500 for the complete set. If I go the red caliper route, I’ll definitely go with those to minimize truck downtime as well as have the durability of powder coat vs. paint.

 

[Oldfart]

I would absolutely paint my calipers again. It has held up well and they still look good several years later. The way I did it was pretty easy too. Cost me almost $10.00 though!

 

[911 Crazy]

Me too... the one’s on the left but not the right would be my preference. What’s the difference between them?

One is darker than the other. Your welcome.

 

[Jake226]

I would absolutely paint my calipers again. It has held up well and they still look good several years later. The way I did it was pretty easy too. Cost me almost $10.00 though!

so I did find a local shop today and got an estimate they quoted me $1030 for calipers and tow hooks painted. Wheweee! Not what I expected. That included removal and install of all four calipers bleeding the brakes and removal and install of the front hooks and rear hitch assembly. Talk about a significant diy/pro price discrepancy. I was prepared to pay 5-600$ on the very high end to have some one else do it but 1000$ is a bit too salty for my taste. Think I may be investing in some axel jack stands and some G2 paint in the near future.