Low cost appearance mod to aluminum parts

[Denali]

Very nice mike, can't wait to see it in person next weekend.

Jared

[Mike H.]

Well, I did the last mod to the skid plate. I drilled a 1" hole near the upper end of each of the five indentions. I think it looks better and draws some attention downward, and makes it look more custom. Plus I'm sure it will be good for 50 HP

[phillipyang]

nice pics! I love the holes Mike H.

[TITANAK]

Me too Mike I think those would look good with Dan Moores custom grill inserts

[SAWEETTITAN]

Looks cool as **** and will help in aiding any extra mud taht wants to get hung up behind the skid plate by being able to hose it out COOL MOD

[Mike H.]

Originally Posted by TITANAK

Me too Mike I think those would look good with Dan Moores custom grill inserts

Point me that direction. Got a link?

[DStewart]

Damn that looks sweet. Nice job. Looks great.

[04TexasTitan]

Mike, that’s the best self-induced act of modification I've ever seen and I have to say "WOW". I will definitely be doing this mod and I'm going to call it the "Mike Stepped-Up Mod".

[Mike H.]

Thanks guys. I think it gives good bang for the buck, since the cost is so low.

[smoothTitan]

looks real good!!!!!

[BassTow]

Hats off Mike H!! Great job, looks awesome!! You got to admire the creativity of low budget hands-on projects like this that come out looking great, especially for tight-wads like me with lots of mouths to feed at the house. I've been following this thread for a while now wondering how the bare aluminum (steel wool scuff) surface would weather and how long before it needed to be re-scuffed?

Also, somebody kick in if they have done something like this to the stock silver painted alloy wheels on the Titan. My Titan is now 1 year old and I'm starting to get some scratches in the wheel finish and don't want to repaint, but couldn't you strip or 'media' (sand) blast the paint off and polish or scuff the the aluminum with the steel wool just like Mike? I love the new chrome OEM wheels but don't want to spend the funds when I might be able to do it myself. I've seen on ebay you can swap out your OEM titan rims for identical chrome alloys with a CA company for around $500 + (shipping 4 wheels x 2) + de-mount & re-mount tires = total cost. As long as you were careful not to remove too much of the aluminum from any one area on the wheel wouldn't this work?

[Titan4x4Aggie]

AWESOME JOB MIKE!!!!

That looks really good, although it might match the front better if you just polished the skid plate lip that is visible from the front, IMO.

still, you did a great job, and thanks for venturing out and taking a risk, and thanks even more for posting the photos.

THE LIGHTENING / SPEED HOLES LOOK GREAT, BY THE WAY. i think it would also look good with 4 or 5, 3 inch milled slots with a 1" diameter

[Titan4x4Aggie]

i think i'm going to have to put some holes in my grey skid plate!!!

[canman]

Sorry to dig up old stuff, but I was searching for chrome step rails and this thread came up. I have added a decent amount of SS/chrome (billet grille, rims, exhaust tips, light bezels, and tailgate piece) and now the side steps are screaming "chrome me!"

This mod looks great. My main question since it is now several months old is how does it hold up? I clean my Titan pretty regularly, but if you let it go a little will they look like crap? Any scratches?

Anybody else done this to a different color?

[SickWhip]

They look very nice! I wonder how much it would be to have them chromed?