I know there is a number of you who have painted the roof racks on thier X's. What I would like to know is, what did you use to get the XTerra emblem/letters off of the rack before painting? I know I want to go with a flat black to match my front brush guard, but is there a certain brand that would work better than others? Thanks in advance.

I know a guy that just used a hammered balck finish rustoleum and it has held up very well for 3 years now. I THINK he just sanded the whole rack and cleaned it up, then sprayed 2 coats on and bolted it back up.

Are you trying to preserve the XTERRA decal? You can just go to xterraparts.com and buy a couple new ones.

Nissan should just give me one for mine falling off the first weak i had the truck!

I'm not trying to preserve it, although having one red to match the red & black theme I have going, might not look all that bad. Hmm... decisions, decisions. I appreciate the info.

By the way, going off the subject, what do the little Xterra icons under some peoples usernames mean? Are they moderators or somthing? Just curious.

You can be rated by others for the info or attitude you have on the forums. Bad attitude will get you 1 truck very fast.

I've never been rated so I don't know exact details though.

the decal peels off very easily. fingernail ought to do it. or you can leave it on, paint over it, then pull it to reveal the silver underneath.

prep work should consist of a light sanding, wash off the dust, then paint a couple coats. if you sand too far youll expose bare aluminum and might have adhesion problems if not primed.

Thanks for the advice.

I used Rustoleum Hammered Black on mine. It held up for about 4 years, but is now pretty worn and needs to be redone. Pretty easy to do though... just need to take some time out and get it done!

I recommend disassembling the whole rack so you can get paint on all the metal... then put the feet and everything back on. You will have to get everything lined up again, but you'll be glad you didn't just tape off the plastic parts. Oh, I got down to bare aluminum on mine in places and the Rustoleum covered fine.

I might try putting a clear coat over it next time to see if that will keep it nice longer...