Pop and Lock Discoloration?

Anybody having any whitening on their pop and lock tailgate handle? Mine appears to be oozing something out of it and has turned white. I've had it less than a year.

 

Normal. Happened to me too.

 

At least yours still works . . .

 

Mine faded in a matter of months, and no trim restorer I've found works well on it. It's like super porous plastic. I'm going to paint or dye mine eventually

 

I’ve always heard of people using heat guns to bring plastic back to life. I’ve never tried it, but I need to on my bed rails

 

Mine didn't work for a year. The company was good enough to refund my $$. I put the original back on. One day when there is time I will try a different manufacturer. Good luck!

 

Hmm, it's unfortunate to hear how many people are also having issues. Luckily, mine is operationally problem free. Just aesthetically not pleasing.

 

Stoner’s Trim Shine, last time I sprayed it was 2 weeks ago, it’s the only product that works on the handle.

 

Mine has discolored as everyone else's and it still works. Ive had it for 8 mo. Eventually i will paint it.

 

Mines about 2 years old...*knock on wood...

 

How does Stoner's hold up to rain? Have you noticed any running?

 

Have had mine 6 or 7 years. Still works good,but looks the color of moldy dog shit

 

No runs, it repels it! It’s really neat watching it bead right off as I wash it.

 

Awesome! I'm going to head over to Autozone or Oreilly's tomorrow to see if I can find some.

 

I'm gonna try and find something like that. I tried to fix it with tire shine, much to my surprise it didn't quite do the trick.

 

Have any of you followed-through and painted your P&L handle? Mine is faded beyond belief, and I'm thinking I should just paint it, but gotta figure out what paint would look good. I've been reviving it with 303 Aerospace wipes but this handle just won't retain it.

 

I painted the Pop'n'Lock handle on my 2015 Tacoma. Eight months so far and it's holding up fine.

I used SEM Plastic Adhesion Promoter and SEM Trim Black (one of my favorite rattlecan paints). I should have done this before it weathered so much -- the results would have been better. The adhesion promoter is especially useful for olefinic plastics, so probably not strictly necessary on the (most likely) ABS the latch is molded from. I took the latch apart completely to get to the nooks and crannies. Pay attention if you do that, 'cause there are springs that will try to get lost and orientations that aren't intuitive -- take a few digital pix along the way as breadcrumbs.

Before:




After:

 

@4xdog yo that looks amazing! That's exactly what I'm hoping for tbh.

Do you think I could just go straight to the SEM Trim Black paint and not use the primer? Maybe I could do a little sanding to help knock down the oxidation and such.

 

Yes, I think that would work. Be sure to do a solvent wipe before you paint.

The plastic appears to be filled, with either glass fiber or possibly talc (it isn't marked). This is one of the reasons it turns white. Those kinds of plastic compounds don't always respond well to sanding, so perhaps try that on an inconspicuous area first.

Note that there are a lot of small parts to one of these if you go the full-disassembly mode.