Custom Chrome?

[fiatdale]

I'd say let the body shop attempt to remove it. If they're good, they should be able to remove it with minimal damage, then they'll know what they're dealing with. Once its removed (even if it gets slightly damaged) you can have a metal shop make the piece exact, then have it chromed, and set in the original position of the brushed piece. Then it will sit nice and flush with the rest of the board.

Doesn't AMP research make these for GM anyway? Call them up, maybe they can give you info from their OEM dept.

 

[soulsea]

Ah thanks for that info Ryan ... I did not know that AMP made these for GM.

I will definitely contact them and se if I can get a new set of brushed trim elements from them ... if so I will have those chromed and simply swap them out.

Thanks again.

---------- Post added at 10:22 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:08 AM ----------

Okay so I contacted AMP and they are not the ones that supply GM with their power assist steps ... the nice man at CS gave me the name of the company in Canada that does, they are called Mytox Manufacturing.

The AMP boards are very similar and they do have the brushed steel part (PN: 75149-01a) but I could not get dimensions to see if it happens to be the same size as mine as they are in pacific time and the engineering dept. folks weren't in yet.

Progress, I am making it.

 

[07Burb]

wow....sounds like you're at least starting to get somewhere on this!

 

[soulsea]

Jacob, I can't yet tell if my life is a disaster or not ... spending my mornings tracking down GM subcontractors could either be perceived as quirky, or as a massive moment of clarity as to my life's fail ... or both.

Eek.

 

[yates ™]

You need more hobbies

 

[07Burb]

Jacob, I can't yet tell if my life is a disaster or not ... spending my mornings tracking down GM subcontractors could either be perceived as quirky, or as a massive moment of clarity as to my life's fail ... or both.

Eek.

I think it's seen as a sign of success!! I would love to have the time to follow these kinds of leads on a daily basis. If I had twitter I'd spend my days following you

You need more hobbies

Yates....this IS his hobbie

 

[soulsea]

Btw, I just went and had a really close look at how this is set up on the steps (got an interesting look from my neighbor).

The metal piece doesn't actually sit flush to the surrounding plastic, it is slightly receded. In fact, it looks to me that the metal actually continues underneath/tucks into the plastic for a little on the sides.

This is very good news because if I were to get a new piece as an overlay, it would sit flush to the plastic and not above it. The slightly bad news is that upon closer inspection, that piece is not rectangular, the sides flare out at an angle, so VERY carful measurements would have to be taken to reproduce the exact shape.

Anyhoot, if I can't get the piece from Mytox, then I can get a new one made safe in the knowledge that will will look right if overlaid on top of the existing piece.

 

[KMeloney]

Yup, the reflection is a small concern ... but my tahoe oval boards were chrome at that angle and it wasn't a noticeable issue.

I think you're just barely missing my point. You had the TOP of your chrome tube steps reflecting such that it was obvious they were chrome (all around). But then chrome is reflecting a dirty, dark road surface, that piece might as well be black, or BRUSHED, since the image you would see in it if it were chrome would be the road. You're looking down on it, and the sun is always above it, and the angle of it is downward, so it's never going to reflect light like the rest of the chrome on the truck. I think it's currently brushed because 1) it would look brushed in no time with the beating it would take, and 2) because it would only reflect surfaces that wouldn't make it shine like chrome anyway.

if the road were green, that piece would look green, and all the time. With it being brushed, and not fully reflecting the road, you get the impression that it is a trim piece (it's not black), but it also doesn't get lost by reflecting the road surface. So, again, I think it serves its purpose best by being what it is now.

Personally, I always thought that piece WAS chrome, which points to my point even more. By trying to make that piece chrome, or by trying to match wheels to it now, I think you're giving way too much attention to the fact that it's not chrome.

 

[soulsea]

Kirk I think I got what you said, but the oval boards were chrome on the side and underneath, definitely at the angle which the piece in question sits:

I promise you, road reflection was not a concern.

---------- Post added at 11:00 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:54 AM ----------

I just had another thought ... do you guys think it would make more sense to do it in non-brushed stainless steel, like the finish on the exhaust tips?

Not sure what the advantage would be other than one less step to get the finish and making it cheaper.

Would it be more durable than chrome?
Would it match the chrome on the side moldings close enough?

Mmm ...

 

[KMeloney]

I think that if you understood exactly what I was saying, you would agree that it would be foolish/pointless to make that piece chrome. Seeing that that's not the case, I'll drop it.

All of the used retractable boards I've seen on eBay in the past had at least one ding in the metal area, which suggests to me that they're relatively easy to ding. (And with you being in DC, it'll just take one person to bang his snowy shoes off on the board before getting in your truck, and... And then yours will be on eBay.)

So, if you're hell bent on this idea (why did I say "if"?!), then it had better be something durable.