My experience with paint and rustproofing steel is that the results are in the prep/sand/prime/seal stages before painting:
some of the Glasurit primer sealers are really great, for those of you seeking a better longer term primer/sealer below your topcoat-even for bumpers and sliders
..but that makes prep,repair and upkeep a bit of a project,albeit with great results
rustoleum sells a a few cans of flat black-not all the same:
i found their 'protective enamel' paint to be good paint and better sealer than their flat black but not a good match for the RTE paint while i am still trying to match it-I may coat all their stuff with the protective enamel, since thats my preffered spray can of black paint
I have also been meaning to pick up their paint thats marketed as a rust inhibitor(assuming its got a phosphoric component to it)but my sliders havent asked for that yet
also a flat black
My rust so far has been easy to treat-most the rust is not deep/I dont let it get deep
I actually have a few cans in da garage now,and the can that says "flat black" also says 'stops rust' on it, and matches the rte stuff pretty well
AS A LONGER TERM solution, how successful is rhino lining longer term-better than line-x??
I havent spoke to DanC in awhile to see how his truck is doing- he rhino lined the entire thing in and out-it would be cool to see how its held up since his move to Florida.wet/boggy there.
I agree, better paint is a good idea, but its sorta silly to put good paint in them IMHO since I scrape them so often/repaint the scrapes within a few days = seems to prevent the onset of any real pitting deep rust
I plan to strip,prime/seal and then paint with a urethane additive paint ot just take the leap and rhino line/bedliner,and carry a small vial in the truck for ongoing touch up work