On Vibranium, we used Cerakote to protect the surface of our units.
It is an excellent coating. Good corrosion resistance, solid impact protection, clean finish. We have nothing bad to say about it, and hundreds of Vibranium units are still running with Cerakote all over the world.
But for Erebus, we wanted to go further.
Cerakote: a layer sitting on top
Cerakote is a ceramic film applied onto the metal. Each part is sandblasted, cleaned, degreased, then coated. It bonds well and protects well. They built their reputation in the United States on the treatment and protection of firearms.
But it remains a layer sitting on top. What you do with your vehicles is about as close to hell as any surface treatment will ever see: rock impacts, repeated abrasion in sand and mud, straps, cargo shifting against the units. Over time, Cerakote wears locally. That is normal — it is the nature of any applied coating. And it does not affect Nimbus performance, because underneath the Cerakote, the aluminum is still there, intact and unchanged.
But aesthetically, it starts looking rough. We decided that had to evolve too.
Type III hard anodization: the protection becomes the metal
On Erebus, the protection is Type III hard anodization.
The difference is fundamental, and it is the reason we made this choice: hard anodization is not applied onto the metal. It happens inside the metal. It becomes the metal.
It is an electrochemical transformation of the aluminum surface into aluminum oxide. The protective layer grows into and from the metal itself. It cannot chip. It cannot peel. It is part of the piece. That is a distinction no applied coating can offer, no matter how good it is.
The numbers
Depending on the alloys we use, surface hardness after hard anodization increases by a factor of 2 to 4.5 (Vickers scale, same metal, before and after treatment).
Protective layer thickness: 25 to 100 microns depending on the area, formed inside and from the metal.
Standard: MIL-A-8625 Type III — the same specification used by the defense and aerospace industries to protect hydraulic components, landing gear parts, and equipment subjected to severe mechanical and environmental stress.
On your suspension, this means a surface that takes everything you throw at it: rocks, salt, mud, UV, mechanical friction, year after year, with no degradation of the protection. Because the protection is the metal itself.
What about Cerakote?
Are we dropping Cerakote entirely? No.
You will always have the option to customize the color of your Nimbus. The Cerakote C-Series palette has hundreds of colors, and our customers are not short on imagination — matching your vehicle’s exact paint code, going full matte black, picking olive drab for a Defender built for the Sahara, or choosing red and black that pops on a Grenadier. Cerakote simply goes on top of the hard anodization: belt and suspenders when it comes to protection.
The Erebus logic
Integrating hard anodization follows the same logic as every other component in Erebus. TiN on the rod. FLURO bearings replacing generic ones. And now, a process that works inside the metal instead of sitting on top of it.
Every technical choice is made for one reason: real benefit for you, in the punishing conditions we sometimes put our vehicles through, for decades to come.
Erebus is available for all models on our Build & Price page. Questions? Get in touch.