ARMORGOD
Enthusiast
After reading about the problems that owners were having with rock chips right behind the tires, I decided to install some "clearbra" type material on my SRT, while it was still relatively new. At only 1000 miles I already had a fair amount of chips under each sill and can only imagine how trashed they would look after 10K.
I decided to go with the XPEL brand, as it is 12mm thick, compared to 3M, with is only 8mm thick. I ordered three pieces that measured 12"x18" for the front sills (third piece was a spare, in case I screwed one of them up). And three 12"x12" sheets for behind the rear tires. That amount of material was $70, including next day delivery.
Here is a pic of everything that I needed to do the job:
I also used a long straight edge and some old phone books to cut the material on top of. Also had to use a marker, so I knew where to cut after the test fit.
The whole job was not very difficult and can be done in about 2-3 hours.
Step 1: Mix water and Isopropyl alcohol in a spray bottle (10:1, water to alcohol).
Step 2: Test fit material and use a marker to make dotted lines where you need to cut.
Step 3: Cut out material and test fit again.
Step 4: Spray sill with water/alcohol mix (this will allow you to play around with positioning the material, without the tacky adhesive grabbing hold, until you want it to).
Step 5: Pull adhesive backing off of material and spray the adhesive side of the material with the w/a mix.
Step 6: Position top edge of material on the car and begin smoothing it out, working down to push all the water out. Be very mindful of leaving any air/water bubbles. Use your fingers and a squeegee to ensure that the water is pushed out. Other than cutting the material to an exact fit, this is the hardest part.
Step 7: If you do have any bubbles, then you can carefully "pop" them with the tip of hobby knife and work the water out.
A couple of lessons the I learned:
1. After you peel off the backing from the adhesive side of the material, use it as a jig to cut out the material for the other side of the car. Saves a lot of time.
2. The 18" pieces, for behind the front tires are not quite long enough to cover the area that the chips appear on. A 24" piece would have been better.
3. It is almost impossible to prevent at least a few water bubbles from getting trapped under the material. But, since it is on the bottom side of the car, they are not noticeable at all.
Here are some pics:
This is what a sheet of material looks like. Notice how flexible it is?
This is a close-up of the front.
A close-up of the rear.
Here is the car from a distance. I think that the material is pretty transparent, if you don't know it's there.
If any other owners are interested in doing this, I could trace out a copy of the jigs that I used and mail them to you. It would probably save 40% of the time that it takes to do the job.
I decided to go with the XPEL brand, as it is 12mm thick, compared to 3M, with is only 8mm thick. I ordered three pieces that measured 12"x18" for the front sills (third piece was a spare, in case I screwed one of them up). And three 12"x12" sheets for behind the rear tires. That amount of material was $70, including next day delivery.
Here is a pic of everything that I needed to do the job:
I also used a long straight edge and some old phone books to cut the material on top of. Also had to use a marker, so I knew where to cut after the test fit.
The whole job was not very difficult and can be done in about 2-3 hours.
Step 1: Mix water and Isopropyl alcohol in a spray bottle (10:1, water to alcohol).
Step 2: Test fit material and use a marker to make dotted lines where you need to cut.
Step 3: Cut out material and test fit again.
Step 4: Spray sill with water/alcohol mix (this will allow you to play around with positioning the material, without the tacky adhesive grabbing hold, until you want it to).
Step 5: Pull adhesive backing off of material and spray the adhesive side of the material with the w/a mix.
Step 6: Position top edge of material on the car and begin smoothing it out, working down to push all the water out. Be very mindful of leaving any air/water bubbles. Use your fingers and a squeegee to ensure that the water is pushed out. Other than cutting the material to an exact fit, this is the hardest part.
Step 7: If you do have any bubbles, then you can carefully "pop" them with the tip of hobby knife and work the water out.
A couple of lessons the I learned:
1. After you peel off the backing from the adhesive side of the material, use it as a jig to cut out the material for the other side of the car. Saves a lot of time.
2. The 18" pieces, for behind the front tires are not quite long enough to cover the area that the chips appear on. A 24" piece would have been better.
3. It is almost impossible to prevent at least a few water bubbles from getting trapped under the material. But, since it is on the bottom side of the car, they are not noticeable at all.
Here are some pics:
This is what a sheet of material looks like. Notice how flexible it is?
This is a close-up of the front.
A close-up of the rear.
Here is the car from a distance. I think that the material is pretty transparent, if you don't know it's there.
If any other owners are interested in doing this, I could trace out a copy of the jigs that I used and mail them to you. It would probably save 40% of the time that it takes to do the job.