Well, I've had my car for about 9 months now and my front bumper is pretty much trashed. Mostly from a 70 interstate mile round trip daily commute for work and driving to 2+ hours every other weekend on the interstate to visit my fiancee. I had planned on getting my front bumper resprayed at some point, but I think I'm going to have to get it done sooner rather than later. My question is should I go the route of a clear bra this time? I spoke with the guy at my body shop and he said not to because anything that is big enough to chip a bumper is still going to chip the bumper regardless if a bra is installed or not. And then I'll have film stuck in the chip. My thought is that the film should at least protect it against smaller rocks and I won't have the ugly black spots from the paint being removed. I drive a silver 370 and the stone chips really bring out the black plastic underneath. What are your thoughts?
I thought about a clearbra for my Sti, but my insurance covers rock chips and such....... so I figure if it gets that bad Ill pay my $50.00 comprehensive deductible and have my front clip re sprayed. So guage the the initial cost of a clearbra versus how long you plan to keep your car and your insurance coverage. Also my freind had a 3m clearbra installed 3 years ago and due the high heat it cracked and got dry. But Im pretty sure he did not ever maintain it.
cquartz wong help with rock chips. get clearbra, it will help with rock chips. when it gets dull just take if off and put it on again. if you know how to do it yourself and can do it then do it. its pretty cheap on ebay
I was thinking of having it done at the body shop... If maintained properly...how long do they normally last?
clear bra definitely protects from stone chips Over time it will get pitted so you'll have to replace it to maintain a good looking finish I've seen clear bra protect the paint against car park scrapes On silver I'd do it, you're not going to see the cut off line or any difference in finish with the rest of the paint First thing I do on all my cars is clear bra the side skirts. Protects from stones and smacking shoes into the sills getting in and out
Hi Domino I really like the idea of the side skirts. My car will be arriving soon mid this year and i was wondering if i should install clear bra. I was planning to have it on the front bumper, hood and side skirts. Im thinking about the look of it on the hood, the car is black and the lines of the clear bra is apparently more obvious on black. Would like to know what your thoughts might be Kogenx
I believe as long as you're properly maintaining the clear bra it'll be fine. I personally don't put it on the hood as I hate the line..
yep, that's the main reason i dont clear bra the bonnet/top panels, i hate the lines which do become more and more obvious over time as dirt builds, you get polish/wax stuck on the edges and despite your best efforts to clean it with IPA etc, it always happens on my skirts, i run the clear bra up to the panel egde and into the doors to better hide the edges plus worse still, on dark colours, once you've polished and waxed, you will see a difference in the finish of the paint
you might be able to diy on a flat surface, but you'll get nowhere real fast trying to diy around bumper corners/contours best leave it to the pro's who will warranty the work
I agree...I don't have the time or the patience to do it myself...plus I'm very particular and would need it to look perfect. It would just be easier to let them do it since the car would already be there. It looks horrible now with all the little black "specs" that you can see.
I have always had Clear Bra's installed on all my new cars, including the hood bumpers, door cups, mirrors, etc, and all on black vehicles and silver vehicles. The newest material out there now is the Venture Shield which my clearba installer says, was purchased by 3m, so I imagine this collaboration would really yield a great product. I have noticed that Venture Shield was/is thinner and shinier than the other makes, and doesnt present a bad look on black. You have to ask yourself, would you rather have unsightly rock chips on your hood, or would you rather have a really thin clearbra line ? For me, the clearbra line wins every time. In my experience,the only time anything gets trapped under a clearbra edge is if one is shoving stuff under it - it doesnt just get stuff under it as it fits tightly against the paint in the first place. When the weather improves here where I can actually wash my Brilliant Black Crystal Pearl Grand Cherokee that has the 2009 version of Venture Shield on it, you can see if this is going to be a deal breaker for you. I also like not having any rock chips on my front end, and have yet to run into any clear bra's that cant be improved by correctly polishing them. I imagine if you run into a really old vehicle that had one installed back when they turned yellow, etc.,, then you might have an issue trying to clean/condition it, but none of the newer ones I have ever detailed out, ever looked that bad. And the VentureShield people sold me mine with a lifetime warranty, so even if something happened to it down the road, I know they will be good to replace, etc., what it needs. Just remembered, a recent detail on an 2005 Mecerdes S430, big car, had a clearbra on the front bumper; someone rubbed a little too close to it awhile back and transferred white paint onto the clearbra and actually removed a bit of clearbra material, but did not hurt the paint below. I was able to successfully remove all the white paint transfer off the plastic, the marker light, and trim up the rubbed off clearbra material with a razor blade so that even though there was missing material, the transition from the bra to the paint was almost unnoticeable and the Client was ecstatic.. Having worked in a body shop as a Painter in the years past, I can tell you that its always going to be easier to prevent paintwork damage to the front ends, than to have them repainted corrrectly. Only really good shops will take the time to do it right, and every day, I see another example of bad workmanship from body shops where they just didnt take the time to do it right the first time. Good luck with your research ! Dan F
You'll get different answers on which one is the best. As far as my knowledge goes 3M used to be, then VentureShield (now owned by 3M) improved theirs with the Ultra film and got the edge. Avery Nano also seems to be a pretty good choice. I would get a pre-cut version, your paint is really soft and why risk scratches...
Also, for those of you complaining about the line across the hood....just get a full wrap then. No way would I be satisfied with a line across my hood, but with the front bumper and hood fully wrapped, you have no lines (and no chips) to worry about. Just have to be careful with your detailing regimine from now on as you're working with porous surface.
