No, I'm not talking about smoking "Buddha".

I was driving along a very familiar secondary road less than a mile from home. I was doing the speed limit which was 40 mph. I round the blind curve and it looks like a dump truck sprung a leak and spilled a bunch of gravel in the middle of the road. There was no time to stop or even slow down but I did manage to take my foot off the accelerator to hopefully lessen what was about to happen. What a horrible sound. My stock 18" wheels/tires may not be as aggressive as what you "S" and "TT" guys have but believe me they were big enough to find every single piece of gravel on that road and throw it up against my car.

Now I wasn't too worried because I had the dealer install the clear bra on the rocker panels so I figured at worst I may have some scuffing on the film but the paint would be safe. In fact, I didn't even bother to check for damage when I got back home. Yesterday I spent the whole day detailing my ride and sure enough there were 5-6 tiny chips on the extreme lower rocker panels on each side of the car right where they start to spread out to accommodate the rear wheels. I thought "no way, they got through the film?" Then I realized "Oh ****, there isn't any film there" Evidently, the rocker panel kit only goes down to the chip guard paint but it doesn't cover it.

So the question of the day is . . .

Can chip guard paint be covered with paint protection film? Anyone? Premiere?

I imagine the answer is going to be "no" or "not easily" since the chip guard paint has a wrinkle finish and probably won't allow the film to adhere all that well but if anyone knows the answer to this burning question of mine please let me know.

 

Yes - clear bra film can be applied to the lower rocker panel. My car has it done, I used venture shield.

 

i dont know how it is in the east coast..

but we get stoned everyday here in cali..


seriously tho, i avoid far right and far left when i am cruising on the hwy.. unless i am passing or there are no cars in front..

there seems to be more pebbles collected near the edges of the freeway to be kicked up by the car/truck/suv/SEMI in-front of u

hope it works out for ur car.. the first chip is the hardest.

 

I 2nd and approve his statement. I also make it a habit to avoid getting behind all Lifted Trucks, Trucks that look like they had been in mud or dirt, And all Gravel, Sand and 18 wheeler's.

 

I'm adding spacers to my car (7mm frt, 15mm bk, stock carrera classics w/305s mounted in rear). Anyone think the spacers will exacerbate this problem? As far as I can tell from the pics of p-cars with spacers installed, the edges of the tires' tread remain inside the wheel wells, both front and back so....

 

i am getting the same spacers (7 and 15) and i also have 305s in the rear..AND i was wondering the same thing..

 

There was no traffic in front of me and I was on a secondary road. The dump truck that spilled the gravel was long gone. It goes to show no matter how careful one is there are some road hazzards that are just unavoidable.

I'm no expert on wheel spacers and don't have or desire them on my car but it's kind of obvious this will only enhance this problem. The 997's big tires kick up a lot more stuff than an "average" car and if you are going to make the track wider with spacers well . . . you know.

I've always had splash guards on all my cars whether they were sports cars or not. When I first started shopping for a 997 I looked for them but noticed they weren't being offered by Porsche or any of the well known Porsche aftermarket firms. None of the photos I have seen of 997's have them. One can always buy generic splash guards and install them but this would really ruin the look of the 997. When it comes to splash guards the mold on kind are really the only way to go. Evidently, splash guards of any kind are just not acceptable on these cars which is a shame really because they do an excellent job of deflecting small stones and other nasty road debris. In my opinion they stop probably 99% of this stuff from hitting your car.

 

I just got about 10 rock chips on the hood in the last week. On a black car no less. Gotta touch 'em up now, b/c it's pretty noticeable standing a few feet away. Yikes. Must be from the low hood - not good news. Then I'm getting the 3M put on - don't care how much $$ it costs.

 

Spacers will absolutely magnify problems with stuff thrown up as the front wheels will be further out and thus more debris will leave the wheel well and be tossed at the back fenders.