Wheel Well experiment....

[quidoi]

So here is my $111.00 experiment seeing that no one has commented on dings and damages to the wheel wells--- i just applied 3M paint protection ( like the clear bra i have on my car) not sure if it is necessary but what the heck -- works on the hood of the car against rock chips and cleans off nicely -- so decided to give it a try -- first road trip this month--- picture attached has the plastic on... it is clear so not visible---

[Effie]

I was thinking about it but never got around to do it. I wish there was some stainless steel option.

[HABBERDABBER]

The film sure can't hurt, and will likely be of benefit.
And, it's better looking than Rhino epoxy painting that area, as some have done.

[dstreight]

Good idea! If not for an extremely careless & incompetent CalTrans highway paint crew, apart of driving to Redding CA last year to do the Torflex / Leaf spring swap, I'd follow your lead @quidoi.

But alas they were spraying pavement lines down without any lead crew to notify vehicles such work was happening...came around a bend on the highway at 55mph and boom there they were and now I have CalTrans white road paint all over our 15A

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by dstreight

But alas they were spraying pavement lines down without any lead crew to notify vehicles such work was happening...came around a bend on the highway at 55mph and boom there they were and now I have CalTrans white road paint all over our 15A

Same thing happened to me on my way to the Escape Rally. All the way from the truck's front tire, running board, rear bumper, front of the trailer, the steps, wheel wells and rear bumper! I got it off the front of the trailer and the awing arm... the rest I've just left. Now when I look at it... it brings back a memory.

[HABBERDABBER]

I was entering the on ramp to an Interstate hi-way, leaving an Escape rendezvous and was 1st up behind the lane paint truck. Had to cross some of that fresh paint! to get home. Couldn't back up, really.
It took 2 days effort to get most of that paint mostly off. White paint, so it doesn't blast out apparent, but it's there.

[Brian B-P]

This isn't a suggestion for the operation of the forum, so perhaps a moderator could move it to a more suitable location, such as Escape Trailer Owners Community > Escape Tech > Modifications and Alterations

[Eggscape]

I would like to apply that to the lower front of my 19 to get rid of the ugly off colour clip on vinyl things.

[gbaglo]

Originally Posted by Eggscape

I would like to apply that to the lower front of my 19 to get rid of the ugly off colour clip on vinyl things.

Road paint?

[George Johnson]

Ah, the memories this thread brings back...

Back in the 1980's during one of my periodic episodes of poverty, I worked for the county road department as an equipment operator. One day while assigned to the road striping crew, a lady drove by in a shiny new Mercedes while we were painting yellow center stripes. After we'd gone a couple of miles, the lady came roaring back and began ranting that we had sprayed the side of her car with paint. and she was going to require that the county repaint her entire car before she would be satisfied. Our foreman walked over to the car with her to look at the damages, they had a few words, then she quietly got into her car and drove away. Of course we all wanted to know how the foreman had caused such a change in the woman's demeanor, so when he got back to us he simply explained that he told her he would take out his camera (no cell phones in those days) to document that the paint on the side of her car was an entirely different shade of yellow than the paint we were applying to the asphalt.

[Great Eggstrications]

We did the same sort of thing on our E19, applying 6" wide clear 3M film to the insides of the 4 wheel wells right after picking up the trailer in November 2015 wanting to preserve the pristine gelcoat right off the bat, then promptly leaving on a trip down the west coast to Joshua Tree and Anza-Borrego then a speed run up I-5 and back home.

We applied 6" wide film starting about 1/2 way up on the fronts of the wheel wells, over the tops, and all the way to the bottoms of the rears of the wheel wells (since rocks obviously get thrown toward the rear, not toward the front), centered side-to-side to (barely) cover the area that lines up with the tire treads - should have gotten 8" or 10" wide film, since the 6" film left unprotected strips of gelcoat toward the insides of the wheel arches. We also ran a couple of pieces along the bottom edge of the trailer from the rear wheel wells toward the back, covering a ways up the sides and pretty much the whole of the bottoms of the "pontoons". Also covered the small flat areas between the front and rear wheel wells. The film was the kind that is applied with a mixture of water and isopropyl alcohol and a squeege - after checking with Escape that there would be no harm done to the brand new gelcoat. Since then, the only issues we have had is that in a few places along the edges it sort of made a small blister and the blister filled with dirt and crud that we couldn't clean out, so we just carefully cut a small piece out of the film along the edge of the blisters.

Just before heading out for Alaska in early Summer of 2019, we ordered some more film, intending to cover the exposed gelcoat remaining toward the inside edges of the wheel arches. Mistakenly ordered the 'sticky adhesive' variety, and didn't discover that till just a couple of days before departure so no time to order the 'water and isopropyl alcohol' kind. The nice thing about the 'water and isoproply alcohol' film is that you can play around with it and reposition it as you go, but the 'sticky adhesive' kind allows no repositioning so you better start it in just the right position. I would recommend using the 'water and isoproply alcohol' film.

Both the 'water and isopropyl' and 'sticky adhesive' film seem to do great job protecting the gelcoat, having racked up quite a few miles on dirt and gravel roads in Utah and Alaska.

Strongly suggest not doing it in mid-November when it's 38 degrees outside - not a fun job. The isoproply alcohol helps, but it leaves a really bad after-taste...

[Jim Bennett]

I applied the 3M protection to the lower front of my 5.0TA, and this protection has taken some wear in 4 years, but I do travel a lot on gravel roads. I never did the wheel wells and they really don't show any wear, but seeing they are hard to see, it is no problem.

[Ryanb-72]

Great Idea! I had not thought of this. I have been thinking of applying small fender flares to the wheel wells as the tires and rims I plan on purchasing will be a bit wider than stock.

[dstreight]

Originally Posted by Ryanb-72

Great Idea! I had not thought of this. I have been thinking of applying small fender flares to the wheel wells as the tires and rims I plan on purchasing will be a bit wider than stock.

FYI/FWIW: Last year I installed EZ Flares on the wheel wells of our 15A. 100% pleased with the product.

https://www.ezflares.com

[Buzz505]

The film was the kind that is applied with a mixture of water and isopropyl alcohol and a squeege.
Dave, What is the name of this film, sounds like a good product.

[Great Eggstrications]

Originally Posted by loessn@comcast.net

Dave, What is the name of this film, sounds like a good product.

I stuck with (pun intended), and paid a premium for, the real 3M film. Figured that if I'm gonna do it may as well use the best stuff I can get.

The first film - the 'isopropyl and water' kind - was from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This was a few years ago, and in the Amazon comments there was a debate going on about whether this was the new improved PRO variety or the old kind. It may be that now it's all the PRO kind? Anyhow, got 1 piece 6" x 120" and 1 piece 6" x 84". Don't remember how I cut it up for the different areas. With the 'water and isopropyl' kind be sure to get the small rubbery-plastic-y squeegee to push any air bubbles out toward the edges while applying it. There are lots of how-to videos on YouTube.

The inadvertently-ordered 'sticky adhesive' kind was also from Mr. Bezos

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

3 pieces 6" x 72", and again I don't remember how I cut the fill-in strips to cover the unprotected areas under the wheel arches.

Both types are 8 mil thickness, so are pretty beefy and do a good job protecting the gelcoat. You might be able to get a better price by shopping around the interwebs.

[Ops]

Originally Posted by dstreight

FYI/FWIW: Last year I installed EZ Flares on the wheel wells of our 15A. 100% pleased with the product.

Any chance of you posting a photo?

I checked on Amazon Canada, and it's available, so it'd be interesting to see how it/they look on your 15.

[quidoi]

Originally Posted by Great Eggstrications

We did the same sort of thing on our E19, applying 6" wide clear 3M film to the insides of the 4 wheel wells right after picking up the trailer in November 2015 wanting to preserve the pristine gelcoat right off the bat, then promptly leaving on a trip down the west coast to Joshua Tree and Anza-Borrego then a speed run up I-5 and back home.

We applied 6" wide film starting about 1/2 way up on the fronts of the wheel wells, over the tops, and all the way to the bottoms of the rears of the wheel wells (since rocks obviously get thrown toward the rear, not toward the front), centered side-to-side to (barely) cover the area that lines up with the tire treads - should have gotten 8" or 10" wide film, since the 6" film left unprotected strips of gelcoat toward the insides of the wheel arches. We also ran a couple of pieces along the bottom edge of the trailer from the rear wheel wells toward the back, covering a ways up the sides and pretty much the whole of the bottoms of the "pontoons". Also covered the small flat areas between the front and rear wheel wells. The film was the kind that is applied with a mixture of water and isopropyl alcohol and a squeege - after checking with Escape that there would be no harm done to the brand new gelcoat. Since then, the only issues we have had is that in a few places along the edges it sort of made a small blister and the blister filled with dirt and crud that we couldn't clean out, so we just carefully cut a small piece out of the film along the edge of the blisters.

Just before heading out for Alaska in early Summer of 2019, we ordered some more film, intending to cover the exposed gelcoat remaining toward the inside edges of the wheel arches. Mistakenly ordered the 'sticky adhesive' variety, and didn't discover that till just a couple of days before departure so no time to order the 'water and isopropyl alcohol' kind. The nice thing about the 'water and isoproply alcohol' film is that you can play around with it and reposition it as you go, but the 'sticky adhesive' kind allows no repositioning so you better start it in just the right position. I would recommend using the 'water and isoproply alcohol' film.

Both the 'water and isopropyl' and 'sticky adhesive' film seem to do great job protecting the gelcoat, having racked up quite a few miles on dirt and gravel roads in Utah and Alaska.

Strongly suggest not doing it in mid-November when it's 38 degrees outside - not a fun job. The isoproply alcohol helps, but it leaves a really bad after-taste...

Like minds think alike --- great that it has been done-- i figured it can't hurt ... i ordered 6 feet x 12 inches-- ended cutting to 10 inch for wheel wells but the 12 inch will apply as you did on the pontoons as you put it --- you actually start the process with baby shampoo and water mix over the site and the film -- that allows you to slide it around and squeegee it out -- the alcohol is used for stubborn edges that might not lay down initially or might come off in the future.... anyway it went pretty smoothly and i will know more after my first trip-- i will be on gravel roads half the time....

[quidoi]

Originally Posted by Great Eggstrications

I stuck with (pun intended), and paid a premium for, the real 3M film. Figured that if I'm gonna do it may as well use the best stuff I can get.

The first film - the 'isopropyl and water' kind - was from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This was a few years ago, and in the Amazon comments there was a debate going on about whether this was the new improved PRO variety or the old kind. It may be that now it's all the PRO kind? Anyhow, got 1 piece 6" x 120" and 1 piece 6" x 84". Don't remember how I cut it up for the different areas. With the 'water and isopropyl' kind be sure to get the small rubbery-plastic-y squeegee to push any air bubbles out toward the edges while applying it. There are lots of how-to videos on YouTube.

The inadvertently-ordered 'sticky adhesive' kind was also from Mr. Bezos

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

3 pieces 6" x 72", and again I don't remember how I cut the fill-in strips to cover the unprotected areas under the wheel arches.

Both types are 8 mil thickness, so are pretty beefy and do a good job protecting the gelcoat. You might be able to get a better price by shopping around the interwebs.

Howdy again -- i found better price than amazon -- here in roseville , california-- prompt shipping ... https://carprotectionpro.com/ the owner didn't think i could pull it off when i told him what i was planning on -- pretty happy with the results pre road trip.... again-- have had it on the prius hood since 2012 and holds up great with no rock chips and bugs just wipes off....buy the 3m version -- these guys buy bulk rolls and cut them to sizes ... amazon has another vendor i think called vvivid which offers same....

[dfandrews]

Originally Posted by Great Eggstrications

...................
The inadvertently-ordered 'sticky adhesive' kind was also from Mr. Bezos .....................

Soooo, this "Bezos" brand from Amazon. Is that sort of like COSTCO's "Kirkland" brand?


Or, maybe it should be characterized as more like the "ACME" brand so favored by Wiley Coyote!