Wheel Wells

[G.D.S.]

Just curious if anyone has reinforced the wheel wells (ie..undercoating or spray on box liner). Is gravel damage to the bare fiberglass a concern?

[gbaglo]

I drive a lot of gravel roads and have no reason to change what I posted twelve years ago. If I see damage in the wheel wells, I will cover it with some protective material then. I am still waiting.
Keep in mind too that it's a lot easier to clean cow poop off a smooth gelcoat finish than some rough coat.

[cpaharley2008]

Probably more harm is done to your tow vehicle than your trailer....

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

I drive a lot of gravel roads and have no reason to change what I posted twelve years ago. If I see damage in the wheel wells, I will cover it with some protective material then. I am still waiting.
Keep in mind too that it's a lot easier to clean cow poop off a smooth gelcoat finish than some rough coat.

I'm always amazed after so many gravel roads that the wheel wells don't get damaged much. A few minor blemishes but nothing of concern. I agree, if they get all pock marked for some reason then I'd spray them with a bed liner type material.

Also, the smooth surface makes it a lot easier to clean off the inevitable tar that you pick up driving through areas under construction.

Ron

[Dee08802]

We lined our wheel wells with 3M Scotchgard Clear Film three years ago. It goes on like the window tinting film by wetting the surface and squeegeeing out the air bubbles. The film is still not visible unless you look closely. It has become lightly dinged with road grit. Not sure if the gel coat has seen any damage but the overall appearance is good after three years.

Most of our camping is winter time in the snow belts where we experience lots of road grit. We took this measure after our previous Scamp wheel wells got badly chipped up.

[Eggscape]

I get great enjoyment out of the quality of the Escape wheel wells after my last stick trailer. They were made out of a light duty formed plastic that were held place by a few staples with wrinkles that made them leak like a sieve.

[sleepy]

We have been towing ours on gravel logging roads for 8 years. This hardly a mark on them. Ours is just the original factory gel coat. I wax the wells once a year.

I have seen a 17' with sprayed on bed liner- it looked 'chunky', though no doubt added some protection.

The clear 3m film seems like a good idea.

[Centex]

16 years towing my fiberglass 2005 Casita with 'naked' well-wells yielded a very few very minor gelcoat chips and they were always easy to keep clean.

For 35 years ending just 2 years ago the county road to my home was unpaved loose 'gravel' which clinked merrily on the bottom of my vehicles (yeah, I appreciate that it's now paved to within 700ft of my gate).

I'm confident that my Escape will fare just as well and that works for me, no mods or additions planned in this area, No Worries!

[Kingfish]

I quit washing the wheel wells on my vehicles years ago. Same for the escape.

[Tonny LR]

You may line the wheel well with 3M paint protective film to protect the gelcoat.

Tonny LR

[gbaglo]

Originally Posted by Tonny LR

You may line the wheel well with 3M paint protective film to protect the gelcoat.

Tonny LR

How do you protect the 3M film?

[LeonW]

When we got our 2014 Escape 21, I asked Reece to coat the wheel wells, and he sprayed them with the same stuff that covers the storage box. I think it cost me $300.

Also, Thoer, who used to post here, sprayed the wheel wells of his 17 (Blue) with the stuff that they used to spray pick up bed liners.

This has worked just fine -- it is certainly a little more difficult to wash the wheel wells when they have that rough finish, but I don't worry too much about washing the wheel wells anyhow.

My impetus for doing this was seeing a video of a Casita where the tread came off one of the tires and it beat the heck out of the wheel well. but since I pay attention to my tires, and keep them in good shape, I doubt that I would coat the wheel wells if I was to do it over.