With the talk in the other thread of using Mud Flaps to protect the paint on the lower 1/4's ... I was thinking about using that new 3M clear film. Here is a company that sells kits as well as bulk .... http://www.xpel.com/ I already had some chips in my 1/4 panels since the rear tires overlap the wheel wells ... and one little pebble stuck in your tread becomes a bullet at highway speeds right into your nicely painted lower 1/4 panel. I'm thinking about buying a few feet of this stuff 18" wide, making a stencil, cutting it out and applying it to my lower rear 1/4's below the Grabber stripe. Supposedly it's invisible and warrantied against yellowing or peeling for 5 years on a normally driven car. Should last forever on a show car ....
yeah this stuff is a bid deal on new cars! the thing is there are no long term effects that have been seen yet. they say that it won't discolor paint and what not but they said that about bras on cars back in the day. though i can see that the film is better the a bra becuase the paint doesn't get wind chafe. if its for the lower fender pannels i could see what you mean... but then again if a rock its it hard enough it will still indent the paint.
The painter I just hired suggested it also on my new paint job. Across the hood (2") and the rear qtrs.. Said he is seeing a lot of it these days
this is a big deal on motorhomes and coaches for front end protection (paint), as long as you don't get finger prints on the areas you are sticking to the car then it will look good, I've it when installing formed mudflaps on trucks to protect the paint when they mount.
I have worked with this stuff alot we just call it hood tape at the shop. Its does work just like it says the only thing i can see that is negitive is that its not the area you covered its the area that is uncovered that yellows and gets all nasty. We mostly use it just on the frount section of hoods but we do sometimes use it on 1/4s so far the only thing i dont like about it is that after time it can be a task to take it off not so much if your doing it for your car but when i have to do repairs on that area and i dont get time to take it off yeah.
Personally, to me its noticable and I dont like the look. If your going to drive your car, chips are a fact of life. Try running a set of slicks and see what happens to your quarters.
