Where did clear plastic hood protector come from?

TeryT

New member
My 03 Sport has a clear sheet material over the front hood & fender areas to protect against little rocks, etc. Where did this come from - was it a dealer installed item?
 
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is that the same stuff as the 3M clear bra? I know a few VW owners that had this installed at the dealer.
 
Clear bra - Yeah!

A clear bra!? What a concept! I think there would be a market for this in other "applications."
 
The stuff is available through professional installers and also available as pre-cut kits for the front ends of vehicles and for headlights, fog lights, etc.

I bought some film in bulk and did some vulnerable areas of my 4Runner. It's not too hard to cut and install if you take some time and experiment.

One rather nifty application for it (other than the front end where it reduces damage from rocks, etc.) is under the door handles where it prevents fingernail scratches in the paint. Also along the door and wheel well edges where it can prevent chipping.

I can post a picture or two if people are interested.

You can check out websites with more information. See:

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/_l/en_US/_s.155/116931/_s.155/86661

http://www.xpel.com/products/default.asp

http://www.autosupermart.com/store/shop/brands/xpel.html?id=6ncAdKvx
 
Well, 3M says it can be removed easily (using a hair dryer or hot air gun and simply peeling it off) and the installers and film retailers say the same, no matter how old the stuff is. Some anecdotal reports agree, though I think the film's been available for this use for just a few years. 3M has done accelerated life testing, but that's not a watertight guarantee.

I thought about this and eventually decided to use the stuff. Many dealers in this area are offering it on new vehicles, including exotic makes, and I thought the risk was reasonable. If I lived in an extremely hot/sunny climate and kept my vehicle outside, I might think differently. I'd probably just peel a test strip after a couple of years and reinstall, repeating every couple of years to check for damage or different fading.
 

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