I have a few ideas but just looking for feedback on what others put on the front on their utility trailers to keep them from getting rock chips? I just picked up a 24' 14k flatbed that I custom ordered to replace my 20' flatbed. We have some land but it has about 15 miles of gravel roads to get there. I have gatorbacks on my 450 and I have used rock tamers but rocks still find the trailer.

 

Clear Bra

I have it & installed it on several of my vehicles- other companies make a similiar product......Basically, if you can do window tint, you can do this too. It is very, very durable with regards to damage protection, I can personally attest it is almost bullet proof in regards to protecting the paint and panels from damage but paint must be fully cured before application (IMHO, 1 year). On my Mark LT, it went to 2- 3M certified installers 1st, both results were so bad I made them remove every last piece- and ended up doing it myself and ordered a bulk type peice from

I ordered mine (actually for my 2006 Mark LT and others) from...

Star Shield Armor
4315 East Santa Ana Street
Ontario, CA 91761
866-662-4477
626-813-0299

I have used it (and installed myself) it on numerous vehicles of mine. It is particularly effective on the rocker panels and lower "skirts" just aft of the front & rear wheel well openings. On my Mark LT, I had it on the entire nose (front facia, grill surround & 1st 6" of the hood)... driving down the 405 freeway one day near Long Beach, traffic was "flying" (about 80 mph) and this part is a 6 lane freeway (IIRR).... dump trucks were on the slow lane, I was in the far left fast lane, on a curve.....saw a rock about the size of a base ball bounce in a middle lane, bounce up smacking the hood head on..... Given the aluminum hood, I knew what it must have looked like.... continued on my way and when I stopped, and looked....there was zero damage to the paint nor hood...... i couldn't believe it..... the clear bra had a good scuff mark/nick in it, but not eve a dent in the hood.

Here's the bad news about Clear Bra..... IMHO, the paint must be 1 year old or older, if not, there is a good chance that when you remove it it will pull up the paint with it. 2ndly, don't leave it on for more than 5 years.... it will peel off and then you can replace it. When 3m initially marketed this it was you can leave it on as long as you want.....then I got an email at about the 8+ year mark, that if left on for more than 5 years it may damage paint during removal.....

I recently (a few months ago) I decided to remove it because it was starting to show it's age...cracks were starting and thats when you need to get it off.... otherwise it's a nightmare removing all the little fractured pieces.

To this day, 3M does not have any way to effectively remove it and their Tech Support Center is "Useless".... The regional Manager has been waiting for over a month now for a call-back from a tech center chemist........yeah, don't hold your breath! They tried a solution at one time but it dissolved the car paint as well. What I did find that worked for me was to 1st use a garmet steamer and with a plastic putty knife, it will successfully lift it off about 3/8" at a time with no paint damage. For the residual glue (which was either none or thick like a paste), forget just about everything..... I tried 3M adhesive remover, mineral spirits, etc., acetone was the only thing that even slightly dissolved it but was not really effective.... ultimately I used a product called "Rapid Remover" which is used in the vinyl wrap sign industry.... but following the directions didn't work....I applied it to a sponge, allowing it to soak directly on the residue for about 3-5 minutes.... then it came off clean.

Even with my oem paint being 1+ year old before i applied it, I did loose about a 1" diameter paint on the grill surround (plastic) which I pulled off, sanded down and repainted. Because it is new, I will wait at least a year to reapply to it. The front facia I re-applied the film, but IMHO, do not even bother to buy the pre-cut product..... at least on my Mark LT, the fit originally was terrible (as even the installation center instructor could not make it work) and 15 years later, they still didn't modify it and I couldn't make it fit either.

I ended up ordering a piece of bulk material, made my own template and it went on like no problem!

 

I had thought about clearbra( or similar). My trailer is powder coated so I wouldn't think I'd have to wait to install it?

 

Correct!!!!!! so you should be in very good shape!

 

never thought about rock chips on the hauler trailer. its been repainted 2x now since 2008. sun eats the paint up faster than road rash around here