Car Care: @#)$(*!% Curb rash...

[FlasherZ]

Car Care: @#)$(*!% Curb rash.....

Going into a parking garage today I managed to scrape my left rear against a curb, scarring the edge. It's not horrible but it shows a bit of the metal instead of the paint now. Is there a preferred "do-it-yourself" fix for this type of scrape, like perhaps a light sanding with wet paper and matching paint? Or will a detailer fix this fairly easily?

 

[contaygious]

Service center can fix for pretty cheap. Any tips for us to avoid doing that? Could you not see in the camera?

 

[Jason S]

I've looked it up and the instructions are basically:
1) sand down rough spots (80 then 200 then 400), use putty to fill in holes
2) clean area thoroughly
3) cover everything you don't want paint on (entire car)
4) paint the rash

The cover entire car seems to be from experience; apparently the spray paint gets everywhere.

 

[Sig698]

What color is it? Black shouldn't be too hard, but the Pearl or Red may stand out if you are not experienced and may require a shop.

I believe his curb rash is on his left rear wheel, not the body of the car.

 

[DrDave]

I believe his curb rash is on his left rear wheel, not the body of the car.

My bad, misunderstood comment, thanks.

Question deleted.

 

[Ceilidh]

They make wheel rapair putty if the gouge is deep. It can be painted over, I believe.

Although most love the fanblades, the 19" wheels would be much less prone to this, just for those who haven't locked in a reservation yet.

Hope it comes out ok, and now you can stop worrying about that first scratch.

Cheers

 

[FlasherZ]

Service center can fix for pretty cheap. Any tips for us to avoid doing that? Could you not see in the camera?

Misjudged the curb. I was pulling into the parking garage here at the hospital and the entrance lane splits into three -- I took the left lane and didn't get far enough forward before turning... it's a tight fit to keep the front end from hitting the parking ticket machine while protecting the back wheel.

 

[neroden]

Sigh. I already have a nasty bad habit of scraping curbs in the last three cars I had.

I'm going to have to take the Model S out to an empty lot and practice parking for a while, or I'm going to do this on the first day.

 

[Alfafoxtrot1]

Flash - I feel your pain. For general knowledge, there are services that buff rash off wheels. "My friend," paid $150 to clean up the wheels on his Acura.

 

[dsm363]

Misjudged the curb. I was pulling into the parking garage here at the hospital and the entrance lane splits into three -- I took the left lane and didn't get far enough forward before turning... it's a tight fit to keep the front end from hitting the parking ticket machine while protecting the back wheel.

Me too almost immediately after I got the car. Oh well, it's barely noticeable as well so I might not even fix it.

 

[Lloyd]

Jerry,

Are there any tires available that would provide better protection to the wheels? Aren't there some that are designed with a lip to provide some additional protection?

 

[Liz G]

Sigh. I already have a nasty bad habit of scraping curbs in the last three cars I had.

I'm going to have to take the Model S out to an empty lot and practice parking for a while, or I'm going to do this on the first day.

Guess you'll be asking Santa for some of those orange cones to practice with. :biggrin:

 

[jerry33]

Are there any tires available that would provide better protection to the wheels? Aren't there some that are designed with a lip to provide some additional protection?

For some cars (such as the older Mercedes with the dome hub caps), special tires were made by many manufacturers that had a bump in the middle of the sidewall to keep the hub cap from scraping.

Some tires in some sizes have a rim guard. Even for those tires that have this feature, effectiveness varies. The absolutely sure-fire protection solution are plastic beauty rings (of course they're ugly, otherwise they wouldn't need to call them beauty rings.)

 

[Sig698]

I got some alloy gators for xmas this year and just managed to install them. You can buy them online at Alloy Wheel Repairs, Protection, Refurbishment, Cleaning & Polishing. The install involved a lot of HEAVY hammering; it's not as easy as the video on their site makes it look, but I'm really happy with the end result. The plastic is VERY tough and I can easily imagine it protecting the wheel from curbs, and it doesn't stand out much against my performance wheels other than giving a subtle flared look. So far, so good, and seems like a good solution to protect our precious wheels.

 

[setritt]

can you take a picture of the car from further away?

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

Those gators seem like a great idea!

 

[ElSupreme]

For some cars (such as the older Mercedes with the dome hub caps), special tires were made by many manufacturers that had a bump in the middle of the sidewall to keep the hub cap from scraping.

Some tires in some sizes have a rim guard. Even for those tires that have this feature, effectiveness varies. The absolutely sure-fire protection solution are plastic beauty rings (of course they're ugly, otherwise they wouldn't need to call them beauty rings.)

View attachment 12175

My Maxxis MA-Z1 Victras (on my GTI) had this. I don't ever recall using them. They looked like they would work.

I traded my car in and was specifically asked if I swapped the rims before trading them because they were practically perfect still after 116,000 miles. Sorry I had to brag a little about keeping my rims scratch free, I worked hard to keep them that way.

I only touched a curb once, after I got out of a Chic-Fil-A drive through (I almost never drive through) they gave me the wrong thing and I quickly pulled into the last parking spot before I drove out and just barely got my drivers rear rim). It wasn't really visible after a couple of days. And really hard to find after I rotated my tires.

 

[Jeeps17]

Looks good, would appreciate more pics if possible.

If the hammering is that intense, what did you use to protect your rims from your blows?

 

[kishdude]

Those gators seem cool. Seems you have to jack the car to install them. What jack did you use? How long did the whole process take?

 

[Sig698]

Looks good, would appreciate more pics if possible.

If the hammering is that intense, what did you use to protect your rims from your blows?

I'll try to remember to take more pics after work. For the hammering, I just used a rubber mallet and a dead blow hammer, neither left any marks on the wheels (just don't hit the body of the car!)

- - - Updated - - -

Those gators seem cool. Seems you have to jack the car to install them. What jack did you use? How long did the whole process take?

I did have to jack the car. I just used my 2 ton floor jack that I already had with no issues at all. The whole process probably took about 2.5 hours, and that was with a bit of a learning curve. It took me quite a while to figure out that I had to trim them, even though they're made to fit 21" wheels. Once that was figured out it went fairly quickly. The rears were tricky because I was unable to put the car in neutral without the parking brake engaged, so I just did them while they were locked in their position (not being able to turn). It was annoying, but not really a big problem.