Serious Paint Chip Issues!!!

[sschu600]

994 miles on the new truck (with BFG tires) and I have 3 MAJOR paint chips. I have not put front mud flaps on yet, but I 'm gonna have to if I don't want it to be primer gray soon! I have driven down no more than 5 miles of gravel roads!!! Is this what I can expect from the paint for the life of the truck?:{



My weekly activities demand that I drive down gravels. My parents and most of my friends live on gravel. My favorite fishing hole is only accessible by gravel. I have never had a vehicle with such major damage caused by gravel, EVER... . and this is in less than 1K miles. Any similar events? Any suggestions? Any HELP?!?



My dealer is about to hear an ear full!:-{} #@$%!

 

[CumminsBu]

I'm going to have my rocker panels Line-x when I have the time.

http://www.dieseltruckresource.com/pics/showphoto.php/photo/1894/password//sort/1/cat/500/page/1



Pretty Sweet

 

[sschu600]

I thought about that as I just resently had my bed sprayed with Superliner (great stuff, Silver), but hell, one of my chips is just below the passenger mirror. I guess I can spray the whole truck.

 

[Casey Balvert]

Running boards!!!! My black truck was showing paint chips within days. And I was not running on gravel like you are. Unfortunately since I bought one of the first new gen trucks running boards were not available for it. I chose my roads carefully until I was able to get them installed about six months later. While not totally immune to chips now, it sure did help.



Casey

 

[HENCHR]

My house has about a 200 foot long gravel driveway so I know what you mean about the chips, I only have about 1400 miles now and about 20 to 30 chips on the lower panels, mostly towards the very front. The BFG tires pick up every stone in their large grooves. I'm gonna try the mopar mud flaps and if that doesn't work I'm just gonna live with it, it is a truck after all and I don't expect the paint to stay perfect. Your dealer is only gonna laugh at you when you complain about the chips, they are not gonna do a thing except tell you to stay away from the gravel.

 

[nickleinonen]

yeah, i got a good amount of rock chips on the rockers... and i don't drive on gravel roads often. the paint on my truck is wet toilet paper thin... i was washing it a while back, and the hose touched the drivers door and it left a scratch

 

[DPelletier]

A common problem, unfortunately. Like Casey said, if you want to protect the paint from rock chips, install running boards. Mine are fairly unoffensive. Check my pics in Readers Rigs.



Dave

 

[RankRam]

Zero chips on mine, I just turned 19k miles.



Check my pics in readers rig gallery to see what I did to fight our crappy paint problem.

 

[Jengle]

I got a ton of chips on mine. I ordered the NW Customs, but to keep the chips down until they came in, I bought a cheap set of plastic flaps to hold me until the good ones came in. I have the Michelins and they are rock throwers too.

 

[JARichard]

You know what is FUNNY. When i wrecked my truck in APRIL. The dealer that did the body work sprayed all the rocker panels again and guaranteed it would never chip as bad as the factory job. He said they skimp on hardener to make a BUCK. Finally, A dealer that spoke the truth.

 

[PJ]

Welcome to the world of the 3rd gen Dodge! My truck had countless rocker chips within the first 500 miles on PAVED ROADS! Don't bother to waste your time trying to get the dealer to make it right. They don't care. They will in fact take your money for the Dodge mud flaps. I bought a set of 4 and it almost stopped the problem. I still get the chips everywhere else! Ive takem care of the ones that looked really bad with a bottle of touch up and you can hardly see them now. . Good luck. .

 

[Bertram65]

Mine hardly has any chips at all, just washed and waxed it last weekend, I was surprised, almost 15K miles. I have 315s on the truck with the factory molded mud flaps. Perhaps some colors are worse than others.

 

[sschu600]

Thanks for all the info.



Anybody played with the tire pressure to decrease the number of chips? I don't tow all the time so changing when I tow is not a problem(small price to pay for less chips). Just wandering?

 

[sschu600]

BTW, NO vehicle should have as many or as large rock chips as mine does in less than 1K miles. The first one happened in less than 100 miles!



I am stubborn so my dealer will at least HEAR about. #@$%!

 

[DaveMorris]

If you are any where near STL MO, i have a solution for you. My buddy installs UltraShield protection (that clear film). He did my entire lower side from the door guard strip down to the pinch seam (after I touched up all the chips)... that was at 5K, I now have 14K on the truck and haven't damaged the film (or the paint) yet... If you are anywhere close you are welcome to stop by and look at the job he did and I will give you a contact number.



Dave

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

Face it, NOTHING other than serious coatings such as the Line-X stuff mentioned above will satisfactorilly deflect a good sized rock hurled at 60 MPH or so onto your sheetmetal - the problem is NOT so much the paint quality, it's POOR BODY DESIGN that allows the lower panel sheetmetal to curve in and behind the tires where it gets LOTS of exposure to flying road debris.



I had exactly the same problem with my Corvette and the Camaro - all for the same reason!



Blame the designers at DC for designing a WORK truck used often in off-road situations, and not providing reasonable and proper protection for exterior body panels. THere's a saying relative to "form over function", which means that if you design or buy strictly for appearance, you MIGHT have a price to pay when it comes to performance in adverse circumstances!

 

[stick]

Gary, I don,t agree with the " NOTHING" statement. My truck has almost 25,000 miles and not one paint chip! I drive almost 10 miles of gravel everyday, and another 30 miles of blacktop to work. I have the stock BFG's and they do throw rocks. I had the 3m paint protection film put on my rocker panels right after I got the truck, and this stuff works!



Stick

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

Gary, I don,t agree with the " NOTHING" statement



UMMMmmm - you must not have read the WHOLE paragraph:



NOTHING other than serious coatings such as the Line-X stuff mentioned above will satisfactorilly deflect a good sized rock hurled at 60 MPH or so onto your sheetmetal



That is, unless you don't consider the 3M stuff a "serious" coating...

 

[sschu600]

I will consider the coating if the price is right. Any info on price?



Anybody have any views on tire pressure?

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

In this area, the Line-X stuff ain't cheap - I was quoted $800 to do lower body panels - so I went with a spray-on rubber material I bought for under $20, and did my own...



Guys in other parts of the country have been quoted as low as $200 for a Line-X type application - wish we could get it for that around here - tho' my spray-on stuff is doing fine...



AS far as tire pressure is concerned, I'm all for it...