Pauli

My TL-S is less than two weeks old. It seems that people here are saying that they scratch the paint. Should I remove mine ASAP?

GrAnItE32

Who says that they scratch the car?? Those r supposed to prevent road debris and water from hittin the sides of ur car..They dont scratch they protect...Who ever said that they scratch must b a dumb*ss..!

DaBeerSnob

I've had mine on since I got the car in May 2001. No scratching or damage yet.

DaBeerSnob
2002 Aegean Blue Type-s

NSXNEXT

iTrader: (2)

Hey newbie, you be the dumbass b!tch.

They most certainly do scratch the paint. They dig into the paint on the side of the car where they hit the fender.

Search the forum and you'll see pics of the damage they cause.

Welcome to A-tl.com :flamer:

NSXNEXT

iTrader: (2)

You might want to pull the mud guard away from the side of the fender and see what the damage is. I don't know of anyone that hasn't had damage. They basically rub against the paint.

this is me

hahaha!!
you will regret saying that.
I think you should search before calling anyone here a dumba$$.

this is me

Damn you beat NSXNEXT!!

this is me

Yes Pauli,
remove it as soon as you can. I'm sure someday you will want a bodykit on your car.
I spend hours and hours trying to buff it out and there's still little marks on the front.
i've tried, paintscrub, scratch x, bug and tar remover, and whatnot but the marks still visible when looking up close.

copland007

http://www.acura-tl.com/forum/showth...t=splash+guard

Doh!


BTW - Welcome to the Boards, good to see another Mass peep!

vperkins2

Just adding my $.02 cents here...
Here's the scoop: If you think you'll want a body kit installed sometime, then you'll find out that mud guards and a kit are mutually exclusive (can have one or the other, not both). When you remove the mud guards to install the kit you'll find out that they've been scratching your paint *behind* where they were attached. However, now that you've removed them for the kit, the scratches are easily visible.

That's why people are saying to remove your mud guards as soon as possible if you are considering a body kit.

Got it?

V.

GrAnItE32

If some of u were smart u would take off the mud guards and put double sided tape on the parts of the guards that contact the body of the car....Its a lil common sense that helps if u would kno!

thx2249

That would have been a good idea. A friend also suggested putting a tiny bead of silicon along the edge to prevent the guards from rubbing against the car. I ended up taking the mud guards off this past week and unfortunately I took them off too late I'm gonna have to try buffing some of the scratches out when it gets warmer.

My only problem now is I get mud and crap kicked up along the side of the car. Give and take I suppose. Was thinking about getting some cheap flat mud guards like that other guy on this form did to go along with the mud guards.

Pauli

Thanks for the info guys. This looks like a pretty good tip. I don't plan on installing a body kit at all (I'm a stock kind of guy), so maybe I'll just try to prevent the mud guards from scratching up the paint and reinstall them.

2003 tl-s

Given all this talk about scratches, I took a look at my factory mud guards last night. One question: how do you remove them? Obviously, you unscrew the screws, but the space between the tire and the screw is pretty small. I have a set of those small stubby screwdrivers (less than 3" total length but full size heads), and even those are too long to get past the tire. Do you have to remove the wheel to remove all the screws? Also, after you remove the mud guards, do you just rescrew the screws back into the holes? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

this is me

if you cant find an "L" shape screw driver, you have to take the wheels off( for the back). for the front, just turn your wheel all the way the left or to the right for each side of the wheel.
Yes, if you're not putting the bodykit at the same time, then you'll have to rescrew it back.

2003 tl-s

Thanks for the tip. I will buy a set of "L" shaped screw drivers to do the job because it is a lot easier than taking off the rear wheels.

tdoh

By that reasoning, those people with body kits should remove them 'cuz surely they'll leave marks on the paint too...

Sheesh--what kind of damage will mud guards do to the paint that you can't even see anyway unless you remove them?

In any case, if you're that concerned about the damage they'll do, then a little preventive maintenance like what someone else here described should take care of that.