go4heat

what kind of aluminum is the trim on our 2k4 TLs??? satin, brushed, anodized, polished? and what is the difference?

the reason i am asking is because im looking into getting aftermarket shifter knob and/or pedals...has anyone done this yet? pics?

savageTL

It is really none of the above, it has a texture/pattern, a very small cross hatch...kinda. I would say brushed would look the best and would wear better than the rest in these applications.

Anodizing is a coating usually used to change the color, polished is well polished, the best way I can think to describe satin is polished but with a matte finish, brushed has small homogeneous scratches on the surface, which sounds far worse than it looks. Since these finishes will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer I would suggest looking at each against the trim and deciding what you think since none will be a perfect match.

Vandy

TLGator

Ours is cheap shit. That would, in fact, be the technical term. It explains why, when you tap the aluminum with the seat buckle, it dents. When you stare at the aluminum, it dents. When you are lying in your bed at night and you think a bad thought about the aluminum, it dents.

GaleForce

LMAO, denting bastard. I like it though. /shrug

go4heat

ok i know wut u mean, im talking about the other aluminum trim though, i know that freckled stuff doesnt really have a name. if you look at the aluminum trim of the shifter, the button on the hand brake, or the aluminum trim on the steering wheel, thats what im talking about. it seems to me like polished, but im not quite sure.

KJSmitty

OK, I laughed at that.. :clown:

Maybe thats why my EL-42's vibration keeps changing in severity, some days bad some days good.. I lay in bed at night bad mouthing them in my head...

Shoot2Thrill

Not sure exactly which parts you are talking but if it dents it may well be aluminum or a thin metal nickel plated. Aluminum if it is, most likely anodized which is a electrochemical surface treatment which can be clear to black in color. There are various grades of anodize also. Aluminum without surface treatment such as anodize, iridite or paint will oxide and lose it appearance. Plastics can also be plated. ABS is a very common plastic that plated. ABS is fairly tough at moderate temperatures and when plated can look like metal.

GaleForce

Hey... lets agree its better than plastic.

nking54580

Okay, by no means am I defending Acura in regards to the aluminum and knowing how they tend to cut cost by lowering quality here and there. However, I don't think any of us are expects on aluminum in here. Does it dent becuase its a more soft aluminum, hollow and not solid etc? Lets take gold for instance. 24K is better than 14K and is SOFTER meaning that it can be dented more easily. So who's to say how good the quality of the aluminum really is.

cM3go

learn how to put your seatbelt on properly! mine is dent free

nking54580

man, I was thinking the same thing. lol I have no dents either.

Shoot2Thrill

Actually less expensive grades of aluminum such as 2024 versus 7075 have better physical properties. Plastic is not necessary bad or less expensive. Since it really serves no function, I think a piece of leather or pleather would look better in the interior than a lot of the trim. In this case, I can see how it could get dented and IMHO is a minor design oversite since it is only cosmetic.

GaleForce

Of course its cosmetic. If we wanted some super durable interior why not coat the whole thing in rubber? Just don't be wreckless inside of your car. The inside looks a lot nicer than leather or pleather in place of the aluminum.

ck37

The aluminum is too soft compared to other companies that use it in their cars. I am having mine replaced because of all the seatbelt dings and simply dropping a pen dinged it. My Service advisor told me that the techs from Acura are aware of the problem and there might be a fix or something of a replacement Aluminum down the road.

Same thing happened with my X5. The plastic would flake off on the door handles and center consol area. BMW rectified it by having new handles built that look exactly the same but fixed the flaking issue.

More than likely it will be one of those things " don't replace it unless there is a complaint" kind of Scenario.

Shoot2Thrill

I have no axe to grind on the styling. My point is it came about because some designer thought it would look technical and enhance the styling. However, when you look at from an engineering perspective you have this "metal part" that serves no functional purpose and adds cost. I realize they could injection mold the entire interior for pennies. My point is in you make a cosmetic part it would be nice to design it robust enough to take some abuse. I don't know of another car that has metal in this location so like all new styling tweaks there is a learning curve.

gregory28

In my opinion, the aluminum trim is the worst part of the interior. It scratches and dents easily. They could've used a more durable material if they wanted to have this sort of contemporary look. I'd prefer to have more of the fake wood that's in the doors of parchment/camel interiors. It's certainly more durable than the aluminum strips and looks better.

me1abPSU

Hardness is the mechanical property measured to give a qualitative list of how certain metals perform against localized plastic deformation. A Brinell hardness number for aluminum could be anywhere from 21-43 depending on the manufacturing. The Brinell hardness of let's say 1020 CR steel is 121.

How can you change hardness (let the jokes begin)? Increase the impurities in the metal (this is why 14k gold is stronger than 24k), cold work the metal (like when they bang on a sword on an anvil and dip it in water), case harden it by introducing impurities in the surface leaving the exterior hard and the interior soft, or heat it up and rapidly cool it to create thermal surface stresses...the list goes on...some methods can't be used on aluminum though.

And for anyone in here who is thinking about heating your aluminum trim up inside your oven (if you can get it removed) and dropping it in the tub? DON'T. Aluminum that isn't designed for thermal applications has a pretty high coefficient of thermal expansion. Therefore, you'll warp the &*#@ out of the stuff. And if there are any other MEs in here, feel free to flame.

pearltl

hhmmmmmm

MadMen

Umm....... To answer the original question - It's brushed......... :\

Shoot2Thrill

the boys got all book learning, maybe they could have just made it thicker. It most likely anodized clear after a brushed finish. Did not the Maxima have a Titanium edition?

Xpditor

At least it's real aluminum and not the spray painted plastic that many cars, including the G35, have. It seems nearly every car has the "aluminum and carbon fiber" techno look. It's very trendy but I don't like it. I'm more of a leather/rare wood guy. Nobody does that quite as well as the English.

XP

Xpditor

Have you noticed how COLD that aluminum strip on the console gets? I think it's part of the cooling system. :think:

jonro

I'm with you, but I like the wood/aluminum combination. I don't know whether Acura is using pure aluminum or an aluminum alloy, but several alloys can harden AL against scratches.

TLJohn

Mine has a small scratch and one or two dings. After reading this thread I guess the dings are from the seatbelt. Did you get the dealer to replace the trim under warranty? If not, how much are the parts?

ck37

The cost is around $80.00 I believe per strip. Don't quote me on that though.
I don't think I can get it covered under warranty. But it's something that should be. This should not be happening. Aluminum is not the strongest metal but this stuff is not really acceptable. My dealer told me they have had to replace quite a few already. Some upon delivery.

Shoot2Thrill

Walked over to dealer at lunch to take a look. It's cross hatched material, could be aluminum, most likely. The cross hatching is done by chem etch or laser. The material is then cut and stamped to size. Clear Anodized after that.

andy_viet

My Al. trims not only have dents on it. It melts during the hot day and burn my right leg. So, I am planning to take all the trims off and install those "Al. painted plastic" trim that the G35 use.

PoochaKannInc

Personally I like the "real" feeling aluminum trim unlike the crap I see in the G or the Max. I don't have dings near the seat belt because I'm careful about that.

What I'm not careful about though is pulling the seatbelt because every time I do it, I scratch the panel next to the seat. That pisses me off, but I don't think that Acura should cover that. It's annoying, and down right not user-friendly, but I should take more care when I'm putting my belt on...

Tecworld

Aluminum would dent front the seat belt buckle no matter what grade it is, aluminum is chemically softer than steel.