Rebel Yell

UPDATE: The Colgan bra arrived today, and what a difference. The material on the outside is heavier, and the inside is thicker/softer. Overall much much better than the GM bra. It has less connection points, and are placed for the best hold on the car. The padded hooks that go around the lip of the wheel well have S-Hooks on elastic designed to go under the fender, and spoiler to keep the bra from becoming loose between the hooks which was the weakest link in the GM bra. I haven't installed it yet, but will when we take the car on a longer trip. In summary I think (and really hope) this is a much better built bra that will suit anyone that wants heavier protection for the larger projectiles that come at you on the interstates. I use a Colgan bra on the wife's Mustang when it goes on a trip, and it has worked great. BTW, AutoAnything had the best deal because of the free shipping.

I will update this thread again after the first run with the bra.

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We just took our first long road trip in our C7 with the GM front end bra installed at the start from North Carolina. I can say the bra was a failure, and the quality is nowhere near what it was for the C6 bra by GM. Due to the redesign of the front fenders GM used nylon hooks instead of snaps as they did on the C6. There are two pair of nylon clips, one set just above the side maker light and the other set at the bottom of the fender. This is where the trouble begins. The bottom clips will slip up approx. 1/2 inch causing a loose section between the pair of clips, then the flapping motion of the bra will cause the upper clips to move downward approx. 1/8 inch causing more looseness. The right side went south after an approx 400 mile run on I-70 heading to Bowling Green, and the left side bit the bullet on I-65 headed to St. Louis from Bowling Green. Needless to say I suggest you do not buy this bra. I'm sure that Patrick at CULTRAG can help with an appropriate redress of the situation.

The right side:





The left side:

Rooster OG

Wow, that's terrible! I don't use one, but I've heard really good things about the Novistretch if you're still inclined to use one. I hope they fix you up somehow with a refund or at least another bra, lol, not that you'd want one.

Apocolips

That is a shame. I have a GM bra for my 2014, we had it on for a road trip of over 4500 miles with no trouble. We cruised at speeds of over 85 on the interstates in SD and MT. There is a small amount of slack in the area that you mention, but mine did not do what yours did.

dvilin

Epic failure is putting it mildly, that is a shame pay good money and get a crappy product in return. Hopefully you can get some form of compensation, thanks for sharing.

Rebel Yell

I even snugged this thing up on several occasions to no avail.

AORoads

That really looks destroyed. Could it be there was something wrong with the clips to begin with? You probably don't want to try again, but if they will send you a replacement it might be worth the attempt. They are designed, after all, to stop more stuff than the thinner ones. Tell us how it turns out for you.

ron landgraf

I agree, no where the quality of the C6 bra.
Plastic clips in place of studs and snaps, caused chips in paint.
Tabs around head lights....panels fit so close to headlights impossible to insert tabs.
License plate bracket has to be removed in order to install bra.
Quality of the exterior vinyl and inside nap inferior to the C 6 bra.
Shame on GM. They should realize the Corvete community deserves better.

Rebel Yell

All of the above Ron.

I will keep ya'll updated on the outcome. I will be calling CULTRAG tomorrow for a contact number. CULTRAG does not handle warranty claims, they hand you off to the manufacturer.

op z

Same thing happened to me 2 years ago. They supposedly redesigned the bras since then. They may have sold you an old one. I had to go through Chevy customer service for a refund. It was painful and I got less than I paid. Shipping was not reimbursed.

vanlieremead

Ever since my first bra in the early eighties discolored my paint, I have never liked them and really dont think they are that attractive. I go with the clear bra on all my cars.

Scruff Vette

Jeeeez, that's nasty. You should be entitled to a full refund.

rcooper

Looks as though the material was stitched to close to the edge of the cut and the stitching did not catch enough of the material. I am sure that Cultrag will cover that for you.
If you are still going with a bra try Novastretch. I used one on a couple of 22500 mile trips with great success.

nmvettec7

Did the bra create any damage to the paint surface?

sbmike

A couple of people have already mentioned it, but if the bra is not tight, tight to the body, the flapping will most assuredly eat at the paint underneath it. I had that issue with a Nissan 300ZX I owned in another life and swore I would never put another bra on any car I owned. And I haven't. Of course, everyone is entitled to their own preferences on this subject... just passing along my personal experience.

Vetteman Jack

That is really sad to see. Hopefully the product will be covered under a warranty.

bjones7131

I considered this bra because it was a good price on cultrag but found a novastretch on EBAY. Glad I did. Bummer

Dicecal

clear bra

beepster

Rebel Yell

You may be correct, they could have sent the old style. This bra was a failure by design, and I'm quite sure there wasn't much product testing. These style clips just will not stay in place. When I installed the bra I saw there might be a problem, but was hoping the company knew what they were doing. Hopefully they will send the new style as a replacement.

Richard, thankfully it didn't cause any damage.


I just spoke with Patrick at CULTRAG, and sent him the pictures. He is going to contact the manufacturer, and we'll go from there. I'll update the outcome.

Foosh

How much do those things cost? I'm guessing you can have XPEL Ultimate installed on the nose only for $500 or so.

I'm guessing on that price, but I had full nose, full hood, front fenders, rockers and area behind rear wheels done for about $2K.