Front underside scraping
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 125
Likes: 0
From: Manhasset Hills NY
Front underside scraping
Does anybody know what can be purchased or made to prevent the scratches on the underside of the front of the vehicle (primarily from entering/exiting driveways)??
I looked at the FattDaddys/Mommas but those are only for the C5 and C4... I have a 2008/C6.
I also looked at the Rockerpanel and Skidplate, but am not sure exactly if these are the products that will do the job... I have heard that they are not, although they will protect other areas.
Here is a photo of the front of the car with the red arrows pointing to the bottom where the concern is, which I am sure you all know. The red arrows point to the rubber hanging piece which initially scrapes across the ground, but there are other scrapes on the underside of the front as well.... those are mainly my concern.
Thanks!!
I looked at the FattDaddys/Mommas but those are only for the C5 and C4... I have a 2008/C6.
I also looked at the Rockerpanel and Skidplate, but am not sure exactly if these are the products that will do the job... I have heard that they are not, although they will protect other areas.
Here is a photo of the front of the car with the red arrows pointing to the bottom where the concern is, which I am sure you all know. The red arrows point to the rubber hanging piece which initially scrapes across the ground, but there are other scrapes on the underside of the front as well.... those are mainly my concern.
Thanks!!
Race Director
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 12,198
Likes: 15
From: Columbia MD
An SUV.
The airdam is made of rubber for that reason. Scraping will not affect its purpose, just looks like crap. Slowing down and entering an incline at an angle will reduce scrapage. They make "frame rail wheels" for the front frame rails but these are designed to allow the front end (under the bumper) to ride up over concrete parking blocks rather than scraping the underside of the bumper.
The airdam is made of rubber for that reason. Scraping will not affect its purpose, just looks like crap. Slowing down and entering an incline at an angle will reduce scrapage. They make "frame rail wheels" for the front frame rails but these are designed to allow the front end (under the bumper) to ride up over concrete parking blocks rather than scraping the underside of the bumper.
Last edited by vetdude; Nov 16, 2007 at 01:32 PM.
Safety Car
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 4,939
Likes: 448
From: CHOCOWINITY NC
We all scrape.You can raise the car on the suspension using the spring adjuster bolts but you'd eliminate part of the front to rear Rake that is integral to high speed stability.
Others who don't care about such things have done it though..
Last edited by Modshack; Nov 16, 2007 at 01:41 PM.
Safety Car
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 4,269
Likes: 4
From: Mililani HI
That airdam is under the car so unless someone lies down and looks under your car they won't see it, look at how low that airdam is it will touch no matter what you do. The smart thing is that GM made it easy to replace and it is cheap.
Now on the other hand you could have a ZO6 and scrap the front spoiler lip...ouch.
Now on the other hand you could have a ZO6 and scrap the front spoiler lip...ouch.
Night Race Blue 427
Joined: Feb 1999
Posts: 19,794
Likes: 6
From: Muncie, Indiana ...... Can I buy an amplifier on time ... I ani't got no money now but I'll pay you before I die
If you have scrapes on the underside of the bumper and not just the air dam that is usually caused by pulling up on wheel stops when parking. In that case you need to get use to not pulling up so far.
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Racer
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 267
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From: Norwalk CT
Burning Brakes
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 787
Likes: 1
From: East of SF Ca.
I am kind of surprised your 08 is giving you fits on "scrapeing" on the air dam
My C5 scrapped on everything and you just had to deal with it
My 08 because the nose of the car is shorter does not scrape near as much, Boy I can't wait to lower this puppy
Dan
Last edited by DAYCRZ; Nov 16, 2007 at 07:44 PM.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 3,488
Likes: 27
From: Long Island NY
I've raised my car almost 3/4", kept rake the same, car is still dead solid and handles beautifully at 120mph (after an alignment).
I also found that in my daily routine travels, the raising has reduced air dam scraping by easily over 75%... I went from hearing scraping quite regularly to now rarely hearing it at all (except in "extreme" cases of course such as steep driveway entrances, tall speed bumps, etc.)
As others have said, you do not even see the air dam anyway, plus it was DESIGNED to be scraped often, etc... so don't worry about it... or raise the car.
I never really minded the air dam scraping in general, I raised my car mainly to keep from encountering serious damage (breaking radiator supports or worse) due to road irregularities, road debri, construction areas, ferry ramps, unpaved parking areas, etc... but the raise ALSO eliminated air dam scrapage when entering / leaving my own driveway, a nice plus... because I hated making that scrape noise all the time in front of my house, especially late at night, I'm sure the neighbors did not like it... but no longer a problem.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 3,365
Likes: 1
From: Oklahoma City
RPI Designs makes a wheel kit to help reduce the scraping, but I can't vouch for how effective it is or how good the company is... just don't know...
http://www.rpidesigns.com/shop/item.asp?itemid=596
http://www.rpidesigns.com/shop/item.asp?itemid=596
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 5,611
Likes: 5
From: Thousand Oaks California
I purchased some 1/2" wide body side molding at PEP Boys, cut to length and installed longitudinally at about 1' intervals across the lower part of the front fascia. The molding are not visable from standing heigth.
