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I have been enjoying the hell out of my C6 for almost a month. However, my driveway is killing the bottom of the front bumper. I've tried entering/exiting the driveway at an angle, and it helps, but it still getting a scratched bottom bumper no matter what I do. A buddy of mine just suggested these Front Skid Plate Wheels by West Coast Corvette.
Does anybody have experience with them? Are they worth buying? Any other suggestions??
Many thanks in advance.
I have been enjoying the hell out of my C6 for almost a month. However, my driveway is killing the bottom of the front bumper. I've tried entering/exiting the driveway at an angle, and it helps, but it still getting a scratched bottom bumper no matter what I do. A buddy of mine just suggested these Front Skid Plate Wheels by West Coast Corvette.
Does anybody have experience with them? Are they worth buying? Any other suggestions??
Many thanks in advance.
Change your driveway paving. My wife and I had to fix a divet in the concrete, and added asphalt into a rut. We would have done more than that, if there was not already a bunch of concrete added years ago to change the angle from the street to the drive. This was still not as much as I did when she bought a brand new Mustang GT-CS back in 2014: I built and entire new garage for it as quick as I could ... in July.
If you back into driveway it makes quite a difference and may not touch
Thanks for the reply.
I thought about this too, but Because of a number of resons, I have to park in the right side of my garage. If I back into the garage, I will not be able to open the door and exit the car. Lol.
Change your driveway paving. My wife and I had to fix a divet in the concrete, and added asphalt into a rut. We would have done more than that, if there was not already a bunch of concrete added years ago to change the angle from the street to the drive. This was still not as much as I did when she bought a brand new Mustang GT-CS back in 2014: I built and entire new garage for it as quick as I could ... in July.
Thanks for the reply.
haha this is why I was asking about these wheels, because their price/install would be a lot cheaper and easier than redoing the driveway... or building a new garage!!! Lol
Looks like things attach to your radiator supports. Those supports are not that strong and adding wheels to them implies that at some point they will be supporting the entire car for a foot or so. Not a good idea if you ask me. They are also lowering the point which the ground will impact the supports. Easy enough to snap those things without using them to support the car. I would rather have scrapes where nobody can see them than having to replace the radiator support bracket.
Looks like things attach to your radiator supports. Those supports are not that strong and adding wheels to them implies that at some point they will be supporting the entire car for a foot or so. Not a good idea if you ask me. They are also lowering the point which the ground will impact the supports.
ok, Thanks! I was wondering where they attached to the car. I may be better off living with the existing hard to see scratches under the car than risking messing up with the radiator supports.
I have had very good results with the "Fangs" that SacCityCorvette.com sells. They are a vendor here and the "Fangs" fasten on to the radiator supports making them very slippery as they scrape something. In the past week I felt them ride up on, and help the Corvette ride over a bump that would normally made me cringe!!
I have had very good results with the "Fangs" that SacCityCorvette.com sells. They are a vendor here and the "Fangs" fasten on to the radiator supports making them very slippery as they scrape something. In the past week I felt them ride up on, and help the Corvette ride over a bump that would normally made me cringe!!
I have had very good results with the "Fangs" that SacCityCorvette.com sells. They are a vendor here and the "Fangs" fasten on to the radiator supports making them very slippery as they scrape something. In the past week I felt them ride up on, and help the Corvette ride over a bump that would normally made me cringe!!
Are you scraping the radiator supports, or just the bottom of the valance/spoiler? If it is just the spoiler, don't worry about it. It is plastic, and will not be hurt by the scraping, other than a slight feathering on the edge that is hardly noticeable. If it is the radiator supports, then you do want to try some of the fixes listed by others, especially angling your approach, if possible.
Ok, thanks for the responses.
I just got under the car and noticed that the plastic under the nose, around the spoiler, is scratched. I also noticed that the radiator supports are VERY scratched. Part of my problem now is that I can't tell which scratches are mine and which ones were made by the previous owner. My plan now is to move the car to the edge of the driveway and try to see what part is actually rubbing against the pavement. If it's the radiator supports that are touching the ground, then I will look into those "Fangs" as See5See6 suggested. If It's the plastic next to the spoiler, I will try to enter the driveway from the North instead of the South as I do now. Hopefully the different angle will help.
your suggestions have given me a couple of things to look for as well as more options. Many thanks!
I will let you know what I find out and what I do about it.
...lowering the point which the ground will impact the supports...
I completely agree. Even the fangs will reduce the clearance a little. The time or two my rad supports scraped trust me, there was no stickiness, it slid right over it. As far as the fangs covering existing scratches...would you put on sheepskin seat covers to hide upholstery wear? Nah.
Spray some black paint on the radiator supports, this can tell you if you are scraping the support or not. It will scrape the new paint away.
For the underside of the bumper I used some blue painters take to see if I was scraping the bottom of the bumper or just the plastic front splitter.
I have a pretty tricky driveway as well. Not only steep but a narrow entrance, I have to come in from North side or else I can't get in. But with a little work I was able to finally get a feel for the correct angel to use where I no longer scrape anything at all most of the time.
Looks like things attach to your radiator supports. Those supports are not that strong and adding wheels to them implies that at some point they will be supporting the entire car for a foot or so. Not a good idea if you ask me. They are also lowering the point which the ground will impact the supports. Easy enough to snap those things without using them to support the car. I would rather have scrapes where nobody can see them than having to replace the radiator support bracket.
I agree 100%. if it's the bumper directly, then you might have a concern. if it's the lower radiator support, that would be a bigger concern.
if it's the air dam, no worries, that's why their flexible ( center section ). the outer sections, while not as flexible are at least attached in a way that lets them flex upon contact. as they appear to made from polyethylene, this is a great material for abrasion resistance.
Search "curb ramps." This might be a solution for you. NOTE: This is only a random image I found on the internet. I don't have it or have any experience with it.
I completely agree. Even the fangs will reduce the clearance a little. The time or two my rad supports scraped trust me, there was no stickiness, it slid right over it. As far as the fangs covering existing scratches...would you put on sheepskin seat covers to hide upholstery wear? Nah.
My thoughts regarding the fangs were about installing them to prevent additional damage, if they are the ones touching the ground. They are not visible under normal circumstances so I wont try to cover them just for the sake of covering them.
Spray some black paint on the radiator supports, this can tell you if you are scraping the support or not. It will scrape the new paint away.
For the underside of the bumper I used some blue painters take to see if I was scraping the bottom of the bumper or just the plastic front splitter.
I have a pretty tricky driveway as well. Not only steep but a narrow entrance, I have to come in from North side or else I can't get in. But with a little work I was able to finally get a feel for the correct angel to use where I no longer scrape anything at all most of the time.
Thanks. I like your idea. Will do the paint and tape to figure out whats rubbing against the ground. It beats the hell out of my wife moving the car up and down while im on all four next to it... lol
My thoughts regarding the fangs were about installing them to prevent additional damage, if they are the ones touching the ground. They are not visible under normal circumstances so I wont try to cover them just for the sake of covering them.
Hi Joe,
The Fangs are more then just a cover, they help prevent the lower radiator support from breaking and the skid bars from denting. They are made of a high tech plastic that acts like a bearing surface allowing the Skid Plate to slide over parking blocks, etc. instead of the soft Aluminum digging in and getting traction causing the Skid Plate/Lower Radiator Support to break. Being only 1/8" thick, there is no noticeable ground clearance loss. Here is a link with more info and videos. http://www.saccitycorvette.com/C6-Fangs.html Thank you,
Christian
07-19-2018, 02:18 PM
Front skid plate wheels
