REVIEW: Hybrid Effects Wheel Skirts

[TheForce]

I found a small issue with the skirts. Long time exposure to rocks will chip away at the paint in the front lower corner of each skirt.




My solution to this small issue is to touch up the affected area with touch up paint then put a 3"x3" square piece of clear plastic over this area. Kind of like a small clear bra for the wheel skirt. I guess you would call it a clear thong.

When the temps warm up I will paint them and apply some left over clear bra material that I have laying around.

I will report back when that project is finished.

I will pass this tip along to Hybrid Effects to make a better product.

[josh2008]

TheForce,

Hello, were you able to tell a difference in aerodynamics/efficiency after installing the rear wheel skirts?

Thanks,
Josh

[CharlesJ]

Originally Posted by TheForce

I found a small issue with the skirts. Long time exposure to rocks will chip away at the paint in the front lower corner of each skirt.




My solution to this small issue is to touch up the affected area with touch up paint then put a 3"x3" square piece of clear plastic over this area. Kind of like a small clear bra for the wheel skirt. I guess you would call it a clear thong.

When the temps warm up I will paint them and apply some left over clear bra material that I have laying around.

I will report back when that project is finished.

I will pass this tip along to Hybrid Effects to make a better product.

Just a thought: if there is a clear patter to the rock damage area, may wan to round off that inner corner of that clear sheet. I think that might look better than a corner. even is it will be hard to see just up close.

[Rokeby]

Originally Posted by TheForce

I found a small issue with the skirts. Long time exposure to rocks will
chip away at the paint in the front lower corner of each skirt...

My solution to this small issue is to touch up the affected area with
touch up paint then put a 3"x3" square piece of clear plastic over this
area. Kind of like a small clear bra for the wheel skirt...

The Force,

Thanks for the update.

I stared my wheel skirt project back in the fall but was overaken by
cold weather. I've modded the skirts to a "three-quarter length:"

http://priuschat.com/forums/attachme...h-img_0008.jpg

(Not yet painted -- color is duct tape -- or permanently mounted, note
the "kick stand" positioning the skirt.)

From your picture, it looks like I won't be seeing as much of he
chipping as you have. Nonetheless, it looks like a clear plastic overlay
will be a good idea.

Hurry up springtime and warmer weather so I can complete this
project!

[TheForce]

Originally Posted by josh2008

TheForce,

Hello, were you able to tell a difference in aerodynamics/efficiency after installing the rear wheel skirts?

Thanks,
Josh

No.

Originally Posted by CharlesJ

Just a thought: if there is a clear patter to the rock damage area, may wan to round off that inner corner of that clear sheet. I think that might look better than a corner. even is it will be hard to see just up close.

I plan on not making it a true 3x3 square. I plan on rounding or tapering it down some how. Maybe more like a triangle. I just wont know until I go try it.

Rokeby it looks like you will have less surface area down there but it looks like your still in the chip zone. Go ahead and put some protecting down there just to be on the safe side.

[TheForce]

Well I got done fixing the chipped areas on the skirts Thursday.

What I did was clean them really well and applied 3 thick coats of touch up paint to the deep areas. Then I applied a coat of paint to the triangle area that was pitted. I did this all with the small brush and it looks just fine. You have to be really close to tell it was brushed on. Plus the protective 3M clear bra material helps hide it. I used some spare 3M clear bra material I had left over from a previous project so I cut out a large enough square to cover the affected area. Here are some pictures of the result. We will see how well this works out over the next year.


You can just barely make out the 3M clear bra material in the corner.



Here I have outlined where the edge of the clear bra is. The painted area is about a half inch in from the edge of the film. To anyone that has these wheel skirts I highly recomend covering at least this much of the corner. Most of the damage was at the very bottom but %99 of the pitting was with in this triangle area.

[sdserene]

For some reason I think the caps look cool. Aerodynamically I'm sure makes a difference because I've seen some top speed cars that has them installed. No reason putting effort in unless it does help somewhat. It is a mod that should help on freeways more then local driving.