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I keep scraping the leading edge of my bumper

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by lutece7, Dec 16, 2009.

  1. lutece7

    lutece7 New Member

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    I have been driving a Land Cruiser for 25 years. So it has taken some getting used to, driving a car, my 2010 Prius, with such a tiny amount of clearance under the front bumper. I have scraped it pretty good 3 times. You can seem the damage from the front if you look closely.

    Sure wish the bumper was white all the way through. But it is black at its core, so it shows up more on my white Prius than on any other color.

    I was wondering about a solution:

    Painting the leading edge with Rhinolite, or some other pickup truck bed liner, or, have a custom made metal, or even teflon piece attached to the leading edge.

    Does anyone else besides me have this problem?

    I find that when I come to a sharp dip in the road, I not only slow down, but also mute my radio to see if I hear an scraping.

    Chris
     
  2. spiderman

    spiderman wretched

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    I use to scape my 97 Camry all the time. I have yet to do it with the Prius. I just make sure not to get close to the stops. I don't have to get close as the Prius is rather short.
    I still have a problem parking straight in a slot though... I can't figure that one out.
     
  3. 32kcolors

    32kcolors Senior Member

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    Stop putting your Prius on a lift and you'll stop seeing it :D

    I haven't had that problem, but it might be where you live. Try going over the dip at an angle rather than straight on.
     
  4. Rhino

    Rhino New Member

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    Solution 1:
    You have to approach dips diagonally if you can. Because you have more clearance in the corner rather than up front. The wheel which crosses first will lift the front and you can get across without scraping.

    If you can approach sideways, it is even better because you have even more clearance on the side. For example, you can drive a Porsche up the side of a concrete bank of a spillway or dry riverbed if you approach it like a lane change. If you "change lanes" too fast, you will totally mess up your car including flipping it. The opportunity for doing this is limited in real life but I hope you get the idea. Reminds me of racing in the dry riverbeds of LA.

    Solution 2:
    The other solution is to slow way down to make sure it is not the momentum that is causing you to scrape.

    Solution 3:
    Drive closer to the center of the road, which dips less.

    Note. Some streets, locations and driveways have to be avoided at all cost.
     
  5. bighouse

    bighouse Active Member

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    I've scraped the bottom of mine on several driveways...and a few high curbs...what can you do? It's bound to happen eventually. But, isn't the ground effect at the front that gets scraped black? My Barcelona Red model IV is black under the bumper- so I doubt it will ever show. Is that component painted white on the Blizzard models?
     
  6. lutece7

    lutece7 New Member

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    I don't care about the damage UNDER leading edge. I care about the scrapes I see on the front of the leading edge.

    yes, I know about taking dips at an angle. but it still happened. still hard to judge which ones are necessary and which ones aren't. My worst damage came from:

    1. parking too close to a concrete parking stop in a parking lot, that was higher than most

    2. dropping off into a deep pothole that was hidden by standing water

    3. backing out of my driveway and turning to soon and dropping off the edge of the curb (now I back in)

    the edge under my white bumper is white. but like I said, I am not concerned about what can only be seen from underneath.

    I have bought some touch up paint. If I could order a skid plate for there, I would.
     
  7. David Beale

    David Beale Senior Member

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    DO NOT put on a metal lip. It will destroy the plastic you attach it to. You -could- use bed liner, but it will scrape as well, just not as easily. The only solution I've ever found is to replace the entire lip with vinyl of the correct colour. It will still scratch, but won't show as much. Because it's so flexible it deflects so scratches less.

    For those who think the Prius is bad, you should have had the training I had when I drove my 1993 RX-7. It had 3 1/2" of clearance!
     
  8. lutece7

    lutece7 New Member

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    interesting. wear did you get the vinyl? did you have to do some fabrication? how did you attach it?
     
  9. stream

    stream Senior Member

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    The front end clearance on the Prius is pretty small. I've gotten used to this issue driving Porsches for the last 20 years, and as others have pointed out, approaching on an angle works very well. Over time you learn which driveways, parking lot entrances, etc. you'll need to slow down a lot for, and for ones I'm not familiar with, if the angle of the street and/or ramp look too severe, I err on the side of caution. The bumper amplifies the sound, so most scrapes aren't nearly as bad as they sound, and most aren't visible from a normal viewing angle.
     
  10. walterm

    walterm Active Member

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    I think that's due to the door top edge being angled with respect to horizontal - if you park so the door top looks straight to the space you'll be crooked in the spot.
     
  11. spiderman

    spiderman wretched

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    Interesting... I try to look straight forward and glance in the rear view (backing into). When I think I am straight in, I open the door to check and tada, I am crooked. No big deal but the harder I try, the worse it gets.:mad:
     
  12. David Beale

    David Beale Senior Member

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    I've used baseboard vinyl and carpet protection vinyl. The carpet protection stuff is the neatest, although it is clear but coloured. I have pop riveted it on with large washers on both sides, and pop riveted it to an aluminum angle and fastened that with bolts, but I haven't done any of this on the Prius. I've even used it as a "cold front" to block air flow, but again, not on the Prius.

    On the Prius you'd want to cut away the lower bit of the chin spoiler, but it's part of the undertray attachment, so it's not simple.

    If it really bothers you, I'd try the bed liner first. It won't be cheap. I'd expect at least $100 to $200 just for the front bit. It does come in colours, though none of them would really match the car's paint. Perhaps best to make it intentionally a complementary colour. The nice thing is it would mask any scratches you have already. Hey, it might even lower your wind resistance a bit due to the rough surface. ;)
     
  13. GeekEV

    GeekEV Member

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    I'm with 32kcolors on this one. I scrape mine all the time too. Just ignore it. :)
     
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  14. jry423

    jry423 Member

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    I scrape mine pulling into my driveway. Every time. It sucked the first couple of times, but I've got a steep driveway, so...
     
  15. HTMLSpinnr

    HTMLSpinnr Super Moderator
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    I have rolled curb for my driveway for drainage purposes (we get heavy T-storms in the summer). When I have an adult passenger in the front, I'll scrape the nose almost every time unless I can manage to come off diagonally. Fortunately for me, it's just the black spoiler part vs. the white paint.

    My wife comes into the driveway kinda quickly w/ the '04 and scrapes the chin each time. I come in a bit slower to avoid this on the '10. ;)
     
  16. sdleo726

    sdleo726 New Member

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    if you want a nice vinyl protector for the front... you could try using one of the Prius rear bumper protectors (clear with "Prius" logo). i read here on PC of one owner doing that... but did not see pictures.

    it would probably look good, but a little too much advertising for my tastes.

    if you do it, please post a pic, i'd like to see what it looks like.
     
  17. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    My wife drives like this too. Are all women like this? If my wife were a pilot, she would shoot landings at Vne.

    Tom
     
  18. lutece7

    lutece7 New Member

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    qbee, you must enjoy being cryptic. LOL. My father was an airline pilot, I an an aviation photographer, and I have my pilots license! and I have no idea what you are referring to. Somehow, I think you want to be asked, though. :)
     
  19. jry423

    jry423 Member

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    My girlfriend drives like this, but in her defense, she's used to driving her Escape hybrid, which doesn't scrape on the driveway.
     
  20. lutece7

    lutece7 New Member

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    yes, like I said before, I have been driving a lifted Land Cruiser for 25 years. So the Prius has been a major adjustment. Imagine! I no longer have to pull the choke to start the engine! LOL