Rock chips look terrible behind RS4 grille!

[Habber]

So, last summer I swapped out my grille for the B8.5 RS4 one that most of us have and before I installed it, I painted the aluminum bar black behind the bumper since I knew it would stand out and look bad seeing a shiny aluminum piece of metal behind the black RS4 grille. Now, after a relatively mild winter, I'm pretty bummed out seeing all the road chips that have have chipped away the paint on the bar. It looks terrible and wanted to know if any of you had the same issues and what options some of you might have done to reduce the chipping. Did I use the wrong paint or is there something else that could have been done without ruining the overall look.

Thanks again

[MacFady]

I'd try using black bedliner or rocker panel spray, it's meant to take the abuse. Curious if you primer or prepped it in any way first or just started spraying.

[pdqgp]

Don't sweat it. Mine has done the same thing and I kind figured it would. I scuffed, primed and painted it hoping..... I'm going to fix it in the next couple weeks by using some bed liner spray. Just be sure to mask off the front end well, and of course the sensor for the temp and homelink too.

[Habber]

I'd try using black bedliner or rocker panel spray, it's meant to take the abuse. Curious if you primer or prepped it in any way first or just started spraying.

I primed it and then sprayed it flat black. Nothing professional, just me doing it.

[Woodybangs]

Use black vinyl. No rock chips.

[ojmcneill]

I used a bedliner product the first time I did mine. After about 3-4 months it began chipping as well. I then pulled it all back apart, stripped the old paint and prepped the bar really well but only using alcohol swabs. For the second run, I used plastidip and just put about five coats on.
It's held up pretty well. I think its all in the prep and throw on as many coats as you can.
Best of luck.

[blackfunk]

Are the bed liner products like flex seal?

[switchedstance]

I vinyl wrapped mine. Not a chip to be had.

[bknewtype]

plastidip works for me. no chips.

[scottycs]

I haven't installed my grill, but it came with a thin plastic to put over the aluminum bar.

[pdqgp]

I vinyl wrapped mine. Not a chip to be had.

Link to product used?

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[jl87]

Instead of paint, I got a sheet of black HDPE from Menards and cut it to fit. I didn't like the contours of the crash bar showing through paint/plastidip. The sheet was ~$12 and I've still got plenty left over in case it ever needs replacing.

[AudBoost]

I used bedliner and it's been 8 months and no chips with lots of highway mile. I wiped down the crash bar with alcohol prior to painting and the bedliner I used was a primer and paint in one. However, it does need about 8 hours to completely.

[b6onboost]

Vinyl wrap > Plastidip > Paint

[bizzy]

I haven't installed my grill, but it came with a thin plastic to put over the aluminum bar.

Yea but the plastic is shiny and looks terrible imo, best to leave that off.

My crash bar had already been plastidipped twice from rock chips.

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[Habber]

Great help! Thanks to all.

[sonic32]

Well what I did was I took the plate delete cover because it already had holes in it, made two holes on the corners and zip tied it to the crash bar and plasti dipped that black with a few coats, but I have a b8. U can probably source a b8 plate cover too. No more chips and it hides the crash bar. Looks very oem like


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[scottycs]

Maybe I will try spraying it with plastidip.

Yea but the plastic is shiny and looks terrible imo, best to leave that off.

My crash bar had already been plastidipped twice from rock chips.

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[bizzy]

Maybe I will try spraying it with plastidip.

Yea that could work. I originally had mine on but removed it because it protrudes pretty far forward too, which makes it more visible from the front. YMMV.

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[infinkc]

Vinyl wrap > Plastidip > Paint

Really? Vinyl wrap still gets punctured with rock chips. I have had mine plasti dipped for close to 60K now and it looks great still.

[ENV²]

I used plastidip when I put the grill on my S4. In 4 years it never chipped.

[mgaman]

Instead of paint, I got a sheet of black HDPE from Menards and cut it to fit. I didn't like the contours of the crash bar showing through paint/plastidip. The sheet was ~$12 and I've still got plenty left over in case it ever needs replacing.

Looks great, and a great solution - I think I'll go this route when I order mine.

[Powderhound]

plastidip works for me. no chips.

Same here, dip holding up fine so far.

[Pared]

This is a no brainer - Use plastidip.

[Dasaudi mtl]

plastidip as well the way to go

[jamesj2k]

I used plastic dip. 4 coats. Rocks chips galore after 1 year. Vinyl wrap if the way to go. The rock hit the vinyl and will only make a small mark instead if a "chip".

[cw8307]

Plasti dip it. Rocks bounce off rubber. Survived on my Harley for 3 years before I sold it and it still looked new.

[cw8307]

Just don't be inpatient. 1 light, very light, coat and 5 additional coats. If unsure go on YouTube and look at plasti dip harley and you'll see my videos. I'm using plasti dip.

[jamesj2k]

Heck..how about matte vinyl wrap and plasti dip over it! I've had my fair share of removing Audi front bumpers...don't want to make a habit of it!

[ojmcneill]

Plastidip that bad boy. It's all in the prep. Wipe bar down w alcohol and then multiple coats. Just take your time.

[chaos2984]

plastidip works for me. no chips.

This is what I used after I searched and did mine. I have 0 chips and any local auto parts store has the pastidip

[SteveYem]

Instead of paint, I got a sheet of black HDPE from Menards and cut it to fit. I didn't like the contours of the crash bar showing through paint/plastidip. The sheet was ~$12 and I've still got plenty left over in case it ever needs replacing.

This looks great, and in fact looks a lot like the OEM solution on the RS models. Where did you attach the hdpe sheet to the car, and what did you use to attach it? I don't see any screws going through the front.

[jl87]

This looks great, and in fact looks a lot like the OEM solution on the RS models. Where did you attach the hdpe sheet to the car, and what did you use to attach it? I don't see any screws going through the front.

I cut the sheet so that it had about an inch overlap above/below the crash bar. I also made sure it extended far enough to the sides that it would be behind the bumper when mounted, that is why you can't see screws. I also painted the crash bar black before attaching the HDPE so that you couldn't see silver when looking at it from above. Feel free to ask if you've got any more questions.