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PAINT CHIPPING FRONT BUMPER on GMC All Terrain

jayjay361

By jayjay361
in Troubleshooting & Recalls

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Tony Bianco Enthusiast

Tony Bianco

Posted
Posted

Do the smart thing and have a clear bra applied to your front bumpers.

 

I'm really surprised GM or any of the dealers are addressing the issues. Body shops won't warranty the paint for the reasons I mention below.

 

If you think about it; these bumpers are only powder coated steel bumpers. If they were plastic then there would likely not be this issue (not as predominant anyway). The plastic has some flex and will absorb the rock contact more so than a painted steel bumper. The steel bumpers only absorb what the paint will allow and give no more room to absorb the hit than that.

 

This is definitely a normal wear and tear issue. Show me where any other painted bumper would fare any better under the same conditions.

 

Some of you with higher mileage should notice that you have indentations of rocks hitting the grill surround etc. ....... I know if those were also painted metal then there would be just as many (if not more) chips in the paint.

 

Bottom line ...... plastic absorbs the impact/steel has no way to absorb impact.

 

This is my professional opinion. I have had a number of customers over the years who had wanted to have metal trim on the front of their vehicle painted. I would always attempt to sway them from doing this for the same reasons I outlined above. I no longer own/operate a body shop, but this should be common sense. I also offered no guarantee/warranty against rock chips.

 

By the way, aftermarket paint is somewhat more forgiving than is factory paint, but will ultimately portray the same damage over time. It doesn't matter how few miles you have on your truck; reality is you could pick up a chip driving any distance (this comment is aimed directly at those of you who use the argument of their vehicle only has xxx number of miles and are experiencing this problem). I'm sure if GM is obliging those of you have addressed the issue and that this is the one and only time they'll address this type of complaint.

 

Are you going to complain if you get a chip in the windshield and expect for the dealer to replace it because "the glass is too soft"? Probably not.

  • 1 month later...
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laminarflow Enthusiast

laminarflow

Posted
Posted

I have a GMC All Terrain with just under 5K on it. I just finished a ~1000 km (return) trip on BC's snowy mountain roads. To my surprise, there are about 14 rock chips on the front bumper, some as big as a dime. It's not something I'm super bummed about, but I wish I had known the paint was so fragile, because I would have put some kind of protector on there. Now I have to address these ...

 

I'm doing a 6000km trip after Christmas, the bumper is going to look exactly 6x worse I'd imagine.

pm26 Senior Enthusiast

pm26

Posted
Posted

You guys should do it like U Haul does with their rental trucks - get a steel painted bumper for your truck - I guess the cheapest work trucks still come with those, and when chips appear, get a can of oil based enamel and a brush that paint on thick and heavy.

 

What would i do if I was facing this problem? I would spray or brush on a heavy layer of rubberized undercoating on the face of the bumper before a long trip . Then after the trip I would remove it with mineral spirits. A bit messy, but a lot cheaper than repainting the bumper every time.

Trevor01 Enthusiast

Trevor01

Posted
Posted

Hey painski,

 

I truly apologize for this outcome and I understand how frustrated you must be. If you have any additional questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to send us a private message. We are happy to help with any other questions you may have. Again, I do understand your frustration and I apologize.

 

Anisha T.

GMC Customer Care

 

Then why don't you help these people get things fixed? All the customer service post are just a** kissing and sorry to hear that. It's more of an insult to hear this. Open up case files and do something for us, or just don't post at all!

Rkaroll953 Enthusiast

Rkaroll953

Posted
Posted

does anyone have any pics of the clear bra installed on there trucks? is it obvious its on there or does it hide there pretty good. my truck came with the bumper painted black from the factory and i have some rock chips that i would like to protect against. it it looks horrible on there though i will take my chances.

pm26 Senior Enthusiast

pm26

Posted
Posted

If you have your chipped bumper repainted, I strongly recommend coating the bumper with gravel guard spray first, then painting over it. This will greatly reduce chipping in the future and is something that GM should be applying at the factory. The only downside is the orange peel appearance of the finish. However, this is nothing new as GM has been using this gravel guard treatment is selected areas, like lower portions of all doors on some cars since 1980 or even earlier than that. My father's 1980 Cadillac Coupe de Ville had that factory gravel guard treatment on bottoms of doors and front fenders, applied in a continuous band about 6 inches wide.

Badass69 Senior Enthusiast

Badass69

Posted
Posted

And people fight with me about my paint complaints on my 15 Silverado lol. Most of my truck that could ever see impact is covered in 3M. I purposely have a chrome bumper and grill but my hood and front fenders are covered, the front filler has it on it, the mirror skull caps are done, headlights, from the edge of the rocker panel underneath all the way up to the trim on the door front to back..... and a little triangular shaped piece above the 3M along the bottom just ahead of the rear tire where the box panel flares out. My tailgate however is covered in stone chips...... lol. Pretty soon I will just have the whole truck wrapped.

 

Oh that "gravel guard" crap at the bottom.... that stuff is hilarious. I will snap a pic for you of a truck that is a good 95% highway driving with around 50000 miles on it on Wednesday and post it. That stuff instead of chipping..... comes off in strips up to 1/2" wide and 2"-3" long. Looks wonderful lol.

pm26 Senior Enthusiast

pm26

Posted
Posted

And people fight with me about my paint complaints on my 15 Silverado lol. Most of my truck that could ever see impact is covered in 3M. I purposely have a chrome bumper and grill but my hood and front fenders are covered, the front filler has it on it, the mirror skull caps are done, headlights, from the edge of the rocker panel underneath all the way up to the trim on the door front to back..... and a little triangular shaped piece above the 3M along the bottom just ahead of the rear tire where the box panel flares out. My tailgate however is covered in stone chips...... lol. Pretty soon I will just have the whole truck wrapped.

 

Oh that "gravel guard" crap at the bottom.... that stuff is hilarious. I will snap a pic for you of a truck that is a good 95% highway driving with around 50000 miles on it on Wednesday and post it. That stuff instead of chipping..... comes off in strips up to 1/2" wide and 2"-3" long. Looks wonderful lol.

I had bottoms of the doors and fenders done in gravel guard on my Mazda 626 at the factory - none of it ever came off or peeled in 340k miles I had the car. I do not recall any of it coming off on my dad's 1980 Cadillac either. GM must be applying a very thin layer of it on these trucks, or not preparing the surface properly. It is not the gravel guard, it is the GM crappy workmanship that is at fault.

Badass69 Senior Enthusiast

Badass69

Posted
Posted

Gm's paint on these 2014+ trucks is just shitty in general. The 2014 trucks have the sand blasting damage in 10000 miles than took 70000 miles on the gmt900's. The company I contract too has hundreds of these trucks so it's pretty easy to get a good idea how they stand up in the field.

 

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk

  • 5 weeks later...
Gord Freeborn New Member

Gord Freeborn

Posted
Posted

I just bought a 2015 GMC Sierra 1500 - All Terrain - it is 3 weeks old and went on a 3oo mile drive 4 days ago - winter roads but I was taken back by the number of rock chips on the bumper- the other painted front components are fine! Why isn't GM using a dimple paint like on the lower side areas! This is a $50,000 dollar vehicle ??? I have a meeting this Friday at my dealer- Dueck GM in Richmond BC - they better have a solution without causing me grief - so shocked - this is my 4 GMC in 14 years, hope not my last

[email protected]

Willshire Enthusiast

Willshire

Posted
Posted

Bit of an inevitability I suppose. Can't really expect gm to full warranty stone chips. Following less close may help but the opposite traffic we be kicking them at you faster and harder.

Daryl LBZ Senior Enthusiast

Daryl LBZ

Posted
Posted

The paint has definitely become worse on new vehicles. My brothers 07 GMT800's paint still looks amazing, and my 06 isn't all that bad either for having 239k miles on it. Both the 09 and 11 trucks I used to own both had chipping issues. The paint is just crap.

rmcfadden New Member

rmcfadden

Posted
Posted

I had a 14 Sierra AT in white, chipped like crazy, and like many on here I don't drive dirt roads, tailgate etc. Dealer/GM rep said this is due to road debris, too bad so sad. Suggested 3M or other spendy options.

Now I have a 15 Sierra AT black, first week I got a dime sized paint chip down to the base metal, not happy. The next week, I took it to Linex and had the front bumper coated with the UV protection option, cost just south of $300, they did this without removing the bumper, did a great job imo.

This stuff wears like iron, and bug guts etc wash off like a breeze compared to paint. They guarantee this stuff for life too. Doesn't look terrible either, and have had lots of compliments on it.

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