Wrapped Bumpers & Tow Mirrors

eb3kgt · January 7, 2020

Hi all!
Couple of questions. The significant other has a ‘14 Sierra. He mentioned wanting his bumpers color matched. Has anyone wrapped theirs and they held up great? (Snow, rocks/chips, etc). I know painting won’t work well on chrome, and I would believe getting them from the dealer would cost an arm and a leg.
Also, he mentioned wanting to get tow mirrors since he tows a lot. He has the auto retractable mirrors (not sure if they all do). Any good brands to go with? Hoping to get black as well to match the truck.

Help a girl out! Want to surprise him

TRKLGND · January 7, 2020

I'm looking to partially wrap my front bumper to hide the rock chips. Was thinking about a contrasting wrap like carbon fiber (my truck is Cajun Red Tintcoat). Any suggestions would be great.

A respray is about $1000 and you can't install a clear bra for 90 days while the paint cures. By that time it will have at least a few chips. Seems like a waste of money. Not trying to hijack the OP. I am also interested in what wraps work.

94yj · January 8, 2020

this company is highly recommended on this group https://boostautoparts.com/

i just ordered some mirrors from them and what i have seen they are high quality

Edited January 8, 2020 by 94yj

rbrjr1 · January 8, 2020

The mirrors get complicated (and expensive) pretty fast. Best message pgamboa he can point you in the right direction..

Penguin VII · January 8, 2020

+1 to reach out to @pgamboa on the mirrors. I went with OEM power tow mirrors and his harness because I didn't want to risk any rattle (tow mirrors are already bound to shake a little because of their size and placement), up to you if it's worth the cash though. I've generally found that cheaping out on parts nets you with cheap parts.

As far as the wrap, I doubt it could be any worse than the factory paint but I don't know how durable it would be. I think wrapping a bumper around me is a few hundred bucks with material and work, cheaper to do it yourself obviously but a pro will be able to handle the material better generally.

rbrjr1 · January 8, 2020

the only issue I really see with wraps is that if you have significant chipping of the paint, that will telegraph through the wrap and have the opposite of the desired effect.

Donstar · January 8, 2020

16 hours ago, eb3kgt said:

Hi all!
Couple of questions. The significant other has a ‘14 Sierra. He mentioned wanting his bumpers color matched. Has anyone wrapped theirs and they held up great? (Snow, rocks/chips, etc). I know painting won’t work well on chrome, and I would believe getting them from the dealer would cost an arm and a leg.
Also, he mentioned wanting to get tow mirrors since he tows a lot. He has the auto retractable mirrors (not sure if they all do). Any good brands to go with? Hoping to get black as well to match the truck.

Help a girl out! Want to surprise him

Your ideas are great and you will find a lot of good information on this forum. I really like it when my wife takes an interest in my* truck and motorcycle . (*she allows them to be mine) I particularly like it when she suggests I buy xxx for a present and I get involved in the shopping aspect. We learned many occasions ago that we don't "surprise" each other with an actual big ticket item. Wraps and mirrors are expensive and there are many variables to consider. I appreciate you're asking for product advice and I chose to assist in the delivery! Including him in the buying process will only serve to enhance the surprise, imo!

Edited January 8, 2020 by Donstar

eb3kgt · January 8, 2020

34 minutes ago, Donstar said:

Your ideas are great and you will find a lot of good information on this forum. I really like it when my wife takes an interest in my* truck and motorcycle . (*she allows them to be mine) I particularly like it when she suggests I buy xxx for a present and I get involved in the shopping aspect. We learned many occasions ago that we don't "surprise" each other with an actual big ticket item. Wraps and mirrors are expensive and there are many variables to consider. I appreciate you're asking for product advice and I chose to assist in the delivery! Including him in the buying process will only serve to enhance the surprise, imo!

He also has a Harley, but since it’s not the season yet, I’m focusing on the truck

I showed him the website a previous guy had posted above for the mirrors and he said he found some for cheaper, but he likes the look of the ones I found! And I have a guy that wrapped my car back in the day, so I figured a couple bumpers wouldn’t be that expensive. He also wants a lift too, so that’s on the list as well

TRKLGND · January 8, 2020

1 hour ago, rbrjr1 said:

the only issue I really see with wraps is that if you have significant chipping of the paint, that will telegraph through the wrap and have the opposite of the desired effect.

I planned to touch it up first to help even it out then apply the wrap.

pgamboa · January 11, 2020

He also has a Harley, but since it’s not the season yet, I’m focusing on the truck [emoji4]
I showed him the website a previous guy had posted above for the mirrors and he said he found some for cheaper, but he likes the look of the ones I found! And I have a guy that wrapped my car back in the day, so I figured a couple bumpers wouldn’t be that expensive. He also wants a lift too, so that’s on the list as well [emoji51]

I’ll add some advice here on the mirror aspect. I have helped over 3000+ members here on this forum with this upgrade. You’ll see my name thrown around as I’ve been dubbed the resident guru [emoji51].

You’ll want to watch out for aftermarket tow mirrors. Specifically, mirrors from eBay/Amazon, or any time mirror priced in the $250 or less range. Many of these mirrors are sourced from the same place and MANY of them are not wired to GM specifications. I noticed you mentioned that the existing mirrors are “power retracting”... I took this as “Power Fold”. Can you confirm this? Do they are have the red turn signal indicator in the glass? Do they have a downward shining puddle lamp? Does this truck have seat memory? Also, what year is this truck?

What I’ve observed with many of the aftermarket tow mirrors out there, they all tend to either tie the running lights and turn signals together (internally behind the glass). This causes a problem if you wire them up to the GM specifications. It will back feed voltage and things will not work.

If you mirrors already in mind or have already purchased them, please provide a link or model #. I’ll gladly look at them and will try to advise. If you already have them, I can help you validate their wiring.

I’ve got products to help with the mirror upgrade - www.HarnessDR.com

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

eb3kgt · January 14, 2020

On 1/11/2020 at 8:30 AM, pgamboa said:

I’ll add some advice here on the mirror aspect. I have helped over 3000+ members here on this forum with this upgrade. You’ll see my name thrown around as I’ve been dubbed the resident guru .

You’ll want to watch out for aftermarket tow mirrors. Specifically, mirrors from eBay/Amazon, or any time mirror priced in the $250 or less range. Many of these mirrors are sourced from the same place and MANY of them are not wired to GM specifications. I noticed you mentioned that the existing mirrors are “power retracting”... I took this as “Power Fold”. Can you confirm this? Do they are have the red turn signal indicator in the glass? Do they have a downward shining puddle lamp? Does this truck have seat memory? Also, what year is this truck?

What I’ve observed with many of the aftermarket tow mirrors out there, they all tend to either tie the running lights and turn signals together (internally behind the glass). This causes a problem if you wire them up to the GM specifications. It will back feed voltage and things will not work.

If you mirrors already in mind or have already purchased them, please provide a link or model #. I’ll gladly look at them and will try to advise. If you already have them, I can help you validate their wiring.

I’ve got products to help with the mirror upgrade - www.HarnessDR.com

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes he does have the power fold, red turn signal indicator in the glass, the puddle lights, memory seats. It’s a 2014 Sierra 1500 with the 5.3 I believe.
I know he was looking at ebay, but I told him no cuz I know how ebay stuff works. I showed him that website someone listed above, although expensive if you want power gold, seems like it’s a reliable option.