Clear protective coating on paint @ front of rear tire -issues

[Tom Pompeii]

I have 2021 Denali 1500  7 month old.   I noticed  where the clear protective coating on the panel right in front of the rear tires, was full if chips, through the coating and the paint. I thought this coating was hear to protect the paint. I have not driven on gravel roads more than a couple times. Ther are no chips out side of the protective coating, pretty much start where the coating is applied . I showed the local  GMC dealer body shop  , and his response was " what do you want ne to do about it"  He was a real dick .  Just wondering if others have had an issue, or is this just normal wear and tear as the dealer seems to think.  Seems this shouldn't  happen in 7 month in normal driving  conditions 

[elcamino]

My 2021 is the same way. They won't do anything as the paint chipping is because of the way its designed. You can repair it and it will be the same way 6 months later. 

[Anacortes Army Guy]

I guess the Sierra does not come with the front-positioned mini mudflap in front of the rear wheels as the Silverado does? Are there aftermarket solutions?

[Dirtbiker]

6 minutes ago, Anacortes Army Guy said:

I guess the Sierra does not come with the front-positioned mini mudflap in front of the rear wheels as the Silverado does? Are there aftermarket solutions?

They do but that does not help. This is in front of the back tire. Actually right above that plastic. Also it is not a mudflap. It is a wind resister flap. Installed to direct wind around the back tire for better aerodynamics. 
this is the reason I always get running boards, also because I need them to get in ha ha. 

[Anacortes Army Guy]

Thanks for the clarification. This is an issue I haven't experienced on my 2020 Silverado in 16,000 miles.  While the majority of those miles have been on pavement, I do drive on gravel roads occasionally.  But then again the design of the Sierra's wheel well is different than the Silverado's, but I have no idea if that is a contributing factor.

[elcamino]

The design is the reason.  The lower part of the rear fender sticks out as seen in the photo above and road debris will hit this area.  Running boards do not help, I have them and have the same issue and never been on a gravel road nor do I have agressive tires, Bridgestone Alenza tires.

[Rob Mugs]

39 minutes ago, Anacortes Army Guy said:

Thanks for the clarification. This is an issue I haven't experienced on my 2020 Silverado in 16,000 miles.  While the majority of those miles have been on pavement, I do drive on gravel roads occasionally.  But then again the design of the Sierra's wheel well is different than the Silverado's, but I have no idea if that is a contributing factor.

At 3500 miles, my (always on the street at that time) had 7-8 chips on each side ranging from 1/16th to 1/8th"

 

2020 Silverado TB

I'm going to drive it another couple years and likely dump it.  Totally not my thing as I usually drive them into the ground before getting rid of, but with how it looks already (at 6k now) I likely won't be doing GM unless they make some crazy changes to paint 

Edited July 24, 2021 by Rob Mugs

[Liquid Plumber AT4]

Have it painted and then get paint protection film on lower half of the body......i just had mine protection filmed. Shouldn't have to do this...but seems like the paint quality just gets worse and worse.

[wurgs]

15 hours ago, Liquid Plumber AT4 said:

Have it painted and then get paint protection film on lower half of the body......i just had mine protection filmed. Shouldn't have to do this...but seems like the paint quality just gets worse and worse.

The only problem is can't put the film on that area as the roughness of the rock guard ( as my dealer calls it ) would leave bubbles and look horrible, at least that's what I've been told by a few places I contacted.

 

I had the same problem on my old 19 Denali twice on both sides of the box. First time the dealer warrantied it and repainted the areas as it happened with less than 400 miles on the truck. Second time about a year later they worked with me and I had them take that rock guard crap off the box, repaint it and than applied the 3M film. 

 

My new 21 AT4 got quite a few small ones in that same area after driving 23 miles on gravel over the 4th weekend while attending a funeral, the only time I've been on gravel since I bought it. There seems to be a problem with the paint on the 19+ Sierras, pretty disappointing considering the price of a new truck

[redwngr]

Flat and wide running boards will prevent this. (or at least a big percentage of it)

 

Mudflaps are a only a partial solution. 

 

For many years I always added aftermarket boards to stop this, but for starting have since decided it's just easier to have the wide/flat GM ones installed.

 

I like the current ones better than the ones that GM offered for used for many years prior. 

 

 

Lived on a gravel road for 25 or so years....including a bunch of years running GM boards.

 

[DenaliSS]

18 hours ago, wurgs said:

The only problem is can't put the film on that area as the roughness of the rock guard ( as my dealer calls it ) would leave bubbles and look horrible, at least that's what I've been told by a few places I contacted.

 

 

Ditto on that when I was getting clear film from a well established installer in the area. Told me the same for the chrome.

 

This is really unacceptable. Have you all went up the chain to the regional level and receiving the same answer?

[Liquid Plumber AT4]

23 hours ago, wurgs said:

The only problem is can't put the film on that area as the roughness of the rock guard ( as my dealer calls it ) would leave bubbles and look horrible, at least that's what I've been told by a few places I contacted.

 

I had the same problem on my old 19 Denali twice on both sides of the box. First time the dealer warrantied it and repainted the areas as it happened with less than 400 miles on the truck. Second time about a year later they worked with me and I had them take that rock guard crap off the box, repaint it and than applied the 3M film. 

 

My new 21 AT4 got quite a few small ones in that same area after driving 23 miles on gravel over the 4th weekend while attending a funeral, the only time I've been on gravel since I bought it. There seems to be a problem with the paint on the 19+ Sierras, pretty disappointing considering the price of a new truck

I had my film done by a reputable company in my area with Xpel film and you cant even tell its on that rock guard area.....its just as smooth as on the regular paint. I'll get some pictures when I get the truck back this week from getting it ceramic coated and then it's gotta go to the gmc body shop for a bed alignment....sticks out overd a half inch on passenger side by the cab and the bed lines and the door lines are not level. Check yours out to.....there's a gmc bulletin for it.

Edited July 26, 2021 by Liquid Plumber AT4

[wurgs]

On 7/25/2021 at 9:33 PM, Liquid Plumber AT4 said:

I had my film done by a reputable company in my area with Xpel film and you cant even tell its on that rock guard area.....its just as smooth as on the regular paint. I'll get some pictures when I get the truck back this week from getting it ceramic coated and then it's gotta go to the gmc body shop for a bed alignment....sticks out overd a half inch on passenger side by the cab and the bed lines and the door lines are not level. Check yours out to.....there's a gmc bulletin for it.

The 19 Denali I traded had to have the bed aligned but thankfully my 21 is even. I will check out the Xpel film, found a couple of places that install it locally when searching online. The ones I contacted only used 3m on said it would leave bubbles. I would like to get the film on if possible, plan on keeping this truck a while and don't want to have to fight paint chips all the time. 

[luke1333]

Do you drive down gravel roads? Not sure how rock chips is GM's problem, boy people get dumber everyday

[taze]

I already had 3 pretty bad rock chips on the lower front the front passenger door before I managed to get PPF on. My guy used 3m and also wouldn't cover the rock guard area. My chips weren't in that area anyway. I'm not sure when they occurred, before or after mud flaps and/or nerf bars. But the truck hasn't been off pavement yet.