im drivng about 400 miles next weekend and the highway sucks, lots of trucks, and bugs. does taping really help or should i just wax the hell out of it before i leave? and is there anything special i should know about applying or removing the tape?

 

Yeah, im doing about the same distance drive on tuesday, Ill be taping my front bumper at least. Just use painters tape. It goes on and comes off easy.

 

Apply the tape on a clean car for better adhesion, overlap the tape slightly to cover the edge in direct line of airflow. On most tapes, 3M scotch brand you have up to fourteen days for removal, so you can tape ahead of time. Also, buy the widest tape available to cover faster with less seams.

 

yes. blue 3m painter's tape

 

Since your paint obviously matters to you, have you considered a clear bra for a long term solution? I picked up a genuine 3m pre-cut clear bra on eBay for about $140 and did the installation myself. It took about 4 hours, but I'm pretty pleased with the results.

 

How noticeable is the bra? I have been thinking about doing this for a long time now.

 

And how far does the bra go up the hood? What if your bumper already has rock chips?

 

Like everyone else said 3M painter's blue tape is the way to go.

 

Id go with blue painters tape if you dont want to go the clear bra route, and tape in the direction of airflow. The only downside to clear bra is that if done incorrectly it is very noticeable/expensive, if done the right way it looks almost invisible. Waxing isnt going to do much in terms of protecting from rock chips, I just did a 680 mile drive to vegas (back and fourth through desert highways) with no blue tape and just kept a great amount of distance between myself and the car in front of me and I came back unscathed (berlina black). To me, there is no point in putting clear bra on a car that already has rock chips(unless VERY minimal), it should either go on the car when purchased new or after a month or so from a paint job. If you want the whole car clear bra'd that is up to you, but be ready to shell the $$. Most packages only offer the complete bumper, 1/4 of the hood and 1/4 of both front fenders and SOMETIMES the side view mirrors/headlamps.

 

Q: should i tape my car for a 400mi drive?


A: no