[Ray3768]

I know this topic has bee beaten to death. I've probably looked at every thread regarding splash/rock guards but I'm still unsure which ones to choose. I have a nice set of take-off 1LE wheels with the factory tires in place. My intention is to mount these wheels in the next couple of weeks when it warms up a bit so I can safely drive to the tire shop to have all-season tires installed.

I have no doubt that the wide front tires will pepper the rear quarter panels with road debris. Even my current SS size front tires have inflicted some damage to the factory PPF and one or two small strikes just above the PPF.

Here's my thoughts on the currently available products:

ACS - Way too expensive for something that is essentially consumable and will sustain the damage while protecting the car's paint.

ZL1 Addons - Yeah, they look nice but no way I'm using toothed clips to secure them to the front fenders. My car is a daily driver and sees rain and salt, though I try to keep the salt exposure to a minimum.

GM - I like these the best but they do not provide as much protection as some of the others. I also can't get them in riptide blue. I thought about metallic black. That may look good. Anyone know how these are attached? Oh, and they are a bit expensive.

EOS - Initially I liked these the best but there are limited photos online that show how these look installed. They appear to stick out at the top on the front fenders, which I don't love. Since you have to drill the mounting holes, I wonder if they can be installed inboard just a bit to make the top line up with the front fender better? The rear ones look great. The price is right, but I'm also not thrilled about drilling the front fender liner. I like mods like this to be 100% reversible.

RokBlokz - I'm now leaning more towards these. I have no problem with adjusting the spacers to perfect the fit and the installation is reversible. How well does the top tab hold the fronts in place?

Any advice and photos would be much appreciated as I'd like to install these prior to fitting the 1LE wheels. Thank you.

-Ray

[pitrott1]

My 2 pennies.
I have a 23 2SS-1LE and I ordered the Chevy stock guards in black. I then went to touch up direct and ordered the exact gm paint code in my cast satin black to match the ground 1LE effects. I sanded the gloss black down and sprayed them in SB and poof factory look with gm warranty. I'm no wrench head but was easy. GL

[arpad_m]

Originally Posted by Ray3768

RokBlokz - I'm now leaning more towards these. I have no problem with adjusting the spacers to perfect the fit and the installation is reversible. How well does the top tab hold the fronts in place?

Hi Ray, you'll have to excuse me how filthy the car is, but I took a few closeups of my Rokblokz guards for you a few minutes ago.

One big advantage in the rear vs all other products that I'd like to point out is that they extend across the entire width of the tire (see how full the coverage is with my 315s), protecting the bottom of the rear diffuser.

As to the top tab in the front, it holds perfectly well and leaves the paint intact. If you look at my second pic of the front guard, you'll see that it has 2 additional attachment points (vs typically only 1 with other products), meaning the top tab receives no pressure or rotational load, it's practically just a way to tuck the guard partially behind the fender.

(Not that it matters a whole lot here, but I do also have OEM 1LE wheels, that's how I'm running 315/30/20s in the rear, by the way.)

Hope this helps.

[Ray3768]

Just realized I should have posted this in Cosmetic modifications (exterior and interior). Oops.

pitrott1,

Those splash guards look good. This confirms my thought that they would be alright in black and not body color. Love the orange, what a great looking car.

arpad_m,

You are certainly excused. Winter sucks. It went up to 45 deg. F last Sunday and I took the opportunity to give her a bath and clean off the salt haze. We had some rain earlier in the week which washed the crap off the roads. Hopefully the salt/brine is done for this year. I know I'm about done with it. The top tab doesn't look too bad. I can live with that. Do you have any issues with dirt/sand getting between the splash guards and the fender?

Thanks for the responses. I have to make a decision soon. Can't wait to see what the new wheels look like on my car.

-Ray

[arpad_m]

Originally Posted by Ray3768

Just realized I should have posted this in Cosmetic modifications (exterior and interior). Oops.

pitrott1,

Those splash guards look good. This confirms my thought that they would be alright in black and not body color. Love the orange, what a great looking car.

arpad_m,

You are certainly excused. Winter sucks. It went up to 45 deg. F last Sunday and I took the opportunity to give her a bath and clean off the salt haze. We had some rain earlier in the week which washed the crap off the roads. Hopefully the salt/brine is done for this year. I know I'm about done with it. The top tab doesn't look too bad. I can live with that. Do you have any issues with dirt/sand getting between the splash guards and the fender?

Thanks for the responses. I have to make a decision soon. Can't wait to see what the new wheels look like on my car.

-Ray

Good, good. I remember when we lived in NJ (Morris County), I only saw clean roads in late March or even early April, and I garaged the car from the first snow typically in early December to avoid the insane amount of brine... then it almost felt like getting a new car every year

No issues with rocks or dirt getting behind the fender lip. The pictures don't do this mudflap justice, but it's very sturdy and thick, about 2x thicker than ZL1 Addons and other similar mudflap style guards, plus it has a very nice bead along each edge. If it didn't require some spacer trimming in the rear, it would be perfect.

Not much to complain about for $99, though (those beautiful ACS Composites guards that give you much less protection are $400+...)

[MT-SS1LE]

I'll second the RokBlokz. If you're OCD like me, be prepared to sand down the spacers, little by little, until you are happy with the fit. I wanted to get them nearly flush with the body with an equal gap all around. Some might not care as much, but I'm a perfectionist that way.

[arpad_m]

Originally Posted by MT-SS1LE

I'll second the RokBlokz. If you're OCD like me, be prepared to sand down the spacers, little by little, until you are happy with the fit. I wanted to get them nearly flush with the body with an equal gap all around. Some might not care as much, but I'm a perfectionist that way.

I can relate, heh. Our cars deserve the attention

[Craig]

No pics of the EOS fronts installed because they did not even come close to fitting right. For $60 on sale they were worth it for the rears. I added the ACS fronts and spent under $200 total.

[DeuceCam]

I'll offer feedback from ZL1 Addons for others.

They're decent; overall, I like the low profile look, and they are easy to install.

Here are my gripes:

• The metal clips that are used for the front guards could scratch the paint on the backside of the fender.

• With the spacers, the rear guards end up pressed against the paint finish when tightened.

• The lower edge of the rear guards are not parallel to the ground, which looks less than ideal from the rear of the car. This is my biggest complaint. I'm going to try slotting the holes on the rear guards to see if this can be fixed.

Edit: I forgot to mention, when viewing guard-to-tire coverage from a rear angle, these fully cover SS-1LE sized wheels/tires on the side of the car.

[bandier]

Good stuff here. Thx for all the input guys!

[Whoomba]

Same thing as pirott1, got GM black and painted them to match the Panther Black. Now as to how well they match, that’s a different story. I wouldn’t paint a panel with it.

[Abubaca]

I just picked up a set of NIB Hyper Blue GM splash guards. Will probably wait 'til I install the red calipers to install, but will certainly report back. I don't track the car, but 2 6th gens now and I've never had too much issue with rock chips etc., though I DO have some PPF. I know the GM guards don't provide much coverage, but really I was just looking for a smidge of extra protection just in case, and didn't wanna sacrifice in the looks department.

[Ray3768]

I've narrowed it down to the factory splash guards or Rokblokz. I really like the factory fit of the GM parts and was thinking about ordering them in gloss black. With the amount of black exterior parts on this car it would work well. I'm not thrilled about the fact that they overlap the side of the fenders a bit. Since they'd be a different color than the car this would alter the appearance of the wheel arch curvature. I'm going to call my local body shop to see what they'd charge to paint them Riptide Blue. I suspect this will be expensive. I also checked out paintscratch.com. They have a plastic parts spray paint kit but that costs ~$100. I have purchased their touch-up paint pen kit in the past and it is a perfect match.

I like that Rokblokz are not painted. General wear and projectile impacts won't be as noticeable. They do not overlap the sides of the wheel arches. The price is certainly right and they are easily removed. I would be inclined to put a thin coat of GE silicon caulk on the edges of the wheel openings where they make contact with the rock guards. I would let the caulk cure prior to installing the rock guards so they don't become glued to the car. This would eliminate my concerns with sand/dirt getting in between and slowly damaging the paint.

Yep, I'm totally overthinking all of this. Can't help it, been that way since I was a wee lad. Now I get paid to overthink complex engineering problems at work.

It's getting warmer outside, really want to get the new wheels installed. Decisions, decisions.

-Ray

[arpad_m]

Originally Posted by Ray3768

I've narrowed it down to the factory splash guards or Rokblokz. I really like the factory fit of the GM parts and was thinking about ordering them in gloss black. With the amount of black exterior parts on this car it would work well. I'm not thrilled about the fact that they overlap the side of the fenders a bit. Since they'd be a different color than the car this would alter the appearance of the wheel arch curvature. I'm going to call my local body shop to see what they'd charge to paint them Riptide Blue. I suspect this will be expensive. I also checked out paintscratch.com. They have a plastic parts spray paint kit but that costs ~$100. I have purchased their touch-up paint pen kit in the past and it is a perfect match.

I like that Rokblokz are not painted. General wear and projectile impacts won't be as noticeable. They do not overlap the sides of the wheel arches. The price is certainly right and they are easily removed. I would be inclined to put a thin coat of GE silicon caulk on the edges of the wheel openings where they make contact with the rock guards. I would let the caulk cure prior to installing the rock guards so they don't become glued to the car. This would eliminate my concerns with sand/dirt getting in between and slowly damaging the paint.

Yep, I'm totally overthinking all of this. Can't help it, been that way since I was a wee lad. Now I get paid to overthink complex engineering problems at work.

It's getting warmer outside, really want to get the new wheels installed. Decisions, decisions.

-Ray

I like the way you think . The rock guard quandary is usually down to whether someone is okay with the mudflap look or they want a more "OEM-like" appearance, even if that's a big sacrifice in the way of protection.

One more thing, if you're able to make silicone caulk look good and you can get a can of OEM (AC Delco) spray paint for your car, I'm sure you'll be able to paint the guards yourself. I did the same with the RS grille inserts for my previous Camaro (they weren't offered in my paint color), and it took me almost a full day, being a total noob to this, but they turned out perfect.