Why do you need wheel arch protection?

Which today is not a very popular and technically important element of the car, serves to extend the life cycle of wheel arches, which, due to their design features, are exposed to various unfavorable factors. Car enthusiasts who decide to install such a device on their car note high endurance and excellent detonation effects; along with these indicators, special protection allows them to reduce the impact on the vehicle, which manifests itself in the form of corrosion and the action of various chemicals.

Speaking about the protection of wheel arches, it should be noted that they are necessary for vehicles operated in huge cities, the roads of which are covered with harmful chemicals that can corrode even the metal of the body.

Purpose of special protection for wheel arches

You should not hope that it can even work without failures or breakdowns. No manufacturer gives a guarantee that the tire will not be punctured after the next 100 meters due to the driver’s fault. In this regard, there is no guarantee for the durability of the wheel arches. This body element can be compared to human legs. If you walk barefoot everywhere without shoes or other protection, all the dirt will cling to the soles, bringing unpleasant sensations to the entire body, and in addition, the possibility of serious injury cannot be ruled out.

Wheel arch protection allows you to protect the niches above the wheels with a special panel. Over time, the absence of such an important unit can result in the unusability of the entire wheel and external wear and tear of the body, which will not be able to constantly withstand the effects of destructive chemical road elements. Particles such as garbage, dirt and snow are not perceived by car owners as something scary and harmful, which is why no one is in a hurry to protect their “steel horse” from such substances.

By installing protective panels on your car, you can extend the life of the entire vehicle by protecting it from rapid wear and tear. An extraordinary shelter for wheels will help to avoid damage, scratches and other negative factors that interfere with obtaining a flawless appearance of the car.

Abroad, for a long time, automakers have been trying to protect the wheel arch areas even before the car leaves the assembly line and reaches the consumer. Almost all vehicles are either equipped with standard fender liners or are coated with a special treatment that can withstand damage for several years. Despite this precaution, standard fender liners are made of textiles, which completely wear out two to three years after purchase.

Aluminum-galvanized protection

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This type of locker was popular in Soviet times due to the lack of alternatives. But since one has already appeared, they have lost their relevance. However, they can still be found on the market today. In part, they fulfill their intended purpose, protecting the wheel arches from significant damage. But their main drawback is the presence of a rubber seal, which simply erases the layer of paint from the outer surface of the arches. As a result, they are susceptible to severe corrosion, and the meaning of such lockers is lost.

Before choosing one or another type of wheel arch protection, you should take into account the characteristics of the terrain in which you most often have to move. If the terrain is rough or the road surface is poor, you should buy thicker plastic protection or invest in fiberglass lockers

Video on how to install wheel arches:

A not very well known, but quite important part of every car is the protection of wheel arches and mud flaps. They serve to protect wheel arches from exposure to negative substances.

Pioneered in Finland, fender liners can now withstand and direct the effects of detonation, reduce the impact on the vehicle interior and protect wheel arches from corrosion and chemical attack.

Nowadays, more and more motorists are convinced of the need to install tire fender liners. In the territory of the former USSR, they appeared at the turn of the 70s of the last century in the Baltic countries and today have gained popularity in large cities, where a large number of chemicals on the road corrode the metal.

Exterior protective coating

Modern plastic wheel arch protection appeared relatively recently, and in a fairly short time it has become an ideal alternative to its predecessor, made of metal and equipped with rubber on the edges. The first fender liners were distinguished by ease of installation and not the most practical design, which could not completely protect the side part, which was most often subject to wear.

On the Russian market you can purchase fender liners from several fundamentally different materials for manufacturing; the most popular among buyers are protective elements made of aluminum, polyethylene, ABS plastic and fiberglass. No less popular are “liquid” fender liners and protection that has the appearance of an armor film.

User reviews

One of the car owners spoke very flatteringly about this technology. So, it was decided to install protection for the wheel arches on his wife’s Lanos. But there was no desire to make holes in the body for fastenings for plastic protection.

We decided to use this new technology. The choice was made in favor of Prim products. Liquid fender liners from this company are considered one of the best. The product was applied very quickly. This protective layer is practically invisible. After treatment, the car has been driven on various roads, and the protective layer looks as if it were brand new.

Plastic fender liners

Modern plastic protection for wheel arches is found among most Russian car enthusiasts; this is due to the production of such elements for cars of a certain brand, due to which the repetition of the shape of the wheel arch is achieved. Exactly matching shapes do not interfere with the normal movement of the wheels. Installation of such lockers is done using plastic clips. For production, high-quality polyethylene is used, which is environmentally friendly. Among the models presented on the Russian market, you can purchase rear and front fender liners made in Finland or Russia.

"Liquid" fender liners

“Liquid” lockers in appearance resemble a rubber device. This type of wheel arch protection is made from various rubber resins, with the addition of bitumen and polymers. This substance is used to treat all wheel arches. However, even the highest strength and practical properties do not allow “liquid” fender liners to displace standard classic lockers. The “liquid” version has excellent noise insulation and anti-corrosion characteristics, is highly stable, versatile and harmless.

Methods

For most drivers, mud flaps are rubber flaps that are installed behind the wheels near the bottom of the front fender and rear bumper. If we are talking about a car body, then a mudguard is usually called a metal casing that connects the spar, the engine shield and the wings in the nose (the shock-absorbing strut cup is part of the mudguard). In the rear part there is a mudguard - the wheel well of the body. The protection of these body elements will be discussed.

The car owner has only 2 ways to protect wheel arches:

installation of fender liners. The plastic casing is attached to the wings and the internal cavity of the mudguards;
liquid protection. The arch is treated with a special anti-gravel material based on bitumen and anti-corrosion components. For application, use a special gun that sprays a liquid mass, or a brush. After drying, a dense, damping surface is formed on the body, which has noise and vibration insulation properties.

Sound insulation deserves special attention. Due to vibrations from driving over uneven surfaces and the rolling noise of tires, the cavities of the mudguards are quite vibration- and noise-laden areas. Water, dirt and large stones flying from under the wheels, hitting the metal part of the body, resonate, which leads to the transfer of noise into the car interior. Good noise insulation protection of the wheel arches significantly increases the level of comfort.

Which is better

If we consider plastic fender liners and liquid protection separately, it is difficult to choose the best method. If there are factory places for attaching protection, as well as corresponding plastic products, it is better to give preference to fender liners. They are more durable in use. To install rubber mud flaps, you will not need to drill into the body, which is a huge advantage.

If there are no standard places for fastening in the wings, and the owner does not want to bother installing lockers without screws, then it is better to choose liquid sound insulation. In terms of the level of transmitted noise, these methods of protection are approximately the same, but the disadvantage of liquid fender liners is their fragility. Constant impacts of stones, dirt, moisture, temperature changes and vibrations of the body lead to delamination of the material. As practice shows, even high-quality processing must be repeated every 2-3 years.

The best way is combined protection with preliminary sound insulation. After applying noise and vibration insulation, the cavity is treated with liquid mastic. And only then the fender liner is installed.

Selection of lockers, mastic, sound insulation

Guidelines when choosing fender liners:

thickness. Products that are too thin are damaged faster and are more susceptible to deformation in the hot season;
elasticity. Lockers are made of ABS or PP plastic. The latter option is more elastic and therefore often more durable. But even with the same labeling, you can feel the difference between manufacturers. You should not buy products that are too hard, as the material will become completely hard in the cold, which can cause cracking;
presence of stiffeners;
holes for standard fasteners, if provided.

The choice of manufacturers is huge (API, ASAM, SA, FLORIMEX, GORDON, KLOKKERHOLM, POLCAR, SAT and many others). You need to identify manufacturers offering fender liners for your car model, and then ask about the operating experience of other car owners. One of the main factors, which, unfortunately, can only be checked during installation, is the coincidence of the body moldings with the shape of the fender liner. This will allow protection without distortion and tightly close all cavities.

Mastic, soundproofing materials

We have already looked at the type on top of which lockers can be installed. To form liquid fender liners, you can use Dinitrol 479. As a pre-treatment before installing the lockers, you can use anti-corrosion mastic with a noise-absorbing effect from APP, Terotex, Schwarz or other manufacturers.

The following are used as sheet insulation:

base layer of vibration-absorbing composition with a thickness of 2 mm;
soundproofing material.

There are now a huge variety of material models, as well as manufacturers (Shumoff, STP, Vikar, etc.). Therefore, when choosing, you should focus on the price, as well as the thickness of the final coating. The noise-insulating “sandwich” should not interfere with the installation of lockers. It is advisable to buy material with an adhesive layer based on mastic rather than water-soluble adhesives.

Wheel arch noise: how effective?

The noise of the arches is a mandatory procedure in the process of comprehensive sound insulation of a car, since the wheel arch of a car not only “accumulates” the sound of rotating tires, but is also subject to mechanical stress.

At the same time, it is important to understand that if you do partial sound insulation and limit yourself to only arches, you will not be able to achieve a significant improvement in acoustic comfort. However, there will be certain improvements even in this case.

First of all, the rustling of tires is not so audible in the cabin when driving on asphalt. The noise from sand and small stones that inevitably hit the arch when the wheel rotates is also muffled. As a result, sound insulation of the rear arches, as well as sound insulation of the front arches, can reduce the overall noise level by an average of 10-15%.

How to treat car arches to reduce noise

Do-it-yourself soundproofing of arches can be done in a regular garage. To do this you need:

remove the fender liners and prepare the arches themselves;
select the most suitable materials for sound insulation;
perform sound insulation and reassemble;

Preparatory stage

All work must be carried out in a warm room (air temperature not lower than 20 degrees Celsius). Before preparing for Shumka, the arch niches should be washed thoroughly in a high-pressure washer.
Next, you need to jack up the car and remove the wheel. It is important to take care of safety by installing wheel chocks and a safety stand under the car body.
Afterwards, the lockers (fender liners) are dismantled.
On different cars, lockers are not attached in the same way, which may require the removal of pistons, plugs, screws, clamps, etc. Please note that the fasteners may be disposable and you should be prepared to purchase a new one. Having removed the fender liners, we inspect the arches. If the metal is bare, it must be thoroughly washed with a cleaning agent, after which the surface is additionally degreased (alcohol or special degreasing compounds, Galosh gasoline, etc. will do). By the way, experts do not recommend covering the locker with Shumka in this case, as some car enthusiasts mistakenly do.
If the metal is covered with mastic from the factory and there is no access to bare metal, such mastic cannot be torn off, washed off or cleaned off. In this case, all that remains is to paste over the locker, although the effect will be worse than pasting metal.

Selection of material

For the best effect, the arch should be treated with vibration insulation and noise absorber. Saving on materials in this case is not practical; it is optimal to use high-quality vibration insulation with a thickness of at least 5 mm.

Sound insulation of the arch

Having prepared the materials for processing the arches, the car and the available tools, first a preheated vibration damper is applied to the arch. Then you need to press the material tightly against the metal or locker. Next, a sound absorber is applied.
During the application process, it is better to work with solid pieces, forming the arch after applying the material. Please note that the more cut parts there are, the worse it will be. Pasting is also carried out end-to-end.
Once finished, you can begin assembling the arch. In the case where there is space left in the fender liner, the locker can be additionally treated with a layer of thin vibration insulation (thickness up to 2 mm). It is not necessary to paste over the entire fender liner; it is enough to treat 60-70% of the entire surface. Next, a sound absorber is applied.

Please note that if many layers are applied to the arch and locker during processing, assembling the arch may become very difficult or impossible. For this reason, it is important to determine at the preparation stage which areas will be covered, what layer thickness will be optimal, etc.

Preparation, sound insulation

Protecting the arches begins with washing the inside of the mudguard and thoroughly drying it. Then the entire surface is degreased. Option for good sound insulation of wheel arches:

A vibration-absorbing layer is glued onto the entire surface of the mudguard, covered by the locker you purchased (for example, Shumoff L3 or M3. It needs to be heated before pasting). The sheets are rolled tightly with a metal roller. In this case, the standard anti-gravel coating does not need to be removed;
Mastic is applied on top with a brush or spray. If desired, you can put it in 2-3 layers, but at the same time, allow 10-15 minutes of drying between layers. at a temperature of +20ºС;
plastic lockers are covered with noise-absorbing material (for example, Shumoff Germeton A15). Also at this stage, soundproofing sheets based on foam rubber can be used (as an option - Shumoff Comfort 6).

Soundproofing wheel arches StP: does it make sense to do it yourself?

There are no special difficulties or requirements for professional qualifications in installing Standartplast materials; some car owners do it themselves, but you need to sensibly evaluate the cost of your own time (which is usually accepted as free, which is not entirely true), the availability of the necessary tools (for example, for installing Bimast Bomb Premium requires a heat dryer), as well as adhere to technology. Any air bubbles nullify efforts to install sound insulation, since vibrations and hum remain at the points of poor adhesion of the material and metal of the arches. In addition, when independently soundproofing StP car arches, you have to purchase material in reserve, since few people are able to make precise cuttings for their car, and the leftovers are unlikely to be sold later.

Technology for applying sound insulation to cars

The bitumen-mastic coating is applied only to metal that has been cleaned of contaminants, so the final result largely depends on the preparation of the surface. If necessary, the surface is degreased. All work on sound insulation of StP car arches is carried out only at positive temperatures (at least 18 degrees). A sticky layer is applied to the surface, heated with a hairdryer, then the Standartplat is carefully rolled with a roller until it fully adheres to the car body. Gradually, the entire arch becomes protected from vibrations and hum by a protective coating. In addition, Bimast Bomb Premium also provides protection against corrosion, which is quite important for parts that serve as a collector of water and dirt from roads.

Professionals, as a rule, use only one sheet of StP sound insulation per surface and calculate the pattern in advance for the most efficient cutting (this reduces waste and the final cost). The more fragments used to protect one element of the car, the worse the end result. This is due to the fact that the joints have significantly worse characteristics, and the more there are, the more noticeable the vibrations in the cabin will be.

All work on noise insulation of arches using StP products is recommended to be carried out in a specialized car service center. Specialists must undergo the necessary training and have experience in similar work. The Avtodop detailing center offers any car soundproofing services in Moscow with a guarantee.

Examples of sound insulation of car arches using StP Premium materials

Correct installation of lockers

Many cars have factory mounting locations for fender liners. Special plastic “bugs” are used as fastening elements. The use of self-tapping screws is permissible when attaching lockers to plastic elements (decorative threshold trim, bumpers). If processed correctly, self-tapping screws can be used as fasteners at the bottom of the internal cavity of the mudguard.

Never use self-tapping screws to attach the fender liner to the edge of the wing. Moisture is trapped between the plastic casing and the wing. In the place where the metal is exposed, rusting will inevitably begin, which, moving upward, will destroy the paintwork.

When you can't do without self-tapping screws

If another installation method is not possible or if holes have already been drilled in the wing before you, the metal must be protected. If there are no traces of rye in the area where the paintwork is damaged, prime the area with epoxy primer and paint it with acrylic paint from a spray can. Rusted areas must first be cleaned and treated with a rust converter. After drying, treat the inner cavity of the wing and the edge adjacent to the fender liner with anti-corrosion mastic (for example, Movilya). Also soak the self-tapping screw in mastic before screwing it in.

Useful solutions

Often, protecting wheel arches with fender liners can only do harm. Vibrations from a poorly secured product damage the paintwork in the plane of contact with the wing. There are two ways to deal with this:

The edge of the locker is trimmed, and a special seal is put on it. The soft rubber coating fits tightly to the wing and does not scratch the paint;
use of body sealant. It is applied where the plastic adheres to the body. Promotes waterproofing, which is important for both paintwork and laminated sound insulation. The sealant not only performs a waterproofing function, but also acts as an additional fastener. After drying, it remains elastic and therefore does not crack.