Awesome off-road but plastics are too soft

[DevilDogDMD]

Took my dual motor truck off-road this week in the mountains of SW Virginia. I was impressed with the abilities of the truck and the comfort. Through multiple surfaces the truck never had an issue, even at road psi. The Baja settings are way more fun than the overland settings, but the overland settings are fantastic for technical and portions of trails. Sway bar disconnects would have been helpful.

My only disappointment was the quality of the plastics on the truck, fendor flares, bumpers, mirror cowels. Brush on the trail scratch them to the point that will have to be replaced or just deal with the new aesthetics of the truck, lol. Plastic polish and back to black help but don't get rid of them completely. Stainless also suffered some aesthetic changes, but with the right scotch brite pad and some bar keepers friend it pretty much goes back to its original surface texture. I have not been able to correct the paint on my previous trucks before with this kind of ease. The rocks beat the tires up but I think if we had reduced the pressure below 40psi they would have been better.

We used about 30% of the battery for the entire afternoon with the AC running the entire time. Time to get the mud and leaves from the nooks and crannies.

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[aeroguy]

What trail? Was on the Bald Mountain Jeep Trail in Virginia last weekend and noted similar performance on a fairly technical trail. The precision control and the interface available in the different off-road modes is incredible. On the first 4 hours of the trail we used ~16% battery (10 miles, 1500’ elevation gain).

I found the stainless cleaned up great as well in spite of 15 miles of narrow brush trails scraping the sides. Plastic parts not so much, but to be expected. Enough trail runs and it’ll just look like a patina on plastic.

 

[BannedByTMC]

My only disappointment was the quality of the plastics on the truck, fendor flares, bumpers, mirror cowels. Brush on the trail scratch them to the point that will have to be replaced or just deal with the new aesthetics of the truck, lol. Plastic polish and back to black help but don't get rid of them completely.

I've wondered about painting them with bed liner, or plasti-dip if you want a smooth finish.

 

[DevilDogDMD]

It was between the towns of Appalachia and Norton. Old strip mine trails.

What trail? Was on the Bald Mountain Jeep Trail in Virginia last weekend and noted similar performance on a fairly technical trail. The precision control and the interface available in the different off-road modes is incredible. On the first 4 hours of the trail we used ~16% battery (10 miles, 1500’ elevation gain).

I found the stainless cleaned up great as well in spite of 15 miles of narrow brush trails scraping the sides. Plastic parts not so much, but to be expected. Enough trail runs and it’ll just look like a patina on plastic.

 

[DevilDogDMD]

I've wondered about painting them with bed liner, or plasti-dip if you want a smooth finish.

They flex a lot, wonder if bed liner would stick. I'm thinking carbon fiber, but ?.

 

[tmeyer3]

I have already scratched up my plastics pretty good also. My plan is to get some under armor/sliders ASAP and just let the rest be, then replace with aluminum as needed. Everything comes wrapped in plastic from the OEM, my Rubicon included. I wouldn't say the CT plastic is any softer/weaker than the Jeep plastic was. I'll probably keep the fenders plastic though, better those are a little squishy anyway.

I don't really mind the scratched look on bumpers/fenders etc. I just need them to hold up a little better, not weigh a ton, and be fairly cheap so I don't feel bad replacing them. The big issue with steel is weight, cost, and they're annoyingly fragile as you have to maintain the powder coat/paint or get instant rust.... No thx

 

[Outdoors]

This is the type of plastic all around. This is the leading edge for the rear tire. I do off-roads on gravel roads but my speeds never really go over 25 mph.

I did one burnout in gravel when I put all the power to the rear wheels in the off-road app. So this really wouldn't have hit the leading edge with that since the power bias was 100% to the rear. I even watched the video that I did. Very little spray hit that leading edge for the rear wheel.

Just makes me think that this wasn't too thought out all the way around. You need some hard plastic, some places otherwise it will show every little touch with a dent.

Keep in mind those fairings have about 13,000 mi on it.

 

[Dazureus]

Any production marks indicating what kind of plastic is used?

 

[HaulingAss]

I have heard that replacement wheel fairings only costs $15 each from Tesla, but I haven't verified that with Tesla. It sounds pretty cheap, especially for an OEM part.

I think the soft plastic might be preferable to a harder plastic that could crack from impact.

 

[aeroguy]

I have heard that replacement wheel fairings only costs $15 each from Tesla, but I haven't verified that with Tesla. It sounds pretty cheap, especially for an OEM part.

I think the soft plastic might be preferable to a harder plastic that could crack from impact.

I have a quote from the SC for a new rocker fairing, it is $15. Picking up in two weeks, I’ll check for plastic composition markings then. The fastener holes had cracked from a curb impact. A better design might be where the fasteners break/release before the part, then the repair cost would have been pennies.

Replacing all the fairings, rockers, wheel arches would probably be hundreds (assuming the cameras survive). I would like to see a quote for each of those - it’s only a matter of time before I rip a wheel arch off…

 

[Speedr]

Someone, at some point, will make replacement ones that are better for whatever your goal is.

I'm hopeful the range hit is minimal with the removal of the leading fairings, and someone makes a replacement than just covers where they mount and doesn't extend below it.

 

[Mini2nut]

I’m waiting for an owner to Line-X the exterior plastic parts and report back. Wheel flares, bumpers, mirror caps, etc.

 

[Kengineer]

Yeah agree, I went off-roading got little marks on the plastic from the rocks hitting it. Can’t really notice unless I get up really close though. Forgot about it until I read your post.

 

[HaulingAss]

I've broken three out of four off in my last 13 off-roading adventures. I purposefully didn't remove them because I wanted to know how susceptible they were to getting knocked off or damaged, and what happened to the mounting points. One of them is lost, one is fatally torn, one came off but looks reusable and one is still mounted and looks fine. What gets them is driving over vertical/near vertical edges bigger than a normal curb (but it depends upon how high your suspension is set), especially dropping off a curb slowly (but not ultra slow), because the suspension compresses.

I think I also lost one driving over a jumble of fallen tree limbs and branches, because a small log or branch can kick up and get caught between the wheel and the wheel fairing. They are especially susceptible to this when reversing because they can be pushed back into the tread of the tire which is rising when in reverse and can catch on them. In forward the tread just pulls on them, it can't catch.

I think part of their resilience is due to the fact that they can flex quite a bit before they actually break. It would cost more, but I think some rubber ones would be cool. They would still get ripped off though, assuming they had similar dimensions. Harder plastic would be a no-go for me, I like that they have some resilience and don't mind that rocks will abrade them. I expect to see abrasions on vehicles down at the rocker panel level and below. It's normal and tends to not bother my sense of aesthetics.

I agree, someone should make some stubby off-road ones, range will take a hit but they would survive most abuse better.

 

[BeFamousVideo]

Took my dual motor truck off-road this week in the mountains of SW Virginia. I was impressed with the abilities of the truck and the comfort. Through multiple surfaces the truck never had an issue, even at road psi. The Baja settings are way more fun than the overland settings, but the overland settings are fantastic for technical and portions of trails. Sway bar disconnects would have been helpful.

My only disappointment was the quality of the plastics on the truck, fendor flares, bumpers, mirror cowels. Brush on the trail scratch them to the point that will have to be replaced or just deal with the new aesthetics of the truck, lol. Plastic polish and back to black help but don't get rid of them completely. Stainless also suffered some aesthetic changes, but with the right scotch brite pad and some bar keepers friend it pretty much goes back to its original surface texture. I have not been able to correct the paint on my previous trucks before with this kind of ease. The rocks beat the tires up but I think if we had reduced the pressure below 40psi they would have been better.

We used about 30% of the battery for the entire afternoon with the AC running the entire time. Time to get the mud and leaves from the nooks and crannies.

Great pics and post. Were you able to polish out the scratches and bring the SS panels back to original?
I've noticed after only 1,400 miles the plastic that surrounds the tonneau cover scratches very easily too. I can create a deep indentation with a fingernail with little effort and this area isn't exposed much to off road branches etc. I'm pretty sure after a year or two this plastic around the tonneau is going to look badly damaged. Perhaps installing a black matte wrap would protect it. I'm really not sure how to protect this area.

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