GP Factor Fender Plates 3M tape not holding

[C-Mack]

As the temperatures have changed I’ve noticed my GP Fender Plates 3M tape bond is not holding as I initially installed them in September. Vehicle is garage kept/clean and does not see the elements so I’m a bit surprised to see them lifting so soon. I followed the instructions they provide exactly and was very thorough with the cleaning and paint prep, I also weighted down the plates and let them cure for about a week before I used the vehicle.

Initially everything was great but I’ve noticed the front edge is lifting. It almost looks as if the aluminum plate is starting to cup slightly width wise and lifting up off the fender. These are beautiful plates (better material and looking than OEM) and I really don’t want to have to drill/rivet them down hence the reason I went with them in the first place. I would imagine getting them back off will be a bit of a struggle as I’d like to see what the issue is and reinstall them.

 

[anand]

Getting them off shouldn't be too terribly bad; use floss (or similar) to cut/separate the VHB. A bit of heat will help in removing the VHB (and a 3M adhesive removal wheel for the small bits).

I hit mine with a bit of 3M Adhesion promoter prior to install, but then again, I know we haven't experienced nearly the temps that UT has

 

[Jeffrey]

I was an early proponent of mounting the tread plats with VHB tape. All was well until I noticed a bit of separation. Not long after, I noticed the plate vibrating slightly loose as I drove on the freeway at 70 mph. As I was nearing an exit to check it out, the plate flew off the vehicle and up into the air like a wing, never to be seen again. When I remounted the new ones, I only installed three black rivets and used 1/4" wide tape. Problem solved.

 

[C-Mack]

Thanks for the tips, I figured that would be the process to remove and replace them. I used the 3M adhesion promoter but it still came apart frustratingly. Too nice of a product to give up on so I’ll have to try again I guess.

 

[C-Mack]

I was an early proponent of mounting the tread plats with VHB tape. All was well until I noticed a bit of separation. Not long after, I noticed the plate vibrating slightly loose as I drove on the freeway at 70 mph. As I was nearing an exit to check it out, the plate flew off the vehicle and up into the air like a wing, never to be seen again. When I remounted the new ones, I only installed three black rivets and used 1/4" wide tape. Problem solved.

That’s exactly the scenario I’m concerned about the plates go flying… I do have a set of black rivets as “Plan B” option though. I really don’t want to drill through the fender if I can avoid it and prefer the clean look without rivets but we’ll see how it goes.

I’m curious if the aluminum plates are heating/expanding and cooling at different rates than the fender itself which is the mechanism that eventually causes the tape to fail? Also, could the additional thickness of the GP plates compared to stock make them less likely to conform fully to the fender putting additional pressure on the adhesive tape?

 

[Jeffrey]

That’s exactly the scenario I’m concerned about the plates go flying… I do have a set of black rivets as “Plan B” option though. I really don’t want to drill through the fender if I can avoid it and prefer the clean look without rivets but we’ll see how it goes.

I’m curious if the aluminum plates are heating/expanding and cooling at different rates than the fender itself which is the mechanism that eventually causes the tape to fail? Also, could the additional thickness of the GP plates compared to stock make them less likely to conform fully to the fender putting additional pressure on the adhesive tape?

The tread plates are aluminum and so are the fenders. I wouldn't think thermal expansion to be different. I expect my tread plates to be permanent. Just drill the holes. It's not a museum piece....

 

[HereinDaRockies]

@GPFACTOR Thoughts on the tape not as durable as claimed?

 

[GPFACTOR]

@GPFACTOR Thoughts on the tape not as durable as claimed?

I have spoken with C-Mack and I think this is an isolated situation. We have shipped a couple hundred of these kits and have not had anyone else emailing us that the plates are coming off of there vehicle. The material is .125 alum and can easily be drilled and riveted for piece of mind since he fenders are so thin. We have two sets that have been installed on our shop grenadiers since March 2024 - multiple trips to the car wash, pressure washed, extreme colds down to -20 and extreme heats in full summer, and both are still intact. Like I said, we have had a few customers drill a few rivet holes and rivet for piece of mind. We may offer that as an option later this year for a version that does both as I would want more than just a few 1/8" alum rivets since the fender material is extremely thin. Each plate does have 7 feet of VHB on it.

Keep in mind, there is a massive amount of accessories on the outside of the grenadier that are held on from the factory in the same method. It is extremely important that VHB is installed correctly. Not to say C-Mack didnt, because I think he did from what he told me. I say all that because I had a factory panel on the drivers side of my vehicle that was not installed with the VHB correctly (Behind rear door) that I had to rip off and retape on properly. And that made it through Hambach QC, installed at the facotry.

Unfortuantely we don't make 3M and we can't install them on customer vehicles; so I cant say that every single section of VHB from 3M is perfect and that the installs always go as planned. We will 100% help customers replace, fix, or remedy when something like this happens the best we can.

 

[LabRat]

Drill holes and put in rivets? That's how the factory ones are installed.

 

[GPFACTOR]

Drill holes and put in rivets? That's how the factory ones are installed.

Its an option for sure if someone chooses to do so. The factory ones were supposed to come with both rivets and a smaller amount of VHB. From the sets we got, there was foam, and alum rivets included, but no VHB. But if some people want to stall rivets in ours, its not hard and an option. the 7ft of VHB plus a few rivets would be overkill but an option for piece of mind. ill send the rivets to anyone that wants to do it. Just sent me an email: aj@gp-factor.com. Again, we have two grenadiers currently, both have fender plates, both have about 26k miles on them, and we wont install the rivets in those.

 

[C-Mack]

I have spoken with C-Mack and I think this is an isolated situation. We have shipped a couple hundred of these kits and have not had anyone else emailing us that the plates are coming off of there vehicle. The material is .125 alum and can easily be drilled and riveted for piece of mind since he fenders are so thin. We have two sets that have been installed on our shop grenadiers since March 2024 - multiple trips to the car wash, pressure washed, extreme colds down to -20 and extreme heats in full summer, and both are still intact. Like I said, we have had a few customers drill a few rivet holes and rivet for piece of mind. We may offer that as an option later this year for a version that does both as I would want more than just a few 1/8" alum rivets since the fender material is extremely thin. Each plate does have 7 feet of VHB on it.

Keep in mind, there is a massive amount of accessories on the outside of the grenadier that are held on from the factory in the same method. It is extremely important that VHB is installed correctly. Not to say C-Mack didnt, because I think he did from what he told me. I say all that because I had a factory panel on the drivers side of my vehicle that was not installed with the VHB correctly (Behind rear door) that I had to rip off and retape on properly. And that made it through Hambach QC, installed at the facotry.

Unfortuantely we don't make 3M and we can't install them on customer vehicles; so I cant say that every single section of VHB from 3M is perfect and that the installs always go as planned. We will 100% help customers replace, fix, or remedy when something like this happens the best we can.

A quick follow up since the discussion thread came back to life. The fender plate in question (right front) is still on my vehicle, I’ve made no attempt to replace it. It doesn’t appear to be getting any worse but yes the very front of the plate and a couple of inches down each side has come unstuck just behind headlight panel. I will say AJ was very kind enough to reach out and discuss the situation with me. I can’t emphasize how much I appreciated his concern on this matter. To be clear, correct installation procedures were followed as I cleaned, prepped the surface for adhesion and used weights to allow the tape to cure for 48 hours just to be sure.

I did share with AJ, including some images, of the plate in question has a slight curve to it from side to side. What I should have done was stop and consulted with GPFactor first before installing. The only thing I can figure is the curve in the fender plate, albeit slight, would act like a spring of sorts and put upward pressure on the tape. The fender plate on the drivers side did not behave this way and is fully adhered to the panel to this day. I don’t think this is a design issue or even an issue with the tape itself. Perhaps the plate was tweaked slightly in shipment and in my enthusiasm to get them installed figured once weighted down things would straighten out (which they did) and be fine. However, after a few short weeks it slowly started to spring up hence my upward springing tension theory.

Point being, I don’t think anyone should hesitate to purchase and install GPFactor fender plates as they are the best quality I have seen by far. I would recommend once you receive the plates to take a moment to compare them and make sure they both lay completely flat prior to install. If you see any variation between the two let GPFactor know so they can advise you.

I may in the future try and remove the plate and see if I can straighten out the slight bend so it sits flat but I’m hesitant to mess around with it as VHB tape can be a bit of a pain to get back off. If the plate continues to lift, I may consider rivets but that would not be ideal and defeats the purpose of GP’s clean design. If access to the underside of the fender was better I’d prefer to go the route of flush mounted high quality hex drive fasteners (in black) and follow the factory hole layout pattern. Perhaps this is an option AJ might go with in the future and would be something I’d be interested in for sure.