Front bumper bra, Which brand is best?

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Ventureshield

German engineering, lifetime guarantee, top of the line quality/reviews
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The black vinyl will protect your car better from stones. The best brand is probably Colgan. That being said, I would still go with a 3M clear bra type product. It offers good protection and is easy to take care of (occasional coat of wax). If the vinyl bra gets wet you have to remove it as it will discolor the paint if allowed to dry on the car. Sand and dirt can get trapped under it which could cause scratching. Also, if not installed correctly, it can flap around at speed.

 

I have a Colgan bra and a 3mm. The clear 3m goes about two thirds of the way up the hood.
Both are a good quality and do the job. The black vinyl bras do need removing often for cleaning the car as dirt, etc. does get trapped.
Not only does the hood need protecting but also the mirrors! Additionally I also put some left over clear on the rear where your hatch may hit the garage door and the bumper close to the open hatch.

 

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Yes, Ventureshield(the best invisible bra) protects against rocks, bugs, etc. Besides, black bras look bad and mess up aerodynamics.
--all of this (IMO) of course

 

Chris please tell me about your under dash led?
Thanks

 

Get a hood deflector if you can find one. The bra is a pain to take on and off and can leave a white residue on your paint after it gets wet. The clear film is much more expensive. Also I really don't see how a thin piece of film is going to protect the aluminum hood from road debris especially while going 70 MPH.

Any physics guru here could probably tell you the impact force of a stone being shot out of a tire of the vehicle in front of you when it hits your poor little thin aluminum hood while going 70MPH.

I would rather have a premium-grade acrylic device protecting my hood than a thin piece of clear film.

 

I guess this thin film has been tested by shooting pellets at it... and imagine the
right kind of thin plastic can stop it from denting in most cases. I remember seeing
pics and it was quite impressive.

i am also considering some type of protection. i wonder what the films start pricing
around?

 

I have the 3M Clear Bra on my 2007 Tundra and have had zero problems so far. In fact will be having it installed on our new 2008 Prius after we pick it up next week. Down here in Florida it's a must have with our 2 lovebug seasons....

 

I would rather LOOK at a thin piece of thin clear film protecting my hood than a premium-grade acrylic device.

 

The hood deflector actually makes the Prius LOOK so much better. The expensive clear film does nothing but cost you hundreds of dollars for very little protection and may eventually yellow in the sun.

 

In your opinion, perhaps, but I find those deflectors to be butt ugly. If they are the exact same color as the vehicle they are somewhat more tolerable only because they don't stand out as much. I have had 3M Clear Bra on my FEH for over two years and it is as optically clear as the day it was installed. The cheap films probably do yellow, the quality ones do not. The film offers far more protection. I have my bumper, front portion of hood, A pillars, front portion of roof, rocker panels, headlights and fog lights done. How many of those areas does a deflector protect? How about the aerodynamic consequences? (Please cite something independent, not what the people pushing those things say.) Not only does it protect against stones, etc., but it also offers far superior protection against bugs. I recently had a large rock bounce off of a flatbed on an interstate and strike the hood of FEH where it was protected. It left a dent, but the rock probably would have broken a deflector. No, none, zero paint damage. $50 to the paintless dent guy and 10 minutes later, you would not know it ever happened.

 

yikes. that clear plastic stuff will cost from 550-700 dollars to put on.
how much is a new bumper or hood after 3 years? :-|

 

Whew....glad I didn't have to say it.


ZC1

 

Dude, seriously. That polyurethane film (clear bras like Ventureshield) is German engineered for the purpose of surface protection from debris, it protects a lot more surface area than just the hood, and it's invisible.

The premium-grade acrylic device protecting your hood is not OEM, only protecting a small surface area, probably bad with aerodynamics, and an eye sore (IMO)

Front end protection solutions should be a clear bra, preferably Ventureshield. Again, (IMO)

 

Don't you mean new bumper, new fenders, new hood, and new mirrors after 3 years?
That's what the clear bras protect. Those are the places debris strikes.

Ventureshield is lifetime guaranteed and will NOT yellow

 

Sorry, didn't catch this till now.

Here is more info and pics on my DIY under dash LED project.
I will, but have not written up a full process report yet.

 

If you can stand the look of a black vinyl bra, then do what I did.
Put an inexpensive version of the 3M product ($30? for full kit, $45? for 20ft uncut roll) on your car and place the bra over the top. I used the Toyota bra, perfect fit but a bit skimpy on the hood compared to other bras. This bra will not be removed for years, wet or shine.
I didn't pick the LeBra, I saw the stitching and knew it's not the one I wanted. I ordered the Colgan, but didn't like the checkerboard pattern plus some poster said it didn't fit very well.
The Toyota has no faults that I can see, except as mentioned it doesn't cover much of the hood, but it does have a hood lip that redirects the air UP.

Now the layers are such:
Metal
Paint
ClearCoat
4 coats of Zaino (after a couple clays)
The .3mil easily removable clear bra
A Toyota Bra

Here are some cell phone pics.
Total cost, about $200 (maybe $10-15 more)
Time: I did it myself, 3-4 days worth.

ZC1

 

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Sorry EZ1, but...

Ewwwwwww :yuck: