ZL1 Addons rock guards for s550 - full instructions with photos

[Mr. G]

No idea which ones people were having issues with. My deluxe guards arrived today, kit was complete and all parts accounted for. Just finished installing the fronts, both went on without a hitch and no probs with the push pins. Very easy. Doing the rears tomorrow.

got mine yesterday and everything was there. will probably do the install over the weekend.

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[5ABI VT]

These look great. After reading the thread, I think ill call him and say im missing hardware and then call back and order them. That way Ill have the missing pieces same day

 

[macek25]

Same mine. Have deluxe so was no problem at all.

 

[Less Weight]

Installed my deluxe front set yesterday. Quality product and minimal effort exerted in fully seating the pushpins.

After installing these I couldn't help wondering why on earth Ford saw fit to NOT have a product such as these installed from the factory, especially on models outfitted with the wider wheel/tire package. They not only serve to protect the paint from stone chips but also double as a mud/splatter guard.

Furthermore, I was somewhat reluctant to install these as I was worried that they may ruin the flow of the body lines but this simply is not the case, as they are quite seamless.

All in all, I'm quite pleased with the product and now don't cringe and squint every time I hear the barrage of stones pelting around inside the wheel well.

 

[catchthecarp]

All done, easy install, about 90 minutes start to finish. They blend in rather nicely with the rest of the trim and feel securely attached. Thanks to the OP for detailed instructions, too!

 

[yomamma219]

I don't think you would scrape since they are so thin and sit so close to the wheel itself. Also they aren't very long. Youd probably scape if you were on air and slammed to the ground

 

[yomamma219]

I would probably go with the regular. I have the deluxe and the 3M tape recently failed on me. The manner in which it failed leads me to believe a thinner, thus more flexible, piece of plastic would be less likely to fail. The plastic pulled away from the tape from the center out which I think was due to it trying to stay straight even though the wheel well curves a bit at the top

 

[Mustang_Lou]

I have the regular set and am very pleased with them .... maybe more flexible too than the deluxe kit so not as much risk of them un-taping themselves as yomamma said.

 

[Fordever]

I have the regular set and am very pleased with them .... maybe more flexible too than the deluxe kit so not as much risk of them un-taping themselves as yomamma said.

Same. Originals and all great.

 

[PatrickGT]

Received mine recently and when installing the fronts I noticed a couple of things:

The adhesive was misaligned and improperly installed. It actually pulled off of the rock guard when I was removing the strip on the other side to expose the adhesive, then laid back down badly and is wrinkled where it's attached to my car on the passenger side.

The instructions I received are NOT the ones in the OP. They are a tragic mess of misspellings and convoluted steps that make little sense. Fortunately the product is easy enough to figure out on its own because the instructions were laughable at best. You'd fail your GED exam if you turned those in...

As this site typically goes, I am comfortable with the impending attacks on my ability to install tape and I'm well aware that most of you will assume this is my fault and attack me for posting my personal experiences in a thread about the product people are interested in but please know I'll consider you a complete idiot for doing so and we can save the effort.

So overall the product quality could use some serious effort. Let's see if they last...

They did not last. First the driver's side adhesive failed, and to be clear it failed between the ZL1Addons mud flap and the adhesive itself so it failed where *they* installed it, not where I properly cleaned/treated the vehicle body and it is still attached.

Then the passenger side failed as well. Very poor quality.

So, to summarize... the instructions are terrible, the initial product quality is suspect, and the product itself failed on both sides as a result of improper factory preparation. I couldn't possibly recommend this to anyone.

 

[5.0_SD]

Great, I have the deluxe version sitting in my garage now :tsk:

 

[Jmart]

I ended up going with the CPC option and have had zero issues. The 3m tape for the front comes separate from the flap, and with proper fender prep and application of light heat from my heat gun, it's like a rock. Not sure what the ZL1 instructions state, but in my experience heat is a must to get full adhesion from VHB.

 

[GTP]

ZL1 approved my (OP) instructions, but apparently they are inconsistent in sending them with the product. Too bad they won't post them on their site.

And they should stop trying to pre-install the 3m tape on the front guards. The only way to control the alignment (and hence the appearance) is to put a strip on the fender first, as with my instructions.

As with any auto adhesive task, prepping the surface to be clean and dry and proper temp range is paramount.

If at all possible, allow the rear blocks adhesive to set up overnight before attempting to continue the install, starting with the drilling step.

Mine have been on 1 year now with no issues.

 

[Tmason]

Installed the deluxe set on the front and like others the adhesive failed within a week. I may get some more tape and try again. Idk about the rears have them sitting in the garage seeing if the fronts can last...

 

[5.0_SD]

[MENTION=16078]GTP[/MENTION] with me being in Florida and it being as hot as the sun here, with what you mentioned about temperatures, should I still take a blow dryer to the tape or just stick it on?

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