INTRODUCTION OF THE chevy avalanche
The 2002 Chevy Avalanche was introduced with a light gray plastic body cladding intended to provide a next-generation distinctive look and protection in high-wear areas. The 2003 model featured darker cladding, but a mid-year public outcry over problems prompted the company to offer the Avalanche WBH model (without body hardware).
The Avalanche cladding developed cosmetic issues such as a chalky, faded look with streaking and discoloration from heat and sunlight exposure. General Motors agreed to a one-time treatment using ArmorDillo (not to be confused with ArmorThane). This solution only lasted six months. Their findings also indicated that the cladding cannot be painted properly.
The permanent solution to discoloration and other cladding damage is ArmorThane polyurethane. This is the same material used to spray bed liners to prevent scratching and denting. Because the cladding is somewhat flexible, it’s important to note that ArmorThane also bends and stretches with the surface, so it never cracks or peels like other coatings. Coating the cladding in place requires sanding and prepping with a conversion coating to ensure the polyurethane permanently adheres. The conversion coating is unnecessary if the panels are removed and encapsulated with the spraying process.
With a wide range of colors, customers can match existing cladding, the OEM body paint, or a contrasting color. A ColorCoat additive also eliminates future fading, even in extreme environments.
from personal experience:
Here is one customer’s story…
Steffan’s 2002 Avalanche was side-swiped, damaging the driver side running board back to the rear bumper. A hole was gouged in the cladded running board and a piece of cladding was creased on the rear quarter panel in front of the tire. Steffan’s first step was to remove the running board and have it repaired. Then he had both running boards coated with ArmorLiner polyurea. After seeing the results of the coated running boards, Steffan decided to remove all of the old cladding and have the dealer spray the pieces with ArmorThane. Unfortunately, he found another problem in that there was rust underneath the cladding, so the body also had to be repaired. The project had to be extended over a longer period than expected.
With polyurethane, there is no issue of fading, so the restoration could occur as time and resources permit. Steffan was quite pleased with the durability and textured finish of the coating. When he was at a baseball game, the Avalanche’s newly finished rear quarter panel took a direct hit from a foul ball. To his surprise, there was no damage.
Watch the whole story on YouTube
ArmorThane polyurethane maintains the “Avalanche look” but is much tougher. We nicknamed it “Armorlanche”.
FULL BODY
BEDLINER PAINT JOBS
Another option is to coat your entire vehicle with our spray on bedliner material. View our video in which we sprayed one of our employees vehicles. We completely coated his Dodge Ram pickup with our ArmorLiner polyurea coating material. His truck is ready for off-roading, and he will never have to worry about door dings again.
