Portable Body Armor

[smplone]

I had this idea to try and create some body armor made out of magnets that could be custom painted to any color, line-x or perhaps a custom graphics or logo application. The idea would be you take these things out of a sleek bag and stick them to vehicle to protect paint and finish from the typical scratches, dings and "pin stripes". Upon initial search, I found nothing like it online. Started looking into other search engines for different ideas and came across someone who has already developed it and sells it. I am not sure this is what I had in mind, but its pretty close. Although the pictures attached are of the FJ, it gives a pretty good idea of how it works. I requested a quote and the price shipped was $1000. A little to high for me, but maybe worth it to some who want to protect their finish while continuing to play hard. www.offroadnagnetics.com

 

[CrazySteve911]

Thats pretty badass.

It'd be a pain to take apply and take off though. Maybe not.. Depends on how much you wheel i guess. Neat idea though.

 

[Airmapper]

I thought this sounded familiar......

[video=youtube;Xpc6SwYd8Dg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xpc6SwYd8Dg[/video]

 

[GPD605X]

You can get sheet magnets for way cheaper. Like the sheets that they use to cut out ribbons and etc. If you take the measurements and cut it all yourself then apply fabric or whatever you want to the magnet.

Not sure on the thickness of those specific magnet sheets (site isn't working on my work computer)
But I found these. Flexible Magnet Sheets - 30mil Thickness - 50ft Long Roll - $257.60

I imagine 50 feet would be plenty to work with.

50ft x 24" Flexible Magnetic Sheet

 

[CaptainMorgan_SOS]

The one you posted is 30 mil thick. This would work perfect. It is the stuff used for car magnets, so instead of putting a fabric on it, you could cover it in a vinyl with some sort of design on it. Could sell like hotcakes... but not for $1k.

 

[Xado89]

Wonder how much weight that all add's. Not to mention the fabric getting caught on something potentially and ripping, or if it gets wet it would be a B**ch to clean?

 

[smplone]

The idea of making it sounds relatively cheap and if made with style especially custom finishes that fit the driver can help make it personable. And yeah $1000 is to expensive in my book, i was hoping for something under $500. Maybe not wrap entire side of vehicle and definitely has to be manageable, meaning fits in nice stow away bag kept in one of the cargo areas out of the way. My thoughts were to get some construction paper from a roll at Lowes and map out the areas I wanted to protect to form the template. Then cut the template out of some sort of sheet application, maybe stronger paper to give the magnets something to adhere to. Can't do cardboard, cause you would want it to be able to fold and bend with contours of vehicle or fold in a bag. I am sure the roll of magnets doesn't come in anything wider than 24" also. Then use the other side to spray with Line-x, custom graphics or maybe a vinyl wrap. I did ask the question to offroadmagnetics about its durability if intended for off road use. His reply was the fabric can be made as thick as needed to prevent rips, guaranteed a one year free replacement and is marketing that they are easily washable. Be great if someone was interested in bringing a prototype to the event for show and tell. I am positive this product could sell for less and be profitable, especially within the X-Community.

 

[GPD605X]

Also, that website says they cut custom lengths. If you could get one big sheet the length by width of the X. Then get your poster board or something similar as a template then lay them out on the magnet sheet and cut it. I would imagine vinyl wrapping would be best. You could do like digi camo or something cool like that. Not sure using bedliner would work well due to the magnet sheet being flexible but I'm no bedliner expert. If I had the money, I would give it a shot but I don't lol... So, who is going to be the first to do this???

 

[smplone]

After reading some of the responses I was getting motivated to work a prototype up, especially since I originally started discussion. but since my experience today with another mod using magnets to adhere to vehicle, I am going to opt out of it for now. I am taking pictures of the "finishing mod" I am working on to post on XN when all done; so won't go into much detail. Lets just say I worked up something magnetic for the truck and it fell off while driving somewhere and I have to start over. Thankfully I still had original template and spare material. Key points for anyone looking into this particular modification is whatever is attached by magnet will not stay on past 40mph, might also be compromised to heavy forces of water (from a stream crossing) or branches grabbing hold of it and detaching itself from the vehicle. Based on the pictures of the existing maker, looks like his products wrap the door jambs and use the doors to help secure the protection to the body. Which based on my experience today makes a lot of sense.

 

[Creepy Cruiser]

We do magnets all the time here, and ours have been tested to 140 mph with no failure. There are many rules that go along with magnets to make sure they don't fly off, lol. The quality of the mag is very important, and that goes along with how strong it is as well.

The biggest problem with this whole concept is: The idea is, you want it to protect the paint from scratches. However, installing and removing the magnets creates a lot of scratches on it's own. Also, every time you install them, they will imbed tiny little pieces of metal so far into your paint under them, that it will start to rust, lol. Magnets are not happy for paint. They have their place, but this is not one of them. You will end up destroying the very thing you are trying to protect, lol.

 

[smplone]

We do magnets all the time here, and ours have been tested to 140 mph with no failure. There are many rules that go along with magnets to make sure they don't fly off, lol. The quality of the mag is very important, and that goes along with how strong it is as well.

The biggest problem with this whole concept is: The idea is, you want it to protect the paint from scratches. However, installing and removing the magnets creates a lot of scratches on it's own. Also, every time you install them, they will imbed tiny little pieces of metal so far into your paint under them, that it will start to rust, lol. Magnets are not happy for paint. They have their place, but this is not one of them. You will end up destroying the very thing you are trying to protect, lol.

Wow good point. Thanks for your input as myself and anyone else are brainstorming this concept. I did not know that there were different levels or strengths of magnetism. Also would have never occurred to me of the damage in the long run. So before this idea completely runs into the ground, would you recommend wrapping the magnetic side with a light fabric almost silk like film before adhering to the vehicle? We are not talking about wrapping the vehicle with magnetic protection 24/7. Only used when expected to be on trails with vehicle / brush contact. I know "pin striping" is part of the territory and I am willing to live with it, but just for fun spent over 8 hours yesterday compounding and sometimes wet sanding them out of the truck. I haven't see the vehicle shine like it does today since I first bought it. So would really like to not go down that road every year if possible.

 

[Creepy Cruiser]

The problem with the magnets, is not the material contact itself. The problem is all the tiny little shards of metal that stick to it all the time whether you're using it or not. No matter how clean you think it is, it has these tiny little particles that are stuck to it and that is what digs into your paint. If you put a material in between the mag and the body, the damaging particles will still be there, (it will just pick up new ones on the outside of the new material, lol) The ones we make for the autoX guys, we include a soft bag that the mag goes in immediately after removing it from the car. This cuts down on the contamination some (it still does damage over time though). All it takes is setting it on the seat one time, (even though the seat seems clean), and it's full of damaging particles (as soon as you set it down on anything, you're screwed, lol). Now with that said, it will cut down some on the heavy pinstripes during wheeling, but I just wanted you guys to know, that it was going to come with other side effects. Also, if you want them to stay on, make sure the entire mag is flat on a surface. If there is a body line or piece of trim or anything under it, it will fly off, lol, (it has to be flat). Also, putting a fabric or anything in between, will cut the power of the mag down greatly, so it will not stay on near as good. Direct to a clean surface is the best.

 

[smplone]

Very good point about the attraction of finer particles. That would have been something I would have discovered post production. So while back to square 1, I was thinking in order for this to still work, the material might need to change to something else like Vinyl or rubber and use clips like you see on car bras to attach and tighten on door panels. OR the product itself needs to change to a spray application for ease of use. The problem I was reaching with that theory is you would want something strong enough to adhere to vehicle but wash off when no longer desired. Now we are talking about aerosol based applications and chemicals that you may not want your name behind if accidentally ingested. I decided to see what else might be out there and came across something Armor All just developed. Its called Custom Shield Coating. Its a spray on application in a 14oz can, comes in Grey, White, Black or Clear. Link is provided below. Looks like it sprays on like paint, dries and peels off like rubber. Totally washable. I am sure its primary intention is to replace bug shields, car bras...etc. But looks cheap enough to give it a whirl on side coating. I was going to look at placing some flat black vinyl on the raised portion of the hood like many others have done with paint to see if its something I like. Maybe I will try this stuff out this week and see what its durability and longevity is before the NXM event. I will post up modification pics when done. Check it out. http://www.aacustomshield.com/

 

[Creepy Cruiser]

It's basically the same as "plasti-dip". Been around forever, it's all over the forums. Check out some of the threads, you'll see.

 

[smplone]

It's basically the same as "plasti-dip". Been around forever, it's all over the forums. Check out some of the threads, you'll see.

Yeah as soon as I read "plasti-dip" it dawned on me the similarity. Sometimes you can get so wrapped up in an idea, you forget the obvious solutions are out there.

 

[wiseguy3501]

I thought this sounded familiar......

[video=youtube;Xpc6SwYd8Dg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xpc6SwYd8Dg[/video]

One of my favorite episodes!

 

[GhostX]

I respect your ingenuity on this one...but this product would probably be viewed with skepticism and humor by serious off road enthusiasts.

Just sayin'...

 

[Pro-2X]

Some people pay good money for the pin striping designs that I have gotten naturally.

 

[smplone]

I respect your ingenuity on this one...but this product would probably be viewed with skepticism and humor by serious off road enthusiasts.

Just sayin'...

Trust me, i know what you're saying about skepticism and humor. But its easy to disregard the paint and body protection when taking the vehicle off the beaten path. Its an awesome feeling to not care about it when things scrape down the side and you sit back and admire the pin stripes. Did it for 2 years and often told others that followed me down the same path; if I were to never do this again i would be pissed at the scratches. But I know I love doing this and they are part of the territory. But if there is one thing we can all agree on when it comes to this little trucks is we love them and appreciate them. If there was a way to enjoy both environments without a huge sacrifice, then it might be worth it. No matter how "serious" of a driver you are. i know I have grown to enjoy building two profiles for my truck. A street profile and and off road profile. Both look totally different but yet both are the same truck. Not to mention the resale value. Its worth more to have a vehicle that you can sell as either a street truck, OHV or both. So with all that said, my search continues. After a little over two years of "pin striping" it took nearly 3 hours of compound wax and buffing to get 90% of the scratches and white lines out of the vehicle. So looked into the plasti dip method. Decided to get the paint and do the hood first for testing prior to doing the entire sides. The pictures below are humorous. Apparently I must have been watching the wrong You-tube videos. I applied it wrong and taped it wrong. For some reason I thought it was best to peel the tape after it dried instead of when it was wet. It was not pretty when i tried pulling that tape line off. I was also under the impression I was supposed to spray each coat then let it semi dry before applying the next coat.

In the end I decided that I must get this off and re-do it. Took about 8 hours of my day today peeling this stuff off in crumbs and thin lines. Constantly spraying more over a surface to bond it so I could then peel it off with better results. Just got it all off and clean again. Going to re-tape and apply again. Newly found advice tells me to apply each coat independently across entire surface, then follow with each additional coat until desired look is reached. Then immediately peel tape off while wet to obtain sharp lines. (sigh)(sigh) on that one, so wish I found that video before initial attempt. Going to drive it for a week before making decision to do sides for event. Information says it holds up against power washing after one week and can stay on vehicle for up to 3 months. Which is just in time for camping season.

 

[GPD605X]

Same thing happened to mine. I bought the wide spray nozzle after my failed first attempt. It's all streaky and stuff. The first time I laid it on too thin and waiting too long to pull the tape off and it came out similar to yours. The 2nd time, I resprayed the taped line then immediately took it off. They say that every time you apply another coat, it rebonds with it and liquifys it then it dries. From what I've read about plasti-dip... if you're doing large areas, its best to use an actual sprayer. Smaller areas like rocker panels are good for using cans. I plan on re-doing my hood. But I'll actually take my hood off that way I don't have to reach while spraying. Here's my results...

Tape line after 1st attempt.

After peeling

2nd Attempt

 

[GPD605X]

I forgot... I spoke to a company who is certified in "dipping" cars and they said their prices start at $600 for large suvs. They said they could spray on a few extra coats and spray it on thicker because I told them I off-road frequently to help with "pin-striping".

 

[smplone]

Yup, Looks very familiar. I really hate to say my first experience tops yours, but I made another mistake I didn't mention in previous post. While painting the hood the first time, I was trying to do two things at once and work on the "Hidden Cargo / Tray Organizer" (build thread I just posted) and there was a lot of sanding of foam in the same space as the hood painting. So to top the first time peeling an incorrect plasti dip spray it was also covered in tiny particles. I tell you it was a pain the ass to get that stuff off. You can't spray anything on it, can't just power wash it off, you could goo gone it but that would be a real mess. All day in the garage with a fan rubbing it with my fingers. I could probably get away with a bank heist now cause I have no finger prints left. Really hate learning those lessons the hard way. Should have done a test print somewhere as recommended but as always ego gets in the way of recommendations.

Your 2nd attempt looks great. I originally included the sides and front of the hood elevation as you have done. This time I only did the center elevation. Worked like a charm with can treatment over sprayer. Focused on the hood then trim lines last. Immediately pulled up tape and achieved desired look. $600 is a lot of money to dump into protection once a year. I assume that price was for entire vehicle. I know you can get gallons of this stuff in any color at www.dipyourcar.com along with the sprayer and accessories for half that price. I only intend to do the sides from window down during the camping season of fall - spring. and probably maintain the hood year round. Really want to be in a position to always use the cans. Convenient to buy at local store when necessary, super cheap and no mess. I don't go off road during spring and summer, so no need to fully dip the vehicle.

Thanks for the post, I will upload finished pic tomorrow when it dries. And will be at the event in a few weeks with it sprayed on side using cans.

 

[smplone]

Here's the finished look done correctly this time. Using the $6 can of Plasti dip (Black / Flat). Used approx. 2 cans to do the hood. Just purchased 6 cans of the new Charcoal Grey from dipyourcar.com to do the sides for the NXM event and hopefully it stays on for the remainder of my camping season (Ocotober - March)

 

[smplone]

Here's the finished look with a charcoal grey can spray down the sides and trimmed on hood. Its not professional, but it will do for my intentions the next 3 months.

 

[Macland]

That looks really good man.