Rear Quarter Paint Chipping Issue - TH/Pro? 6 foot box? Other trims?

Hey Folks,

Recently bought a Trailhunter (w/6 foot box) 1.5 weeks ago. Planned to wrap the truck in PPF (about 80% of it). Got a bit done the day after getting the truck but not enough time to complete. Drive it for work, a lot of highway and 10% gravel. Drove pretty slow on gravel most of the time for the first 2-3 trips across gravel (totalling about 60 miles, let’s say).

My rear quarter panels ahead of the rear wheel and the rear fender flare especially are absolutely chipped to hell from this first small amount of gravel. Speeds have been 40-70kph, averaging 50kph (30mph). There are small chips in my paint ahead of the rear flare (photos below), and the rear fender flare lower leading edge looks like a wood hasp it is pitted so bad.
My truck is stock, i drive 50-60% of the speed limit, and it has well-sized factory mud flaps. I assume this has to be a design flaw.

Who else is experiencing this issue? I assume the wider flares/body lines might be contributing to this increased exposure. But on the rear quarter panel ahead of the back wheel? Seems wild. It’s not happening on the doors. A friend of mine suspects rocks bouncing down from the front of the rear wheel and UP in to the fender. I’ve ordered new larger flaps (rally armor) and a second set to potentially mount some in front of the rear wheels. The truck has factory rock sliders… but I’ve ordered wider ones with a top plate and rear kick out to add protection from rocks flying.

Is this happening to other TH owners, or Pro owners on their flares? Pro flares are glossy and I assume even more harmed by this issue. Anyone with other trim levels seeing this?

I plan to contact my dealer on Monday to discuss.

(Yes, these are pits in the flares as well, not dirt, the truck is clean in the photo)





Side view for reference.



Mud flaps below for reference.

 

There have been a few other people with the same problem in the same spot. Since the rear fender sticks out further it’s a hot spot for chips. Get PPF as soon as you can. Wider mudflaps/rock sliders with a top plate will probably help a bit. If you’re gonna keep the same tire size bigger mudflaps should solve it.

 

While I understand that and it’s already my intention to do so (I’ve ordered new flaps and sliders before noticing it in anticipation of rocks in the future) I did not expect it to be this screwed up this fast. This is a design issue, if it’s not just me, particularly on this configuration. They shouldn’t sell a stock truck that can’t go down a gravel road one or two times at the speed limit without getting destroyed.

 

Yeah look around this forum and 4gTacoma you’ll see a few. Actually the members that pointed this issue out early on is the reason I got PPF almost immediately. I saw on a Facebook group the other day someone said they redesigned the OEM mudflaps to stick out a bit further but it doesn’t matter if the damage is done. Keep the thread updated I wanna see what the dealer says

 

It appears Toyota's white paint still has adhesion issues on the 4th gens.

 

Keep forgetting to take a picture of mine, have it too but I drive dirt roads every single day so haven’t really thought much of it… trd or dclb

 

@TacoRancher @snickers @bobobuhanych @Trailhunter Mark @mnmpizza @heyisleep
Tagging a few TH owners I have seen on this forum. How does your flare look as well?

 

I think I have a newer style mud flap than some other folks. But again… I went down gravel twice, and my flares were f##ked and box side chipped, at low speeds.

My PPF shop told me that films will not stick well enough to the flares themselves to be worth installing either. I specifically think something is up with the TH/Pro body lines, but would like to hear from others

 

I also drive gravel (a mix of good and shitty gravel) every day (the last portion of my commutes each time, travelling to pipeline accesses), but didn’t think id be hooped after such little driving on gravel.

 

My third gen pro had this issue on the rear flare and I just view the flare as taking the hit for the paint. I’ve only driven my truck 1,800 miles and I already have some flare damage (not crazy but no off-roading yet) but no paint chips. My mud flaps are total crap and don’t kick out far enough. I’ll replace those and also add more PPF in the blue area shown.

Also there’s no point in adding PPF to the flare itself anyway as it will mutilate it fast. We need to stop 90% of the rocks from getting there to start with.

 

My “mud flaps”

 

The “newer” ones are the ones stamped Tacoma. Honestly the OEM mudguards are garbage. They’re tiny and almost no coverage.

I was told the same thing. I just had the shop do a custom strip on both sides and it worked out pretty well. I don’t drive gravel roads but if I did I’d be confident in it protecting. I’d be furious if it was me though it’s definitely a design flaw

 

The flare isn’t taking a hit for the paint on the side of my box though.
And the geometry of the rear flare vs. Mud flaps is ridiculous for a factory offering, if it’s this bad this fast.

 

You can “just” see Tacoma stamped on my flaps in the previous images… but for continuity… I do have the larger style with better coverage.

 

So is the issue the front flap? What flaps do you recommend ?

 

Canada gets the better flaps. Let us know if an aftermarket one is even better.

 

I wonder if maybe the rocks hitting the flares are also hitting the box side…?

I dont know where the issue is, yet… I need to mount a go pro on the rock slider or something to evaluate and watch the rocks…

 

Could you show us where you added the extra PPF

 

Yeah no problem. I don’t have pics of my own truck but I have the pictures I used to explain to the PPF shop what I wanted. These 3 spots plus front bumper, front grill surround, headlights, and fog lights is what I had done

 

I’m now wondering if this is more of a long-box issue where the rocks on the short box mostly hit the back tire versus the QP