Just hangin' out

[ColonelPanic]

So, I get to work today and I back into my space at work and hear something dragging... Huh? I pull back up, still hearing it. Back into the spot once more and it still made the noise.I get out and find the splash shield/inner fender piece just hanging there, touching the ground. Apparently, it had been dragging for some time, as I had heard something odd earlier on the way to work but never though anything of it.It's cracked in places, and in general, might as well call it fubar. Just got off the phone with the dealer, that piece of junk isn't covered under the GMPP. This is the piece that raging had to ziptie, is it not? And rasermon, didn't yours get messed up too?The part where it goes in the fender is fine, but where it tucks under the bumper, that's where it is messed up. Gonna have to duct tape it, since IIRC they charge quite a bit for that stupid piece of plastic, and I don't have the money to replace it. I'm going to have to improvise here though, I have to find a temporary means of holding it up until I can get the car up to the quickie mart and get some duct tape. I can't seem to get the piece to stay up by the bumper, it keeps falling down, and the crap that should hold it in place, well, that ain't there anymore. heh

[NSimkins]

Yes, ragingfish, rasermon, and I have all had to replace a fender-liner in our days. Mine more recently.. must have hit something on the highway and put a hole into the liner. I could have patched it but ended up getting it replaced. The liner is all one piece, that you're referring to, that goes from the front from under the bumper, through the fender, to the back of the wheel well (near the door).Here are some pics I took, before and after (ignore the last 2 pics):http://www.nicksimkins.com/gal...kmiscI paid $60 for the liner (part # 88969697) and about $10 for additional push-in pins (part # 88970767) through partszoneonline.com.

[ColonelPanic]

Yep. That be the piece that's broken! That's not as expensive as I had thought, I remember raging getting quoted a lot more than that for the thing. I think I busted mine from pulling up too far one too many on the concrete thingy in my parking space at home. Thanks for the info, I'll have to look into that when I can get the cash together.

[NSimkins]

Those concrete parking devices can be evil.. If you can duct tape it for now (try to keep it inconspicious ) you should be OK. My main concern was for my CAI, which the filter is right on the other side of the (former) hole.ragingfish told me that partszoneonline was the most reasonable price, as well as shipping. He said GM PartsDirect's shipping was excessively more to ship the liner.Keep us posted.

[ColonelPanic]

Quote, originally posted by NSimkins »If you can duct tape it for now (try to keep it inconspicious ) you should be OK.Rats. I was planning on getting some flourescent pink stuff, maybe something like what they have here: http://www.identi-tape.com/duct.html

[ColonelPanic]

I have it temporarily attached with clear packing tape, the tape goes up the sides of the front bumper. I went to the quickie mart to see if they had any, but there were no ducks nor their tape. I shall have to limp this thing to wal*mart and try to get some there after work.It makes a hell of a lot of noise now once you get the thing up to 40 MPH. Way cool. I can't go home until I get it taped down sufficiently, if it's sounding this bad on the side streets, I would NOT want to hear it on the interstate where I'm rollin' along at 70. The more I'm playing around with this little piece of plastic, the more I have to ask.... COULD THEY HAVE POSSIBLY USED A CHEAPER AND MORE FLIMSY MATERIAL??? I tried it, and a weakling such as myself can grab hold of this plastic and crush it like it's a friggin' MILK JUG. Silly Toyota! I do have to say that with my previous GM products, I couldn't even bend the plastic that was used in similar locations. I understand there is a need to save money and weight, but uh... When you have a goofball like me behind the wheel, taking the cheap way out isn't the best way out. Hmm, maybe I can save myself $60 + shipping and melt down a bunch of milk jugs and make me a new one of these pieces, paint the stupid thing black, and bolt it on? Eh, I guess I'm just ticked that i have to spend more money on this car that I really can't afford to. Rant over. Funny pictures to follow, later on tonight! Comic relief for my misfortune. I guess I don't need to change my transmission fluid, or put new brakes on it now, I get to spend my money here eh...

[ColonelPanic]

Ok, here's the scoop! CP's "thank god it's not patented" method of attachment, ClearSkrew, worked sorta good enough to get home without the thing dragging the ground.A more robust tape would have been nice, but this stuff was phree.And not having to pay for stuff is good. However, this particular method of attachment induced a significant amount of turbulence for the ride home. I found that believe it or not, this little flimsy piece of plastic was capable of making the entire car shake if I went too far above the posted 55 MPH speed limit. I decided to try to get home, as there is a better wal*mart available close by that I'm not so frightened to visit at four in the morning.On with "Project duck this piece!" Interpret that how you like, any way is fine with me.Once the space age adhesive material from Operation ClearSkrew was removed, the piece flopped down and hung there lifelessly. Sadly though, I had no Vibagra to help with the issue. Bummer. Earlier in the day, it wasn't quite this bad but it was close. It hung down there pretty low, but the part in front of the tire wasn't so out of place. I see an empty hole around there that looked like it used to have a retainer there. Not now, of course. And the clippy thing with the bolt that goes underneath is still around, it's in my driver's floorboard at the moment but it has seen better days, so I didn't even bother to make it work.The above is just one of the broken areas. There is another large break in the plastic near the tow hook but for some reason, I never got a picture of that.Now, onto repairing... I chose another highly advanced space age adhesive for this task and applied a significant amount of it.The tow hook proved to be instrumental in this project. It would seem that the engineers of this plastic used a substance that does not favor my special adhesive material, so I was having difficulty getting the strips of this adhesive material to adhere properly to the surface. Or perhaps it was just because of all the dirt. At any rate, the adhesives were able to form a secure bond with the tow hook, so I kept applying the stuff and running it over to the tow hook where it would latch onto the frame of the vehicle.Which really makes one want to ask, "is that a tow hook under that big wad of that new top secret adhesive material, or are you just happy to see me?" The underside was the worst problem area, as the wind was catching the plastic and no doubt it was flapping about considerably. But I also had to address issues around the inside of the fender itself, where this piece is only being held in by one fastener. Unfortunately, I was having further complications due to the material refusing to bond with my usually super strong bonding adhesive strips. I did the best I could, but it still is somewhat loose in this area.However, as requested, I have tried to keep the degredation of sir knocksalot's immense beauty to a minimum, which I think I have accomplished that task for the most part.Very interesting, I have to say, this is the FIRST car I have owned that I have had to use duct tape on. Wha'ts up with dat? It was fun though, lots. Now all I need is to grow that mullet, fire up the Vibe, put Sirius on Hair Nation, and I am stylin'!

[ColonelPanic]

Ok, never mind what I said earlier about not getting it to work at partzoneonline... I can now add it to the cart. Weird, I dunno.But anyway, should I? Hmm... God, I hate looking at that duct tape! But it's not worth the money! But I hate looking at the duct tape! But the car isn't worth it! I need to spend money on other things. But this broken piece crap is really bugging me. heh

[ColonelPanic]

Hey, I found this piece used at car-part.com or whatever! Woo hoo! Only $51 and for the right side, but hey!

[ragingfish]

A new one is about the same price.

[ColonelPanic]

Yeah, I know, Mike... I was trying to continue my own self amusement by carrying on a conversation with myself. A bit o' sarcasm, stating that I found a used part at a junk yard for $10 less than the new one from partzoneonline and it is for the wrong side to boot. lol

[rasermon]

I still need to replace mine. Also when you order, don't forget to get some of the push in clips #88970767.James, I found your new avatar. From now on your new name is Red Green.

[ColonelPanic]

I love that show. That's one thing I miss about TV! Methinks I need to trade the Vibe in on a K car.