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Note: It appears the Tough Stuff Door Protectors will Only Fit JEEP Vehicles with Factory Full Doors. Lucky for me that's what I have!
These Door Protectors appear to be made out of the same material that the Fender Protectors are made of. I am not exactly sure what this material is, but it isn’t like any “Grip Tape” I have ever seen. As I said in the first note, it’s kinda like Truck Bed Liner only far more consistent and uniform in texture and quite a bit harder as well.
To bad this forum doesn’t provide the ability to post a physical sample. That would be the best way to communicate this. (Can someone work on this? I’d like to post the physical sample down in the lower left hand corner of the thread!
The Door Protectors fit inside the stamped indented area of the upper door on Jeep CJ, YJ, and TJ.
This is a one size fits all product, meaning minor trimming with a scissors is required on the front edge of the Door Protector to fit some doors. This is to address the minor differences in the length of the door indentation even within the same model type.
My installation did not require any trimming to these Door Protectors to fit my 97 TJ Factory Hard Doors. My estimate is these protectors would need about 1/8 to ¼ inch trimmed off the front edge to perfectly fit the CJ doors.
General Instructions
The General instructions I posted for the Fender Protectors apply equally to the Door Protectors and to the best of my knowledge all the other Tough Stuff Paint Protector products as well. In the interest in being complete, here they are again.
1. Make sure the surface temperature of your Jeep, the Tough Stuff Protectors, and the air temperature are above 60 Degrees F .
2. Don’t try to install these in direct sunlight. This glue is incredibly sticky and the heat really seams to activate it farther. I made sure my Jeep was in the shade and cooled down.
3. All the Paint Protector Products come rolled up in the box for shipping. I found it helpful to lay them out on a clean flat surface in the sun for a minute or too before installing. This helped get the curve out of them and made for an easier installation.
Here’s a picture.
4. Clean! Clean! Clean!!!!! Proper surface preparation is vitally important for proper adhesion. I cleaned the doors 4 times using 70% Isopropyl Alcohol that I had sitting in my bathroom medicine cabinet for years. This gets old wax, road film and grease/oil off the surface of the paint and lets this super sticky contact cement adhere the paint protectors in a way that I doubt would ever come off.
(Check your bathroom medicine cabinet or you can get this at Wal-Mart / K-Mart / CVS / Rite Aid for about $0.53 a bottle.)
5. DO NOT remove the Adhesive Backing Paper from the back of the paint protectors until the instruction that come with the Door Protectors tell you to.
Tools:
Here’s what I had to use to install the Door Protectors
70% Isopropyl Alcohol
Paper Towels
Single Edge Razor Blade
Masking Tape
Sharp Scissors
Detailed Instructions: Door Protectors
Step 1 – Cleaning / Surface Preparation
Hold the Door Protectors up on your Jeep’s doors so you can see where they will be installed.
Take note of the area that the Door Protector covers, plus another ½-inch around the outside edge of the Door Protectors. This is the area you need to get carried away cleaning.
Clean this area three (3) times using the rubbing alcohol and clean paper towels. As with the Fender Protectors allow the alcohol to air dry on the doors between each cleaning. .
Clean each door top one more time (fourth time). This time dry the alcohol off with a clean dry paper towel. If you see any dirt or wax film streaks when you are done with this is isn’t clean enough. I would advise that you do it again till it is spotless.
Step 2 – Installation
*** The tops of your doors are clean, right? ***
You need to hold the Door Protectors up to the Jeep doors again to check for proper fit.
As I said before, the Door Protectors are longer then need be for some Jeep Models. This is required to address differences in the doors for all models (CJ, YJ, TJ) and slight differences within the same models between years.
You may need to trim as much as ¼-inch from the front edge of the Door Protector to properly fit your doors.
If you find any areas need trimming, trim with a sharp scissors to fit to your liking.
I pre-position masking tape around the perimeter of the door indentation.
Then I put the Door Protector on the door and position it where I want it.
Pay particular attention to the areas around the door lock and the door handle surround.
Your time and effort here is well invested so don’t rush it. It only takes a minute or two to line this up right and get it to fit perfectly for you.
Tape the rest of the Door Protector in the proper location using masking tape. Make sure there are no voids under the Protectors.
Double-check the location of your Door Protectors. I found it helpful to stand back and look across the entire edge to make sure you have the fit and location you want.
Carefully remove the masking tape ONLY on the rear half of the Protector. Leave the front half securely taped in place. (This will keep the Protector properly located where you want it.)
Carefully peel the adhesive backing paper off the rear half of the Door Protector.
Then tear the paper off the rear half and discard.
DO NOT pull back to hard on the Door Protector. If you pull back too tightly it may stretch in the thin areas around the door handle surrounds. I did not have this happen to me but I imagine it could if you’re not careful.
Lightly lay the rear half of the Door protector onto the Door. DO NOT rub down hard until after the installation is complete, but DO make sure there are no voids under the Protector.
If the location is off, you can pull it up and relocate the Protector before final rub down.
Remove the masking tape and carefully peel the adhesive backing paper off the front half of the protector.
Continue to lay the front half of the Protector down onto the Door. DO NOT rub down yet. If the location is off you can lift the protector and re-align it.
When you are satisfied with the alignment and installation, use a clean dry paper towel or the Door Protector Backing Paper and thoroughly rub down the enter Protector to finish adhesion.
Rub from the center of the Protector out toward the edges. This will help eliminate air pockets.
If you have an air bubble you cannot work to an outside edge cut a small slit in the center of the bubble and press the air out.
MAINTENANCE
Like the Fender Protectors there doesn’t appear to be any real maintenance required for the Door Protectors. Just clean them up with a soft brush or sponge and some soapy water.
Do not use a power washer for 14 days to let the adhesive cure.
The Door Protectors fit my TJ factory doors very nicely, covering up almost 7 years of “Jeep Pin-striping” caused by brush and branches and everything else I have come across off road to rub on the sides of my Jeep.
Wish I had these sooner. But then again, they sure covered up a multitude of scratches for the area they do cover. I also like the looks. I think they create a nice contrast.
I have had these paint protective products on my Jeep for a while now and have received more then a good share of inquires and questions on them.
While I am certain not everyone has an interest in paint protective products like these, I am pleased to finally be able to let folks know how they can get their hands on these things inexpensive items.
Frank
