2024 Author: Erin Ralphs | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-19 11:42
Each novice motorist sooner or later asks the question: what is a locker? Lockers (wing fenders) are special plastic or metal molded casings that protect the wheel arches of a car from the mechanical impact of the external environment (sand, stones). In their form, the lockers completely repeat the wheel arches, tightly adhering to them.
Purpose of use
Due to the fact that the wheel arch of a car is considered to be the most vulnerable area of the bottom, a locker (every person even remotely familiar with the automotive business knows what it is) was created directly to protect it. They protect the indicated points from gravel, sand and stones flying from under the wheels. If lockers are not installed in the car, this threatens to deform the body, namely the wheel arches.
Usually, standard fenders are installed during the production of a car. They come in two main varieties: solid and liquid. Both those and others remarkably protect wheel arches.car from sandblasting, capable of easily cleaning off paint and protective coating from wheel arches. However, even if the car does not have regular fender liner, many modern services provide the opportunity to install them additionally. Given the fact that almost every car is equipped with special holes for lockers, the work of using them is much easier. And if holes for plastic fender liner were not thought out in the wheel arches during the design of the car, there are two installation methods: using liquid lockers, which are on the market in a wide range, or screwing plastic fender liner with self-tapping screws. The latter option, according to some motorists, threatens with subsequent corrosion at the screwing points, but with proper anti-corrosion treatment during installation, this can be avoided.
In addition to the main function of protecting the bottom from mechanical damage, lockers also help to increase the degree of sound insulation when driving on low-quality tracks (gravel, sand, mud, loose snow).
For one hundred percent the meaning of the word "lockers" (to close, protect) justifies itself when using this type of underbody protection by residents of modern megacities, where roads are watered with various chemicals that aggressively affect the paintwork of cars.
History: locker - what is it?
Initially, the fender liner was constructed from metal and had rubber edging. Their installation was extremely simple. The disadvantage of the firstthere was only one known version of the fender liner - they protected only the upper part of the wheel arch, while having absolutely no effect on its side surfaces. Which, of course, "shouted" that the products require significant improvement. In addition, the first lockers produced by the automotive industry were not well designed in that the rubber edging rubbed against the inside of the fender while driving, damaging the paintwork and starting to corrode the fenders. And the further the coating was "injured", the deeper the corrosion penetrated. There are even cases when, due to the use of lockers, parts of the wings fell off.
After design improvements, the material changed to fiberglass, and a little later they began to be made from low-pressure polyethylene. There have also been attempts to make fender liners out of recyclable polystyrene, but they were unsuccessful due to the fragility and unreliability of the material used when used at low temperatures.
Just a few years ago, lockers began to be made from high-tech materials such as PVC and ABS polymer.
Moreover, the shape of the fender liner of the latest releases is such that it completely covers the wheel arches, leaving virtually no gaps for litter to enter.
Assortment and cost
In the modern automotive market, a locker (what it is, we already found out earlier), or rather, their sets are presented in a wide range. They are produced by a largethe number of both domestic and foreign firms. The most modern models have a special polymer coating, which is responsible for the durability of the products, and high quality molding, when after installation there are no gaps in the wheel arches. Depending on the material used in the production, shape and size, the cost of lockers of various brands can vary by one and a half to two times. Moreover, regardless of the name of the manufacturer, it is strongly recommended to purchase front and rear lockers only with a trade brand mark applied, which guarantees that the product is original and not fake. Preference should be given to branded goods due to the fact that the service life of fakes, no matter how high-quality they are, does not exceed two to three months. While branded products have a long service life (up to several years).
Ideal material for the production of lockers
Every day, motorists increasingly prefer fender liners made of low-pressure polyethylene, otherwise called thermoplastic ethylene polymer or high-density polyethylene.
Models made from the above material are characterized by increased elasticity, strength, flexibility, and, accordingly, durability. They successfully tolerate high, low temperatures and their differences (-60 … +80 degrees Celsius). Quite easily, polyethylene lockers, having a small weight, cope with small impacts, and in the event of small cracks orscratches, they can be easily repaired by welding.
High density polyethylene is valued not only by consumers, but also by manufacturers. This fact is explained by the ease of processing and molding using a vacuum, without the use of direct human physical labor.
About liquid fender liners
As mentioned above, a locker (which is known to every motorist) can be either solid (plastic) or liquid. The second type of fender liner is an innovative product based on rubber resins, bitumen and polymers. This type of chemical reagent is used to treat wheel arches, which helps to protect them and increase sound insulation. As a result of applying chemicals to niches, a special protective layer is formed, which directly reflects the meaning of the phrase "liquid lockers". What it is can be understood only by comparing the above remedy with solid fender liner. Their use, as well as the use of plastic products, localizes mechanical damage, prevents corrosion of the wheel arches directly.
Pros and cons of installing fender liner
Depending on the choice of liquid or solid fender liners, the location of the advantages and disadvantages of their operation changes. This is due to the fact that while liquid lockers should be checked and updated several times within one year, plastic fender liners do not need to be updated for a period of several years, which affects costs. It cannot be said that liquid fenders are one hundred percentpercent justify themselves, they are not full-fledged substitutes for hard ones, but they can be an excellent alternative, provided that the modern manufacturer has not yet released lockers for a particular brand of car. They are also great for use by car enthusiasts who believe that the installation of plastic lockers (in the absence of special holes for them on the wings of a car) threatens to corrode.
Of course, the right to choose what the locker will be like (what we found out above) belongs only to the owner of the car. Although the very presence of this type of protection for body elements is pleasing.
