2023 S Plaid Lip spoiler reattachment

[brianp6621]

I had my S fully wrapped and the guys who wrapped it didn't do the greatest job reattaching my OEM carbon fiber lip spoiler. They said it was a problem with Tesla OEM lip spoilers flexing away from the body etc. After a while it came loose enough that I decided to take it off and do it myself.

I removed all the tape and residue from the car and spoiler, used this 3M adhesion promoter, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B3I1JR6?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details, used this tape https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HSCMFVA?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details in 2 strips side by side on the inside of the lip spoiler, and took special care with trimming the tape so it seemed like the spoiler sat very flush with the trunk.

Well 3 days later it is already coming off worse than before. I peel it off and I can see that barely ANY of the tape made contact much less adhesion with the trunk surface. Only one end of the spoiler for a bout 5 inches. The rest of the tape is perfectly undisturbed on the inside of the lip spoiler and no residue at all left on the trunk.

So what did I do wrong? I think the issue is that this type of spoiler actually attaches to the edge (rounded corner of the trunk) instead of a flat surface. This means that if the inside curve of the spoiler doesn't perfectly match the curve of the trunk or the tape is too thin (which I think may have been the case) you can't even make the 2 surface make contact.

Has anyone seen what the tape on an OEM trunk lid spoiler looks like? How thick it is? where exactly it is applied?

I may try thicker tape but then I can't really put them at the corners/ends of the spoiler as then they will stick up as that is the only place my first attempt made contact.
Any other ideas?

 

[TLLMRRJ]

Has anyone seen what the tape on an OEM trunk lid spoiler looks like? How thick it is? where exactly it is applied?

Go to eBay to search for new, OEM, Plaid spoilers in the active and ended listings to find pictures of the tape from the factory.

 

[Yeslak]

We usually use the clear 3M tape on our carbon fiber parts, as well as the spoiler; if you don't mind, we could send you one of the 3M tapes to try, as well as the promoter.
You may need to apply the 3M tape to the spoiler first, all the way from both ends, and clean the trunk with alcohol. Don't take off the other side of the tape until you align the spoiler exactly with the trunk edge, and then start to tear off the 3M tape from both sides at the same time. and you need to press it for a while, like in a few hours with some tape, like in the photo below.

 

[brianp6621]

Go to eBay to search for new, OEM, Plaid spoilers in the active and ended listings to find pictures of the tape from the factory.

Thanks, I did that and was able to see some pretty good examples of how they apply the tape from the factory. I'm not sure it helps me understand why my application failed however.

It is interesting to note that the 2 examples I saw, the spoiler had obviously been applied at some point and removed but ONLY the outer ends of the spoiler tape were destroyed where the middle (more than 5-6 inches from the ends) were basically intact like it had never been applied to a surface, very similar to mine when I pulled it off.

 

[brianp6621]

We usually use the clear 3M tape on our carbon fiber parts, as well as the spoiler; if you don't mind, we could send you one of the 3M tapes to try, as well as the promoter.
You may need to apply the 3M tape to the spoiler first, all the way from both ends, and clean the trunk with alcohol. Don't take off the other side of the tape until you align the spoiler exactly with the trunk edge, and then start to tear off the 3M tape from both sides at the same time. and you need to press it for a while, like in a few hours with some tape, like in the photo below.
View attachment 957713View attachment 957717View attachment 957718

That would be great! What you describe is basically what I did but it seems like I just didn't get the tape in tight contact with the trunk and it never formed a good bond.
My trunk looked almost exactly like your photo when I was done and I left the blue tape for 3 days.

 

[brianp6621]

If anyone is curious, I thought I'd see what Tesla wanted to reattach the spoiler. If it was reasonable I'd do it and make them responsible for it.

$1000.

Umm, no.
So I've tried again. Slightly different tape. Slightly different tape pattern on spoiler. More pressure after application, for longer, More heat. Stronger tape to hold the spoiler tight until glue sets. We shall see.

 

[TLLMRRJ]

If anyone is curious, I thought I'd see what Tesla wanted to reattach the spoiler. If it was reasonable I'd do it and make them responsible for it.

$1000.

Umm, no.
So I've tried again. Slightly different tape. Slightly different tape pattern on spoiler. More pressure after application, for longer, More heat. Stronger tape to hold the spoiler tight until glue sets. We shall see.

That's definitely their "we don't feel don't feel like doing it, so go away kid" price.

I have put on 2 of these spoilers without issue. One was a used OEM spoiler that needed to be retaped but had imperfections in the finish so I replaced it with a new OEM spoiler with factory tape. No issue either time.

Without a doubt, double-sided tape can not hold a carbon fiber spoiler over time from bending back to shape. The spoiler has to be a perfect fit to the trunk lid, or it's going to need to be screwed down.

Did your spoiler fit perfectly before taping? If so, then you definitely have a tape application / technique issue. I followed the YouTube videos for Model 3/Y in my approach.

 

[SucreTease]

Which 3M VHB Should You Use? 3M VHB Tape Selection Guide

 

[brianp6621]

That's definitely their "we don't feel don't feel like doing it, so go away kid" price.

I have put on 2 of these spoilers without issue. One was a used OEM spoiler that needed to be retaped but had imperfections in the finish so I replaced it with a new OEM spoiler with factory tape. No issue either time.

Without a doubt, double-sided tape can not hold a carbon fiber spoiler over time from bending back to shape. The spoiler has to be a perfect fit to the trunk lid, or it's going to need to be screwed down.

Did your spoiler fit perfectly before taping? If so, then you definitely have a tape application / technique issue. I followed the YouTube videos for Model 3/Y in my approach.

I think that may be part of the problem, spoiler shape. However it isn't that simple. It seems to fit perfectly before I apply the tape, but when I apply a uniform layer of tape, the corners/ends of the spoiler seem to touch down first before the center of the spoiler. This seems to be due to the design of the spoiler since it rests on the lip, not on a flat surface. The contact area is basically a U shape meant to fit over the edge of the lip so its impossible to see ahead of time if the gap underneath the spoiler is a constant height to allow for a constant thickness of tape when it is applied.

After the tape was applied I refitted it and noticed this difference and tried to trim the tape to allow for a perfect fit, but it was never perfect.

 

[TLLMRRJ]

I think that may be part of the problem, spoiler shape. However it isn't that simple. It seems to fit perfectly before I apply the tape, but when I apply a uniform layer of tape, the corners/ends of the spoiler seem to touch down first before the center of the spoiler. This seems to be due to the design of the spoiler since it rests on the lip, not on a flat surface. The contact area is basically a U shape meant to fit over the edge of the lip so its impossible to see ahead of time if the gap underneath the spoiler is a constant height to allow for a constant thickness of tape when it is applied.

After the tape was applied I refitted it and noticed this difference and tried to trim the tape to allow for a perfect fit, but it was never perfect.

Maybe give up on the tape and use daps of silicone to hold it on. Silicone will hold it even better than the tape, but it's still removable. I would not put silicone across the whole spoiler because that would be overkill for getting it off later, if you ever need to remove it. I would put a dap near each end and a couple of dabs spaced out evenly the middle. Squeeze the spoiler on to get some standoff from the body work and then tape it to dry overnight. When you need to get it off, use the same fishing line trick, but make sure there is enough of a gap when applying to feed fishing line, like the same size of standoff that the double sided foam tape gives.

With silicone, you have lots of time to position so you don't have to worry about positioning correctly the first time like tape. Clean up any excess silicone with 70% rubbing alcohol.

 

[robl45]

Maybe give up on the tape and use daps of silicone to hold it on. Silicone will hold it even better than the tape, but it's still removable. I would not put silicone across the whole spoiler because that would be overkill for getting it off later, if you ever need to remove it. I would put a dap near each end and a couple of dabs spaced out evenly the middle. Squeeze the spoiler on to get some standoff from the body work and then tape it to dry overnight. When you need to get it off, use the same fishing line trick, but make sure there is enough of a gap when applying to feed fishing line, like the same size of standoff that the double sided foam tape gives.

With silicone, you have lots of time to position so you don't have to worry about positioning correctly the first time like tape. Clean up any excess silicone with 70% rubbing alcohol.

How is he getting the silicone off the wrap?

 

[TLLMRRJ]

How is he getting the silicone off the wrap?

Same way as he is getting off extremely strong body tape adhesive, with fishing line to cut it and then careful removal of the adhesive.

But the real question is why would anyone care about the wrap hidden under the wing? He bought a Plaid with a wing, removed the wing to wrap it, and has made 2 attempts to reattach the wing. Doesn't make any sense.