My husband recently bought a used vehicle with a hatchback, which did not come with a step plate to protect the paint on top of the bumper. He has been looking at buying one online and it’s only about $40. However, he wants to see if he can try to find some way to make a homemade one first. Before he found the step plate online he thought about taping the area off and rhino lining it, but that is permanent. Does anyone have any suggestions on materials to make one ourselves? We really enjoy making stuff even if it is more practical to just go out and buy one!
Why would you need a step plate on the bumper in the first place? Just curious because I have owned hatchbacks before and could always reach across the roof with no problem.
It’s not necessarily for stepping up to reach the roof, just to protect the paint on the rear bumper when you load/unload the hatchback. We go camping and biking quite a bit and it would be scratched up pretty heavily by the end of the summer if we did not have something there to protect it
Keep in mind that unless the step plate is sealed to the bumper, grit and dirt can get underneath it and scratch the paint badly. And if it is sealed to the bumper, it’s permanent - or if you can get it off, the paint will have faded everywhere except for under the plate and will look bad.
Over time, I would guess you would actually damage the bumper less by just being careful as you load the car.
For 40 dollars, it’s easier to just buy something that fits and be done with it. Improvising can lead to way more than 40 dollars worth of aggravation.