Product development

Aldor Automotive is your partner for the development of a wide range of car accessories, such as bumper guards, side door protection strips, entry guards, spoilers, skid plates, wheel arch sets and much, much more. Every year, we carry out a large number of projects for European car importers, tuning companies and car accessory wholesalers. Aldor Automotive is TÜV certified and can, if required, arrange the required test documents for each product for the German and Austrian market.

For the production we co-operate with selected partners. This gives us the advantage of not being tied to a specific production method and enables us to select the most suitable production technique for each product. We do, however, have our own paint shop, where we can give products a high-quality coating if required.

The starting point in all our development work is to supply a high-quality end product that is suitable for professional use and that can be fitted as easily as possible. That all against a competitive price. Projects can already be realised at low starting order quantities (50-100 units). An overview of projects realised by us can be found here. Please do not hesitate to contact us, we would be happy to make you an offer.

Materials and production techniques

Several examples of the materials and production techniques we use are given below:

Polyurethane integral skin foam (PU or PU-RIM). Read more ...

Polyurethane integral skin foam (PU or PU-RIM) is frequently used in spoilers, body kits, bumper guards, side protection strips and wheel arch sets. PU foam products are made in a closed epoxy resin or aluminium mould via Reaction Injection Moulding (RIM). This process involves infecting two liquid substances, usually polyols and isocyanates, under pressure into a mould. This causes gasification and the liquids start to foam, then expand and take the shape of the mould. The end product has a porous, lightweight core with a closed surface. The flexibility of PU can be varied, which means this technique can be used to make hard as well as flexible products. Trunk spoilers are, for example, practically always made from hard PU foam, whereas body kit parts are usually made of flexible PU-RIM.

PU can be painted relatively easily, which makes it ideal for products that have to be painted in car body colour, such as spoilers, body kits and protection strips. Aldor Automotive has its own paint shop and years of experience in painting PU products.

PU products can also be produced in colour directly in the mould, using the so-called In-Mould-Coating process (IMC). This process is used as standard for all our door protection sets and bumper protectors. These products are given a mat black IMC coating that protects them against the discolouration effects of direct sunlight. In addition to mat black, other colours are also possible. All our door protection strips and bumper guards are equipped with double-sided tape on the mounting surfaces for easy fitting.

ABS vacuum forming. Read more ...

ABS vacuum forming is often used to make bumper protectors, skid plates and other thin-walled masking products. An ABS plastic panel is first heated and then a singular mould is pressed into the hot material from the underside. The mould surface contains various holes through which the air between mould and ABS panel is sucked away. As a result, the pliable ABS plastic can take the shape of the mould. After cooling down, the product has its final shape, but with excess material along its edges. This has to be precisely cut away, usually with a 5-axis milling machine. In a last step, double-sided tape is often applied to the mounting surfaces to make the product easy to fit.

ABS sheet material can, provided it is ordered in a sufficient quantity, be supplied in widely ranging colours. This means that skid plates can be made directly in, for example, silver without having to be painted afterwards. This reduces costs. In that case ABS with a UV-resistant PMMA topcoat is always used to provide protection against the discolouration effect of direct sunlight. Still, it is also possible to paint ABS products: the surface is smooth and completely free of pinholes. ABS bonds excellently with paint provided the right primers are used. Aldor Automotive has its own paint shop and years of experience in colour painting of ABS products.

ABS blow moulding. Read more ...

ABS blow molding is an advanced production technique that is used to make hollow products. This method is for example used for producing trunk spoilers. The advantages are a hollow - and therefore lightweight - product with a perfect fit. The disadvantage is that a blow moulding mould is very expensive. Therefore, this process is only economically feasible for very large production volumes of thousands of pieces per product. With blow moulding, a plastic sac is formed, which is clamped in a two-part metal mould. After sealing the mould, the bubble is blown out to press against the sides of the mould. The mould is also heated to create a hollow product.

Blow moulded ABS spoilers are ideally suited for colour painting, because their surface is exceptionally smooth and completely free of pinholes. ABS bonds excellently with coatings provided the right primers are used.

Stainless steel cold-forming. Read more ...

Stainless steel door sill protectors, bumper guards and other stainless steel masking components are made using cold-forming techniques. The first step is to punch or cut so-called “blanks” out of steel plate. The blanks are then bent into the right shape while they are cold. This is done in a bending press or in a single or double steel mould, depending on the complexity of the product. In case of entry guards, a logo is often embossed into the product. Optional step is to add a brushed finish to the product. This is often done to our stainless door sills and bumper guards. Lastly, double-sided tape is applied to the mounting surfaces to make the products easy to fit. We exclusively use high-grade V2A or SS304 stainless steel, which is resistant to road salt and moisture.