On this subject I wondered what others think.
Good,
Offer some protection against mud / grit etc. being blasted under and up sides of car.
Some might say they improve the cars appearance.
Bad,
Tend to mark paintwork where touching ( with OE parts as well as aftermarket ).
Mountings tend to cause damage where clamped to bodywork.
Mountings act as mudtrap, causing corrosion to make matters worse.
Possible extra drag at higher speeds.
Can be damaged if you reverse up kerbs etc.
On balance any good ?
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Bad - Air brakes
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Reduce spray for following cars - for this reason our lease company insist they are fitted for safety reasons.
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Reduce spray for following cars - for this reason our lease company insist they are fitted for safety reasons.
I'm astonished by that - I've never known a lease company spend a penny more that absolutely necessary and the notion that they should care about other road users is equally amazing.
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Leasing company?
Ours prohibits fitting them!
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The design of modern cars has done away for mudflaps now. On certain models the rear bumper comes down lower to act in the same way as a mudflap would have.
Also they look pretty naff. Nothing worse than seeing a nice new car with flaps on.
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Good.
I always fit them, can't understand why some people don't. They protect the car from stone chips and keep it cleaner.
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I always fit them on the front-to protect me-not on the back-to protect others.
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I have them on my focus ... and have protected me from debris on the motorway making a serious gash in my bodywork. Needed a new mudflap instead.
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Until i got the Prelude which had them built-in to the body styling, I religously fitted them front and rear to all my cars, I believe they are worth thier weight in gold!
Billy
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I still stand by answer quoted in THAT old thread above.
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>I always fit them on the front-to protect me-not on the back-to protect others.
Agreed. Try to avoid driving over kerbs though, unless the flaps are flexible enough to take it.
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My Focus genuine accessory mudflaps are good in all respects, and have none of the disadvantages mentioned by the OP. I wouldn't have a car without mudflaps both front and rear. I remember that the bodywork behind the rear wheels of my 1965 Singer Chamois was quickly rusted by thrown-up mud/grit before I fitted mudflaps.
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Fitted genuine manufacturers flaps to front only of SWMBO Mazda 323F and current Getz.
They use the wheel arch liner fastenings and do not increase the risk of corrosion by damaging paintwork. More compact than universal designs as well.
Very effective in catching some of the mud that would otherwise accumulate on the sills/doors.
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I think most modern cars fit them to the arch linings with either plastic or stainless fittings.
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When I drove my Audi 100 home on first buying it, as I went over the speedbump there was a nasty double-crack from the rear end, and they both disappeared (or at least half of them did!).
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Road humps accounted for the front mudflaps on the Focus.
Soon had new ones fitted after I realised how much dirt they kept off the sill/bottom edges of the front doors.
Mudflaps - they're great.
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