Mud flap removal and repair under warranty

[Lunch]

Ive read on another forum where late model car owners have removed the rear mud flaps from their cars because of the damage they cause to the paint and had it repaired by ford under warranty, just wondering if any1 knows if there is any truth to this?? Has any1 had it done or does any1 know anything about it? Id like to get mine sorted out and i figure if i can do it at their expence, why not....

[GasoLane]

If they didn't like mudflaps why did they buy the car with them fitted ?

I wonder if these same people will complain to Ford if the paint starts coming off after being peppered by stones ?

[richo77]

Originally Posted by GasOLane

If they didn't like mudflaps why did they buy the car with them fitted ?

I wonder if these same people will complain to Ford if the paint starts coming off after being peppered by stones ?

There were a few people on this forum with BF FPVs a few years back whose paint peeled off their bumpers for that very reason with Ford acknowledging an issue and re-painting for them.

[Lunch]

Originally Posted by GasOLane

If they didn't like mudflaps why did they buy the car with them fitted ?

I wonder if these same people will complain to Ford if the paint starts coming off after being peppered by stones ?

If I had known the mad flaps were gunna ruin my paint I wouldn't have purchased a car with them on it, I assume the other people are the same, if the problem was contained to the edge of the flap I might consider letting it go but it's a good 15mm behind it and being silhouette it kinda stands out.. But thanks for ur input .!..

[boss351290]

Yes its true, It happened on my friends FG xr6 turbo ute. They only had rear mudflaps fitted from factory and no front ones. He took the rears off one day and the paint was rubbed back to bare metal. Ford repainted the rear section of the ute under warranty and he never refitted the flaps.

[cram_it_frog]

my rear mud flaps have scraped the paint to bar metal but not much I can do I play on putting some sort of sealant to stop any rust

but at present not sure what to out on any suggestions?

[blackf6]

Originally Posted by cram_it_frog

my rear mud flaps have scraped the paint to bar metal but not much I can do I play on putting some sort of sealant to stop any rust

but at present not sure what to out on any suggestions?

I put double sided body kit tape under the area that the flaps sit on metal. I actually went OCD and fitted it under the scuff plates mounted to the sill panel and also under the b pillar trims that are metal to metal on your door frames. OCD.

[aussiblue]

My 1980 LC Lancer had transparent vinyl pieces on the bodywork under the flexible rubber bumper end caps to deal with that type of issue; perhaps some pieces of transparent vinyl wrap under the mud flaps would solve the problem.

[aussiblue]

Or as I did with the Lancer to replace those bits after painting; use some clear contact adhesive and build up layers to about 1 mm thickness then cut to shape.

[aussiblue]

Or this 3M product made for the purpose http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/3M-Paint-...item2a3f5157c2 orhttp://www.ebay.com.au/itm/3M-Genuin...item2337fe0f39 or http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/3M-Scotch...item3a79e64e09 or http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/3M-clear-...item3a9b5fd465

[Silver Ghia]

I had some self adhesive clear sheet approx 1mm thickness used for headlights laying about and cut to suitable sizes, to keep the spats away from the paint. Using scotchgard clear tape (from autobarn etc) over the whole length and protruding about 6mm or so out from the edge would be a neater way.

[Cashie]

They've always been a crap design, I hate them for this exact reason.

[Lunch]

I had a closer look yesterday without taking them off and the rubbing is out to about 30mm on the bottom section of the bumper ( i had no choice but to drive off a gutter a couple weeks ago, note to self : never do that again )I think im gunna try repair it myself, and throw the flaps out, i rarely drive on roads that arent sealed and if i do get stone chips, they should b on the bumper only, not on the body too like the flaps do, if that fails or the scratching is deeper than the clear coat, its off to Ford..
They should come with a caution :
WARNING, while protecting your paint from stone chips, mud flaps will ruin your paint..

[XR Martin]

So its Ford's fault you drive over speed humps and into driveways too fast and also off gutters?

I always find it funny that people expect cars to adapt to them, not themselves adapt to the car.

[Lunch]

Originally Posted by XR6 Martin

So its Ford's fault you drive over speed humps and into driveways too fast and also off gutters?

I always find it funny that people expect cars to adapt to them, not themselves adapt to the car.

Its not fords fault for any driving habits of any owner but i shouldnt need to buy a 4wd to get down a 80mm gutter or over a speed hump or into a driveway, that being said ive only done it once and the majority of the damage was there prior, its only reinforced my opinion that they need to go..

[steve.zissou]

they are the ****est design ever - ford have had to respray lots of cars and they would have to do many more if people knew about it.

the Ute's are extremely bad for it. put 400kg in a ute and drive over any speed bump and not drag a mud "spat". in my stock height fg xr6 ute, a spirited drive would have you scraping the spats on a normal Australian road (ie, just a bit bumpy). They become looser than a kings cross hooker within about 2 seconds (which then causes the paint rub)

If you need mud flaps, just get the normal flat ones that arnt moulded - they flex and they stay in the inside of the wheel well.

[WHYME]

Have mud flaps ever been proven to protect your car from stone chips? I always take em off.

[Mr Hardware]

Originally Posted by Fully6

Have mud flaps ever been proven to protect your car from stone chips? I always take em off.

Whilst i understand that the plural of anecdote is not data, I found that the cabs we had with mudflaps had very little difference with stonechips etc, but the ones that did have mudflaps I did not need to wash as often, and they had way, way less incidences of Tar bits on the paint. You know when you drive on some new road or being re-surfaced road and you end up with those little blacky-brown bits of tar all up your fender? Yeah, the cars with mudflaps had hardly any of them where as the ones that didn't, had lots.

After that I always fit mudflaps to all cars I own. It's also nice to be courteous to other road users by minimising spray in wet conditions.

[Lunch]

So i was lucky enough to have a POETS day today and after a well earned kip on the couch i de-flapped my ute
I take full responsibility for the scuff furthest from the arch on the lower edge of the bumper but given that all 5 points where the flap was mounted were tight, the rest surely has to be a design issue (both sides are the same)

[jpblue1000]

Originally Posted by Mr Hardware

Whilst i understand that the plural of anecdote is not data,

love it! never heard that before and its now my favourite saying!

JP

[XR Martin]

I think you're lucky Ford is willing to fix the issue, ive seen similar issues on plenty of cars and the dealers/manufacturers couldnt give a toss.

[Lunch]

Thats the opinion i expected Ford to have but like i said in my first post, i read somewhere that thats not the case and i started this thread in an attempt to verify it.. My point being, if Ford does fix it under warranty, I'd be a muppet not to get them to do it, so would any1 for that matter.

[Smoke Pursuit]

If your talking Utility they must have them fitted to rear to meet ADR's.

[Lunch]

Yeah it is a ute

[aussiblue]

Yes the NATIONAL TRANSPORT COMMISSION (ROAD TRANSPORT LEGISLATION -- VEHICLE STANDARDS) REGULATIONS 2006 - SCHEDULE 2 and other similar also require mudguards be fitted as follows:

"mudguard" means a fitting or device, with or without a mudflap , which is built and fitted to a vehicle in a way that will, as far as practicable, catch or deflect downwards any stone, mud, water or other substance thrown up by the rotation of the wheel for which the fitting or device is provided;

[Lunch]

Well theres 2 things ive learned from that post, schedule 2 and that practicable is actually a word..

[aussiblue]

..and that practicable is actually a word...

Yes; many people annoyingly say "practical" when they in fact mean "practicable".

[irvinnie]

I had my car repainted under warranty by ford due to the damage done to the paint caused by the mudflaps. They rubbed completely through the paint to bare metal. I didn't bother putting any back on once it was repaired. The dealer I did it through took a little to be convinced that is was a factory standard not dealer fitted (I didn't by the ute from them) but I had no issues getting it repaired. I have had the same issues with my old ba and bf cars but never didanything about it previously as it didn't dawn on me that it would be covered under warranty until I read someone had done it on these forums. Just a poorly designed mud flap as far as I'm concerned

[Lunch]

Sweet, first person ive heard from thats had it done

[Lunch]

So were your mud flaps on when u took it to ford? Thats my biggest concern, that they will find a way to blame me cos ive taken them off. Eg: sorry sir, it was the removing of the mad flaps that did the damage, or some other BS..