Hi all,
I'm about to relocate in a couple of weeks. I will be driving from Washington to Michigan and then down to Texas.

With all this driving, would installing a pair of mudflaps be recommended? I have heard that this may prevent rock chips on the sides of the body. I already have a nice size chip on my rear fender flare. Don't know if mudflaps could have prevented this.

I was thinking about the Husky mudflaps. They seem to be pretty popular among the member here. Also, is the installation easy? Do they require any drilling?

Have any of you guys that drive long distances found mudflaps helpful? I know this is alot of questions, but I don't want to spend the $60 if I don't have to. Thanks for any help.

Fred

 

They sure help some............... but won't prevent them all! The running boards on my SCrew also minimize rock chips.

I have the Husky mudflaps, and like them. I believe I had to drill a couple of holes. It does require that you take each wheel off to drill.............. at least the back ones.

 

Mud flaps can help reduce stone chips, but it depends on how they're mounted. The biggest variable is how close (to the road the lower edge of the flap ends up. I always use a yard stick slipped under the back edge of the tire (where it meets the ground) to approximate the possible path of a stone. Tilt the yard stick up at down and you will see where a flap has to be mounted to actually do any good. (You'll be surprised.) You also have to consider how far out the flaps are mounted. Try to mount them so they cover the entire tread width of your tires.

Generally speaking, you can mount a set of flaps low enough on the rear to pretty much eliminate stone chips. In the front, the old yard stick trick will show you that it's pretty much impossible to mount flaps low enough to totally eliminate chips. This is where running boards do a much better job.

Another thing you might want to think about is how you actually mount the flaps. I always use stainless steel fasteners and seal the gap between the flap and wheel well with RTV to prevent salt and other junk from geting trapped in there and eventually rusting out. Hope that helps.

 

Thanks alot for the info guys. I kind of wish I had thought about the extra protection provided by running boards before I installed my tube steps.

Well, some protection is better than none, so I will order the Husky mudflaps from Cabela's today. Also going to order Husky floor liners, and my Access tonneau cover should be here tomorrow. Seems like the truck is the only thing I want to spend money on lately. The wife is getting jealous...

Thanks again for the replies.

 

ford has releases an inner fender kit for the rear of F-150s the only way i can see stopping all rocks from hitting inside of fender wall making dents to the outside finish.

ive already got so many dents im to lazy to go buy a set.