07 Ranger (North America) front mudflap help

[Ianfd1]

Hey all, not sure if this is the correct place to post this....

I recently bought a 2007 Ranger Sport as the new daily. Being a sport package truck, it came factory with rear mudflaps, but not front ones.

Why Mudflaps? Well, I live up north where they salt the roads, from personal experience the front flaps make a HUGE difference in preserving the rest of the truck.

I have a set of old flaps from my Durango, but they’re a “Universal Fit” flap so I would have to drill into the fender/flare (which is something I do not want to do). I tried looking online for OEM flaps, however, they only had moulded plastic ones which do not fit on sport package trucks.

I was wondering if anyone may know of a solution.

Thanks!

 

[1stDeuce]

I put mudflaps on all of our vehicles, as we live 3 miles off the pavement on dirt roads. Definitely helps keep them cleaner!!

Some have HD Buyers 11x17 rubber flaps, others have low cost RallyArmor flaps. I re-use the factory trim hardware for the most part, with an occasional screw through the edge of a plastic flare or bolt through an inner fender if I think it's necessary. I too prefer not to drill into sheet metal, as that usually ends up being a place for rust to start if you live in the rust belt where I'm from. Have a look, you may find they can be mounted without drilling into steel at tall. I wouldn't lose a second of sleep over drilling into plastic, just be a bit mindful not to over-torque fasteners that only go into plastic.

FWIW, my experience with "factory" flaps is that they're way too small to do any good at all, so using the universal mudflaps that you may already have is the way to go if you actually want functional coverage...

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Weathertech makes some good molded ones.

With factory tires i have been happy with the oem ones on my f-150.

 

[Ianfd1]

I put mudflaps on all of our vehicles, as we live 3 miles off the pavement on dirt roads. Definitely helps keep them cleaner!!

Some have HD Buyers 11x17 rubber flaps, others have low cost RallyArmor flaps. I re-use the factory trim hardware for the most part, with an occasional screw through the edge of a plastic flare or bolt through an inner fender if I think it's necessary. I too prefer not to drill into sheet metal, as that usually ends up being a place for rust to start if you live in the rust belt where I'm from. Have a look, you may find they can be mounted without drilling into steel at tall. I wouldn't lose a second of sleep over drilling into plastic, just be a bit mindful not to over-torque fasteners that only go into plastic.

FWIW, my experience with "factory" flaps is that they're way too small to do any good at all, so using the universal mudflaps that you may already have is the way to go if you actually want functional coverage...

Yeah, they definitely make a huge difference.

Most of the time when you mention them, people seem to turn their nose up at them "aww they look bad" yatta yatta, Personally I don't mind how they look, and for the protection of the body (and the rest of the truck) - its worth it

I'll take a look into the flaps on my Durango and see what the situation is. On the Ol' Durango they're mounted into the plastic - that seemed to work well.
Thanks

 

[Ianfd1]

Weathertech makes some good molded ones.

With factory tires i have been happy with the oem ones on my f-150.

I'll have to look into those

Thanks!

 

[Toyaddict]

I just buy semi flaps and cut them to my desired shape, pretty inexpensive that way. The stock flaps on my zuki were too small. Stock on the right side.

Buyers Products Polymer Semi-Truck Mud Flaps - Pair, 24in. x 30in. Black, Model Number RC30PPB

 

[Ianfd1]

Those do look good!

I'll check em out,
Thanks

I just buy semi flaps and cut them to my desired shape, pretty inexpensive that way. The stock flaps on my zuki were too small. Stock on the right side.

Buyers Products Polymer Semi-Truck Mud Flaps - Pair, 24in. x 30in. Black, Model Number RC30PPB View attachment 696767

 

[1stDeuce]

That's not a bad idea! Napa has 24x36" semi truck flaps for about $20 each. Easily could get two normal flaps out of one...

 

[Ianfd1]

So figured id post up what I decided to do.

Was at the junkyard the other day getting stuff for the Durango. Noticed a Ranger Edge sitting around, with the factory flaps on the rear. Score!
I took at look at the rear metal brackets to see if they would work on the front. They look like they act partially as a fender brace and partially as a bracket for the flaps so they would not work.

Heres what I did -

Traced the flaps onto an old cereal box:



Used the box as my template, measured trimmed and test fitted it:


I chose to slice the flap rather than trim it completely as the top half of the flap could go behind the flare and in front of the fender liner to give it some support. ill see how this works out, I hope it is fine this way but if not I will trim it completely.

Measured the location of the second hole. Drilled. Using this nail i found lying around the garage i aligned it.



Took some old fasteners i found mounted the second hole. For the drivers side I mounted it to the already existing fender liner screw. For the passengers side the screw was missing and the fender liner had a crack in it. So I threw a bolt through it.


Finished product:



There was a few weird things I noticed when doing this. Primarily the drivers and passengers side fender liners are different shapes. The passengers side does not lend itself kindly to the mudflap design i did so its crooked. Secondly, the E-Brake cable is directly behind the spot where you want to drill your hole on the drivers side. I was very careful when drilling and still nicked it (just barely) when the drill pushed through.

E-Brake Line:

Hope this helps anyone else who is looking to mount mudflaps on their Gen III Ranger!

Ian