Removable mud flaps

[mjmcdowell]

Ok... I read a lot about removing mud flaps and I am puzzled. I do understand how vulnerable they can be in some conditions, how ever they offer great body protection in other situations. In my case I actually mounted front mud flaps on my 2009 Ford Ranger (it came w/rear ones) before my first trip to the James Bay region of northern Quebec in 2010. Why? 60 km speed limit on a road designed for speeds like this by service trucks, tandem log trucks and other commercial trucks where time is money and for the normal traveler the ability to go fast if wanted. All of this on Loose gravel and small rock surface with broad sweeping curves and gentle hills for hundreds of miles with dust or slime if wet. This combination made for conditions for the forward facing under body parts of my truck to be literally "sand blasted" clean of any undercoating/finish. Granted I did not go fast all the time but the whole gravel surface part of the trip was over a thousand miles. The undersides of the OEM steps were clean... if not for them and the front and rear mud flaps I just can imagine what the sides of my truck would have looked like, to say nothing of the normal debris on the road you encounter with normal DD being thrown up. Why not make removable brackets so you could put them on/off as needed for conditions encountered while Overlanding? I am thinking of this mod. (but will have to figure out how) as I have found in my travels the need for having them mounted and being able to dismount them. Sooooooo, anybody have any ideas or have done this mod. front and rear of a PU? Thanks for any input, stay safe mjmcdowell

 

[zoblo]

The mud flaps on my '92 toyota p/u where quite long and had a problem with getting them between a rock and a tire backing up when off roading. After pulling a few off, I wound up drilling a small hole near the bottom of the mud flap in the middle. Then hook a small bungee cord thru the hole and hook the other end of the bungee on the frame somewhere. This pulls the flap up a bit and out of the way when off roading. Haven't lost a mud flap since.

 

[98dango]

When I lived in OR we where required to have flaps but heavy mud would rip them off. So you mount the flap to 1x1 box tupe and wed a small pice of 1.5x1.5 to the frame bumper. Drill a hole and then you got a removable mud flap.

I can get pictures if needed

 

[mattyak]

If you have a tractor trailer or farm equipment supply or such near you, you can probably purchase a set of removable hangers and the mounting brackets similar to the ones 98dango is talking about. They will also have the heavy duty mud flaps the big rigs use. These hold up much better. I used to run removables on my cj5 because my mud terrains would zing stuck pebbles off at mach 9 (the pebbles not the cj... it went mach 60... maybe).

a quick search on google. Betts Mudflap hanger and Bracket should get you an idea of what to look for.