Mud Guards

obaa996 said:
I agree they're not the nicest looking things to add on, but it sure goes a long way in saving the paint. I put mine on when I had only ~150 miles on the car, and the lower trailing edges of the sills were already pitted. Of course, they use gravel out here instead of salt, but still.
Here are some pics of the Autozone mudflaps; they actually fit pretty well. As mentioned before, I cut out some Scotch clearbra material to serve as a backing under the mudflaps. When the car is clean, the clearbra is nearly invisible. When it's dirty, well, it's dirty.....

Day-em, obaa996!! They look GREAT... for mudflaps. You did a really nice job of fitting them too. The front ones in particular look like they belong there. (thumbsup)

 
I added the front and rear mudflaps from Autozone to my MS3 over the weekend. The rears required no trimming; I just lined up the top edge of where the flap wraps around the bumper to the break line in bumper. I just trimmed a little off the top on the fronts, to match up with the same break line. I applied some Scotch-gard film to the fenders as a backing for the flaps; they follow the profile of the flap, but extend past it ~1/2". The left and right sides are identical, so I just had to make mirror copies.
It came out quite nicely; the dealer asked where I got them when I brought the car back to pick up my license plates.
I kept the backing paper from the film in case anyone wants to make copies for their car
Your mud flaps look great. I need a set pretty quickly as winter is approaching fast. You say you picked up yours at AutoZone. What brand and model? Also, what is the scotchguard you used for protection?

Thanks for sticking with this thread. It's the only place I've found that even addresses the problem from a practicle point of view.
 
Bump. obaa996, do you remember which Autozone mud flaps those were? With winter coming I'm interested in some for my MS3.
 

They are Powerflow size #1's, but the Powerflow Type A's will fit also. they are just a little flatter.

 
Does this reduce the noise we all get from gravel, even on pretty clean roads from hitting the underside and banging against bottom of car?
 
Does this reduce the noise we all get from gravel, even on pretty clean roads from hitting the underside and banging against bottom of car?

I get the impression that sound is coming from the fender liners, but I could be wrong. It is indeed very LOUD.
 
Yeah I agree I assumed it was the fender liners also. Wonder if removing em and using a spray undercarriage protector would help, youd have to apply something with some thickness to it and I dont think Dynamat or anything is going to help either, Might be a good weekend project, they do sell it by the can, I'm pretty sure I've seen it somewhere. That Rhino Lining might work also. hmm
 
Well, they will not mount to suit me. There is nothing metal there to mount them too, so when using the hole already there to put your fasteners into the flaps are not close to being secure. They move around. I am talking about using the holes that are there to hold the ground effects and fender liners (in the rear) to the body. They are just enough to hold that stock stuff together. The flaps mount okay, but are not solid enough for me. They would be EASY to rip off, or a lot of ice build up would tear them off along with the front edge ground effects at least.

So I just wasted about $45 on flaps that I have trimmed to fit perfectly but will not hold up over time.

Sad thing is, my paint down there is already pitted to heck. I tried to put big sections of rockblocker on them when I first got the car, but it would not contour correctly and I think I got a bad batch because it was not sticky.

For now, to minimize edge damage, I put some of that door edge guard tape (clear heavy mil) on the edges (over the pits and all), and I figure I will save to paint the ends/edges this summer and put that heavy rough clear over that to save the paint in the future.

Such a nice car. It is a shame. Thanks West Virginia!
 
I did mine like the ones in this pic and everything. They just hang there guys. They are NOT very secure. Not enough to hold up over time IMHO. And even if you only use them during winter, they would cause more damage than good IMHO.

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I am pissed that I spent all of that time and money only to have it not pan out. I could have been installing some of the mods I have ready to put on instead!
 
I live in Florida and feel your pain guys. I only have 5000 miles on my car and got a few nicks and such behind the wheels, to go with the few nicks and such on the front of car. The paint is thin for sure, I am using McGuire's new NXT compound wax and after sending them an E-Mail before I waxed it when i first got it they(McGuire's) recommended the NXT for the highest Strength/Protection wax (I would have normally just used normal McGuire's Carnauba, but I'd already read about the thin paint) and I've probably waxed her 2-3 times already also, so its not the wax its def the paint. What my plans are for the future is to take off the fender-wells and do a Sound Deadening/Undercoat job on em to stop the sand sound always hitting them!! and also try to find a company to make a good looking sporty Mud Flap like the Subbie Guys all have. Now we all know we would probably rather to never have to use flaps or anything if we didn't need to, I doubt anyone would suggest that they make a car look BETTER!!! I think we should see if we can get a Group Buy or something and have them make us up a set. Here's the ones I like for the Subbies, maybe you all know some other companies that make nice ones to we can e-mail.

Oh here's the ones:

http://www.rallyarmor.com/store/impreza-mud-flaps-red-logo-pi-154.html

Lemme know what you guys think.
Tom
 
Well crap. They don't look too bad, but if they're loose it's probably not worth it. Look at the bright side, at least you saved us the trouble of trying to use the stock holes.

Sierra, I like your idea but don't like the flaps in your pic. I'd want something more rounded and contoured.
 
I did mine like the ones in this pic and everything. They just hang there guys. They are NOT very secure. Not enough to hold up over time IMHO. And even if you only use them during winter, they would cause more damage than good IMHO.

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I disagree 100%. I used rockblocker film behind them, just in case i get sand etc behind them. And they do not move at all, I am going into my second winter now, and never had problems. And after a inspection after last years winter, did not find any scratches caused by the flaps.

I was planning planning on putting a 3rd screw in this year, to reinforce it some more, but was surprised by the winter.

Personally, I do not like mud guards too much either, but believe me, they will keep 90% of snow, sand and tiny rocks off your doors.
 
I disagree 100%. I used rockblocker film behind them, just in case i get sand etc behind them. And they do not move at all, I am going into my second winter now, and never had problems. And after a inspection after last years winter, did not find any scratches caused by the flaps.

Interesting. Did you use the stock screws or different ones?
 
Interesting. Did you use the stock screws or different ones?


S.S. bolts that fit right in there, and some nice S.S. washers, they push in and need to be turned out, just like the stock plastic ones.

The picture PR5Matt quoted, was mine.
 
thats too bad that they didnt fit right for you. i have splash gaurds and mud flaps on mine but they were preinstalled, i dont think i could do without them since my drive is gravel and even when i drive idleing in first it still kicks up all kinds of crap that i wouldnt want scraping the sides of my car.
 

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