Given the likely weather over the next few months and the fact that the country roads around my area are frequented by farmers' tractors, I have invested in some mudflaps. For those that have fitted rear mudflaps, what is your preferred method?

The set I have bought (Schofield) includes right angle brackets, presumably to be bolted to the chassis rail, which will require drilling. These ought to be stainless but don't appear so, as they are starting to show initial signs of rusting whilst still in the packet! This method of support seems a bit ropey to me, as the brackets aren't particularly stiff.

The alternative seems to be to ignore the brackets and mount the flaps directly on the bottom edge of the wheel arch closing panel, which will also require drilling. However, I imagine that stainless bolts and some suitable sealant would keep things in order there.

Whichever method is adopted, it seems there will be extra holes in the metalwork. Are there any flaps available that utilise some form of clamping instead?

Then there are the front wheel arches. They don't seem quite so straightforward, as there are seams, jacking points, etc, which result in there being no convenient flat surface to mount a flap against. Does anyone know of a kit specifically for the front of a splitty, with decent brackets and/or clamps included?

Any views appreciated.

Thanks.

my rears are as you say fixed to the bottom of the rear wheel arch closing panel. were like that when i got it 24 years ago. only fitted an alluminium flat strip to stop the bolts pulling into the flap. not got any front ones, but might consider them. maybe fix to the panel just in front of the jacking point.

PM sent...
Advice freely available
Yours Bindair Dundat..

I started by copying Monkey knuts at the rear.. "Steal (ideas) with pride"...

Read here..
https://archives.ssvc.org.uk/viewtopic.php? ... ps#p700823

Then I fitted some fronts too (to keep the mud off the Devon Step)

Many thanks all - now I have to decide whether to do the job the easy way (fixed to closing panel - v. tempting) or start making some proper brackets. I'm about to read the 'Peebles' thread on the subject - it's a good read anyway - to see how 21f has done it, particularly the fronts.

Cheers, Dave.

type21f wrote:PM sent...
Advice freely available
Yours Bindair Dundat..

I started by copying Monkey knuts at the rear.. "Steal (ideas) with pride"...

Read here..
https://archives.ssvc.org.uk/viewtopic.php? ... ps#p700823

Then I fitted some fronts too (to keep the mud off the Devon Step)

Nothing on that link!

Monkey nuts link shows rear flaps and brackets?
On my Peebles thread I have pictures of my fronts...
I will add a description of what was made...

Pm sent to samba van man.
For fronts I have a rough PowerPoint slide to explain. ..
Pm me with an email address...
The front flaps are modified but are also wegu. .

Front mud flap manufacture
OK there is nothing too difficult about what I did.
You cannot buy WEGU mud flaps designed for the front of split screen vans as far as I know.
I wanted to have matching wegu mud flaps front and rear.
I took me about four years to find the set for the rears and they were CHEAP from eBay. They are white with three chevrons. I cannot find any more…so I measured them and they are 280mm deep by 240mm wide. The mounting flange all the way round is 7.5mm thick. The rubber body is around 6mm thick.
I wanted to maintain the depth of the flap to the floor when viewed so that the front was as deep as the back. This could be slightly shallower.
The flap on a stock height bus is around 9cm from the floor.
I measured the heights at the cill and at around 24cm in from the cill and worked out that there was a mud flap with a sloping cut off from an Audi which was 280mm at the outside and 230mm at the inside cut off at a slope and a bump return.
The angle of the slope does not match the angle of the slope of the outrigger – but the mounting web would be at a height which allowed a bracket to be made and fitted.
I had already worked out that the bracket/ mud flap would need to be mounted on the front of the outrigger but that on the front face there was the return from the jacking point like a rib sticking out. The body of the jacking point sits slightly back from the outrigger.

I decided that I could make a pair of flat plates. One to go at the back of the mud flap against the outrigger and one to go at the front and sandwich the flap in between. I decided we could fit rivnuts into the face of the outrigger or weld studs onto the face. In the end fitted rivnuts.
Because I was using a mud flap with a fixed upper flange and pre drilled holes, these could be reused to mount the flap to the bracket.
The only issue with this solution was that in order to get the height the shape of the flap left a hole between the plates at the top.
I bought a very small sheet of 8mm rubber from eBay and this was cut to make infill pieces to act to space the plates together at the top.

I used CAD (Cardboard aided Design) to mock up and fabricate from corrugated cardboard the back plate with a slot cut into it to accommodate the rib on the edge of the jacking point, the spacer pieces and the front plate.
I then used masking tape to tape the back cardboard mocked plate in position, wedge the spacers in position fit the mud flap up to mock position ( sat on a standard coffee mug) and fit the front mocked plate. The edges of the CAD cardboard plates were then trimmed to run parallel to the mounting rib on the mud flap.

This was all then handed to Matt/ Dave to make the plates and once they saw my design ( and approved that it would not look a pig’s ear), they made mocked, painted and fitted the plates.

If I was making them again I would buy some rubber sheet from eBay and do exactly the same mocking the rear plate and front plate to the bracket shape I wanted. Then cut the rubber to sit up flush between the plates (would need to cut a slot to accommodate the rib on the jacking point)

An excellent explanation Graham - some very helpful information there. I'm going to make some fronts in the same way, with a slit in the flap to accommodate the rib.

Many thanks.

To demonstrate how hard it is to find any I am still looking for another set of poncy (to quote monkey...) rear white mudflaps..

Julian has the rears fitted and was the inspiration. .
Mine looks like this.



Three chevrons at the rear



two chevrons at the front.



Think I will fit some modern copies to Sherry plain or two chevrons (if I can get a second pair via Thorsten my German friend - if VW have not decked him)..at the front and VW roundel at the rear..
G