Thread: Mud flaps and side protection

Originally Posted by Smocky

Well my long list of enhancements as to start somewhere, and after a lovely drive on the weekend, I am concerned about protection from the tyres flicking crap up.

Mud flaps are probably the first thing I need to address. I've done a lot of reading on the topic, but I'm after the lastest thinking on this. It seems I can buy genuine plastic ones (easily broken), buy Defender ones from the UK, or make my own.

Is there no rubber ones you can purchase that just bolt on?

Next is steps. I can see there are a few options for sliders, but the popular ones are just bars that seem to offer no protection from rocks and sticks flicking up. I can see a few have customer engineered plates in them but again, is there not an easy aftermarket option for a decent low profile step that will protect the car?

Cheers for all the help and yes I am still smiling. The more I drive it the better it gets.

Smocky.

Depends on what sort of driving you intend to do. I have the oem side steps which are great for swmbo as they are nice and wide. They would be fine for light off roading but can be easily bent so are no good for harder stuff. Same for the mud flaps. I bought a chinese knock off copy and fitted them myself and they will suffice for light work. Horses for courses.

Martin

Originally Posted by letherm

Depends on what sort of driving you intend to do. I have the oem side steps which are great for swmbo as they are nice and wide. They would be fine for light off roading but can be easily bent so are no good for harder stuff. Same for the mud flaps. I bought a chinese knock off copy and fitted them myself and they will suffice for light work. Horses for courses.

Martin

Yeh, i'm still coming to terms with what my courses are. We took the Pajero through some pretty rough places, but I've mellowed a bit and I am not sure I am going to drag this to hell and back to be honest.

How much did you spend on the knock offs? If they aren't much it's worth trying them and if they break, then throw them away and get something more robust.

Originally Posted by letherm

Depends on what sort of driving you intend to do. I have the oem side steps which are great for swmbo as they are nice and wide. They would be fine for light off roading but can be easily bent so are no good for harder stuff. Same for the mud flaps. I bought a chinese knock off copy and fitted them myself and they will suffice for light work. Horses for courses. Martin

Spot on.
I put the LR mudflaps on (bought via Duckworths in UK, much cheaper than local). They are now cracked, 4 years later and after a fair bit of touring/off-road. Will probably look at some thick rubber sheeting to replace them quite soon. There are many threads discussing the merits of various rubber/plastic mudflaps.

I don't have sidesteps/sliders, and have only been in 1 or 2 occasions when I thought they would be a good idea. The plastic sill covers are scratched, but you cannot see unless you lay flat and look up. Taking the vehicle "to hell and back" is subjective to each person. I wouldn't spend $1k if I was only worried about road stones, the occasional stick. If you are going off-road with any kind of rocks a compressor guard would be my first purchase out of that $1k, with plenty change.
Horses for courses...as said above
HTH.

Cheers

Hey Smocky, glad you've got a permagrin

As far as mud flaps go apparently the stock Discovery 1 flaps will screw straight in. I plan to do it but havent got around to it yet.

Scott (LRD14) has done it and has pictures in his thread, as well as sliders with an additional plate to stop mud and sticks. (Sorry i can't find the link on my phone atm). Hopefully that will answer both your questions!

Cheers

Dan

EDIT: found the thread (you've read it before )
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/showthread.php?p=2437132

Scott's Discovery 4

I've bought mudflaps from the UK (Genuine defender ones for a hideous price for the back to be vain and get the LR logo, and aftermarket D1 ones for the front) and plan to fit them instead of the plastic moulded ones for D4. There is a good thread on it here: http://www.aulro.com/afvb/d3-d4-rrs/...-mudflaps.html

As far as sliders/steps go, I have Gordon's (gghaggis) alloy sliders with stand off bars and they work perfectly for my 2 and 4 year olds, and elderly in-laws as steps. If you really want to get an infill panel, have a look at Scott's (LRD414) build thread, his look flash as, made of steel I think.

Originally Posted by Smocky

Mud flaps are probably the first thing I need to address. I've done a lot of reading on the topic, but I'm after the lastest thinking on this. It seems I can buy genuine plastic ones (easily broken), buy Defender ones from the UK, or make my own.Is there no rubber ones you can purchase that just bolt on?

Next is steps. I can see there are a few options for sliders, but the popular ones are just bars that seem to offer no protection from rocks and sticks flicking up. I can see a few have customer engineered plates in them but again, is there not an easy aftermarket option for a decent low profile step that will protect the car?

My thoughts ....

Mud Flaps

D1/2 for the front are pretty close to a straight bolt-on job. Not quite factory because it's better to add some additional support points (screws or bolts).
This is a very easy job and virtually no more difficult than fitting the factory ones.

Straight rubber or poly from Clarke (or similar shop) cut to size would work just as well.
I like the D2 ones because they have a nice clean edge and look factory. Plus if you pay a bit extra you can get the original mountainscape logo version.
I got mine from lrdirect.com. The LR part number is RTC6820.


For the rear, I have just ordered some pre-TD5 Defender ones that have the Land Rover logo.
This is mainly cosmetic and again straight rubber or poly cut to size would suffice too.
This is not the cheapest option but I think looks cool.
The rear is not a straight bolt in place job, with mudflap cutting and additional mounting points required.
So this is a bit more difficult than fitting the factory plastic version but still not too difficult.
I got mine from Rimmer Brothers but lots of places have them including eBay.
If you want the logo, stick with a place that does genuine. Part numbers are LR055332 and CAT500450PMA (right and left respectively).



I originally bought cheap eBay copies of the factory plastic ones, front and rear. They are reasonably robust and haven't broken but do not have sufficient extent to protect the back of the vehicle properly. They also retain a huge amount of mud. And the eBay version is not a great fit to the bumper. Good enough I spose for the money.


SLIDERS/STEPS

The aftermarket rock sliders are pretty much an easy "bolt straight on" type job and no more difficult than the factory sidesteps. Generally most rocksliders offer less step width. So as mentioned, this is really a personal decision/choice. For me, the rockslider with tread plate offers best of both worlds because we don't need a wide step.

As an example, here is Richards from this thread:http://www.aulro.com/afvb/d3-d4-rrs/...installed.html


And here is mine from this thread:http://www.aulro.com/afvb/d3-d4-rrs/...sliders-6.html

Although this is really a skid plate rather than tread plate, intended to protect the rear flares in combination with the front mudflaps and the doors.

These examples are both APT but the threads mentioned include more than one supplier to choose from (APT, GOE, Disco3QLD (Metfit), Terrafirma and also genuine).


COMPRESSOR GUARD
I think you should look into compressor plates too. This is arguably a higher priority than steps/sliders.

Regards,
Scott

If you are leaning towards steps purely for the added protection from stone damage then I think it would be a mistake to get them. You will spend similar money to get decent rock sliders/stand off bars while improving the robustness of the vehicle, installing mudflaps will achieve your goal of protecting the paint work. I got the LR mudflaps which completely stopped stone damage but as noted above they are too rigid and will tear if caught up on something - mine did. As shown in Scott's post, you can have a step on the stand off bars.

Originally Posted by Smocky

How much did you spend on the knock offs? If they aren't much it's worth trying them and if they break, then throw them away and get something more robust.

Just looked up the e-mail and it was $147 delivered for a set of 4.

Martin