Paranoia and mudflaps

[kamalamak]

Should I or shouldn't try to put mud flaps on the Silverado for the Alaska trip? After judging the pros (all the fear stories) and cons (more work and how the hell am I going to mount them) we come up with one of our oft said mantras "what would it hurt". But how? Then, as we are leaving the Quartzite Fiberglass Rally this February I see a Scamp owner pick up a rod with mud flaps and lay it across the hitch. So simple! We didn't stop to get a close up of the rig but the idea stuck. So succumbing to the fear mongers (or the wise pundits, I 'll let you know after Alaska) Here are our mud flaps.

I might have mention in previous blurbs that we're a bit on the cheapside so having a professional do it was economically out of the question, so to the junk pile I went and I find a 3 sided metal rod that I had once procured to make an on-top rack for our recumbent tandem (and never got around to doing). It's wide enough. From my mechanic I beg a couple of old mud flaps from an 18 wheeler. After that its just a matter of drilling some holes and welding a small piece of the same angle iron on the bottom of the hitch. It's not exactly a thing of beauty, but functional (?) I think. I'll let you know.

After doing this, we found Rock Tamers for $200. Mine cost around $12. But of course, we won't count the countless steps to and from the garage to fetch tools.

[Carol H]

Its a bit like the question should I bring a spare tire with me? Sure thing the one time you don't have one with you you will get a flat. Murphy's law.

The answer may depend on how upset you will be with rock chips on the front of your trailer or depending on what the dumper style is on your truck how happy you will be with chips on the outside ends of it as well. Particularly if its a painted bumper.

[kamalamak]

Carol H, well, that's what we figured. So we went with 'what will it hurt' to do it and did it. Made it ourselves. Want to protect our special vessel.

[kamalamak]

I uploaded a picture of the final product but don't see it (???)

[Ian G.]

I use Rock Tamers and for me they are THE answer. My 4Runner has mud flaps but both my Boler and Casita would get sprayed with mud, gravel, etc. WIth the Rock Tamer hardly anything gets to the trailer, I also like the fact they are removable and transferable to any tow vehicle.
Rock Tamers

[cpaharley2008]

I believe Corky, CourtlandPieperCo is his name, has a net/metal pole across his truck rear to protect his new Scamp.

[kamalamak]

I hope this shows up. This is what Charley made:

[honda03842]

Kamala,

We've had two experiences like your drive to Alaska. We drove there and across Labrador when it was a 1000 mile dirt road. On the road to Alaska we had our windshield hit three times by stones, each hit was caused by oncoming traffic and all 3 hits on the driver's side. We were driving our motor home towing our Honda. The motor home's tires are pretty far from the tow vehicle. We had large mud flaps and a barrier along the back of the motor home, sort of like your truck flaps and had no tow vehicle hits.

We did put clear mylar tape across the front of our headlights as well people often put clear mylar tape on the lower part of their windshield, the part you're not looking through.

On our trip to Labrador we put blue insulation foam on the front of our gray tank and on the front edge of our fuel tank to protect from rocks, These pieces were generally peppered with holes and no damage to the tanks. (By the way a bar of soap can fill a small hole in a gas tank).

We had an aluminum faced trailer going across Labrador, Every front facing surface was sand blasted on the Labrador road and the paint worn off the front of the trailers in the area immediately behind the wheels. It seems the flaps almost needed to go to the ground to stop this peppering. Labrador road is mostly paved now and the roads in Alaska are mostly paved, it's in the construction areas where you need to be careful and shockingly to us it was not the guy in front of us but the guy coming towards us.

In Labrador for oncoming traffic we would normally pull way to the right and let them fly on their way. We would only see about 4 cars a day coming towards us and another 4 pass us in our lane, they all drove a lot faster than us.

We went to Alaska in 2003 and the traffic once you get north is relatively light and virtually no 18 wheelers.

[kamalamak]

Wow! Norm and Ginny! Thanks so much. Someone told us to put bubble wrap (packaging material) on the front of the trailer. We hadn't thought about the holding tanks at all. Count down has begun. Leaving Sunday!

[ThomasE]

My truck has the factory mud flaps but that still wasn't enough to prevent my trailer from getting pelted with thousands of pebbles plus tar splatters when I took my trip to Alaska. Larger mud flaps would have definitely helped. The entire Alaska highway is paved, BUT there's frequent stretches under construction, repair, re-tarring during the summers.

[MyronL]

Gotten at my Chevy dealer, $40bucks. Stronger than Batman's suit. Easy to install yourself if you don't mind removing the tire. Also comes in (ugh) gloss black.

[ajdemo76]

Weather Tech mud flaps are about $30 a pair and install without drilling. Got them on the Tahoe, work great.


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[honda03842]

Kamala,

I know your primary concern is the trailer, but you might want to check your tow vehicle insurance to see if your tow vehicle had full coverage for glass replacement. Not all states require this in a policy.

The closer to the ground the mud flaps go the better the protection.

Myron's protect his truck but I'm not sure they'd protect his trailer,

[Marsha D]

Originally Posted by ajdemo76

Weather Tech mud flaps are about $30 a pair and install without drilling. Got them on the Tahoe, work great.


Sent from my iPad using Fiberglass RV

Have you been on the Alaska roads? Just curious since we just bought the Weather Tech but are now wondering if that's enough.

[rgrugg]

We went to Alaska three times and the only incident was a broken cab-over window in our pickup camper. That happened in Montana. Most of the horror stories are from around 40 years ago but still get repeated by people who don't know any better.

[honda03842]

Sorry Bob, I can only relate experience from 2003 in Alaska and 2008 in Labrador.

I know the roads are better in Labrador these days and hopefully in Alaska. There's really no harm in longer mud flaps. The exit angle on Weather tech mud flaps will protect the truck but not totally protect the following trailer. This is a mute point if you're driving on clean roads.

[MyronL]

"Myron's protect his truck but I'm not sure they'd protect his trailer..."

From a recent trip.... absolutely right.