Mud Flap Fitting Instructions

Ah right, thanks for the reply

I didn't know fitting the mud flaps require drilling holes? Seems complicated?

Only drilling in to plastic, but I agree it's not First Prize.

They should of pre-drilled the holes or used some clipping system to hold it in place!

Finally got round to fitting my rear mud-flaps today in the sunshine, coupe, dynamic. The good news is that they are easier to fit than the fronts and fit better but the instructions are poor. In particular, LR conveniently forget there's a wheel arch liner in there which gets in the way but it can be folded back.

The existing rear wheel arch rear section has 4 fixing points: two hidden studs, one back into the wheel arch liner and one underneath. The mud-flap installation exposes the stud holes by drilling them out which are then used by bolts to fasten the mud-flap and speed-nuts replace the other two fixings. To get the wheel arch liner speed nut fixing hole to align with the existing, you will need to cut the wheel arch liner slightly to accommodate the larger speed nut for the big, flat torx screw.

I know there's a reticence against removing the wheels but the job's a lot easier if you do.

Overall, the process is easier than for the fronts with those nasty metal clips and the square hole to cut for the speed nut. I know the video suggests a different approach but I am sticking to the "official" way of doing things.

I was interested to note while working under the car - care if you are relying on a jack to support the car with the wheel off - the fixings left and right for the rear "bull bar" were different, suggesting the technicians who work on each side had been supplied with different parts. I had enough of those large torx screws to replace all 4 fixings, so I can now sleep easy about the previous lack of symmetry...

If you want to make it really easy:

Front:

Undo the existing two bolts in the wheel arch and just re-do with the mudflap. This with the built in 3m tape has held mine firm now for 4 months and 10K km, through snow, wind and rain. (time to fit about 2 mins per side).

Rear:

Use the exisiting lower bolt (having replaced the captive clip as indicated in the instructions), and use the U-shaped clip from the front flaps to attach the flap about 4cm from the top. This with the 3m tape has held no problems and means when I come to sell i have no holes in the bumper (time to fit about 10mis per side as the lower bolt is a bit of a knuckle scraper but can be done with the wheel on).

Will post a photo when I get my digital camera (which is currently in my office)

Just a thought

Worth mentioning too that while the fronts are there to reduce dirt on the doors, the rears are largely cosmetic but they do improve the rear appearance of the car by squaring off the rear end. All IMHO, of course.

(27-03-2012 09:02pm)lesdon499 Wrote:  I have managed to fit mud flaps to the front of my dynamic. Anyone seen a video upload of a rear fitting?

cheers

Les

I was also hoping to see a video upload for the rear fitting, from the instructions, it looks very complicated and hard to follow.

I agree, the instructions are poor, but here is some written text to accompany the diagrams. I'm referring here to the dynamic, VPLVP0070, have not looked at the other type but I expect it's similar.

1. On each mud-flap, cut off the tab with a sharp knife and trim the edges. Retain the tabs.

2. In the wheel arch, remove the wheel and look towards the back outside edge and remove the hex bolt and push stud. These undo by unscrewing a couple of turns, put out the centre and then the stud. These two fixings are removed simply to allow the liner to be folded back.

3. Lower down, remove the self-tapping screw which is securing the wheel arch extension backwards into a speed nut in the liner; at the bottom, underneath the car, remove a second push stud. Then pull the wheel arch extension out with the least force possible, using a plastic pry tool to ease out the two arrowed press studs. Do not "yank" it out.

4. Remove the (blue) press studs. The instructions say discard them, I kept mine.

5. Drill an 8mm hole as far in to each slot as possible; use the 3 washers as a guide how far up you can go. Also, at this point, enlarge the hole in the bottom to 9mm - not shown in the instructions but required.

6. Fit 3 washers at each point and line them up with the new holes. Fit a speed nut over the bottom edge so that it sits comfortably in the now 9mm hole. See the bottom of Diagram 7. The flat surface should be on the outside, bottom surface.

7. Offer the sill extension up to the car and see how the two drilled holes align with holes in the plastic bumper, and the two other holes align with existing holes. At this point, replace the speed nut in the wheel arch liner with one of the larger ones supplied. You will need to cut a slot in the wheel arch liner with a knife to positiion the hole in the same place as the original. This step is completely omitted in the instructions.

8/9 Fix the two top holes first, the imbedded bolt in the mud-flap and the second one supplied. Fold back the liner to gain access and fit the tab in the direction shown so that the nut sits squarely on the surface.

10/11. Use the large flat torx screws to fix the mud-flap into the speed nuts in the liner and at the bottom. Note you will not be using the self-tapper, speed nut and press stud originally fitted.

12. Tighten everything up step by step to avoid any stress in the mud-flap. These fixings should be tight but not so tight as to strain things. You are not attaching a cylinder head here.

13. Fold back the wheel arch liner and dress it to ensure properly fitted, then replace the two fixings removed in Step 1.

I found fitting the rear mud-flaps much easier than the front ones.

The instructions are a great help and makes more sense. However, the rear wheels will have to be removed to access the wheel arches to perform the tasks which is not ideal? Are the mud flaps worth the effort ?