Mudflaps installation

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tom_06 @ Oct 26 2006, 07:09 AM) [snapback]338491[/snapback]</div>

So you are telling me that the metal rear quarter fender part that folds over to the wheel well is not metal? I understand the black fender well is plastic but the rear quarter panel is metal and that has to be drilled into.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rest @ Oct 26 2006, 02:19 PM) [snapback]338727[/snapback]</div>

No. The only place you drill is into the edges of the bumper covers. One on each front mudflap, three for each rear flap. All into plastic. The metal panels are higher up.

I've done 2 cars, and another poster has chimed in above to echo my experience. Unless you don't have a 2004 - 2007 Prius or don't have the Toyota mudflaps. All holes needed where there is metal are predrilled/existing with other fasteners in them.

- Tom

 

No fancy instructions, but here's my page on them.
http://evnut.com/prius_splash_guards.htm

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tom_06 @ Oct 26 2006, 02:41 PM) [snapback]338740[/snapback]</div>

I incorrectly assumed the painted rear quarter panel was made of metal. Now I see it is made of plastic. Even though there is no drilling into metal, you still have to drill into a panel that is painted the color of the car. Once you do this there is no going back and removing the splash guards is not an option unless you want to see holes on a painted panel.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rest @ Oct 26 2006, 03:21 PM) [snapback]338785[/snapback]</div>

If you want to remove them, see:

http://www.bumperplugs.com/BPindex.html

There is almost always a way to do what you want.

- Tom

 

If you want to skip jacking up the car and manhandling the wheels off and on, stop at Home Depot and pick up a 90 degree drill bit. I believe the bit size was 1/4 inch (that's what it was for the rear flaps on the HyCam I did last weekend.)

rpm

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(onerpm @ Oct 26 2006, 02:00 PM) [snapback]338859[/snapback]</div>

A 90° drill bit would sure flop around alot when you got it spinning! I assume you mean a 90° chuck?


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rest @ Oct 26 2006, 12:21 PM) [snapback]338785[/snapback]</div>

The holes are VERY hard to see since they are on the inner lip of that plastic quarter panel. If you ever wanted to take the guards off, just pop a black screw into the hole and nobody would ever know the difference.

 

MANY THANKS to the person who put the link on for the detailed instructions for the mudflaps, it was SOO easy.

And they look great! Don't know why my toyota dealer doesn't sell them, their LOSS...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tom_06 @ Oct 26 2006, 11:35 AM) [snapback]338637[/snapback]</div>

Won't mudflaps hinder the features of the aeronomic design of the vehicle, thus resulting in less mpg?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusFTW @ Jan 25 2007, 12:38 PM) [snapback]380646[/snapback]</div>

I installed my mudflaps last week and I have not see any difference in my MPG

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusFTW @ Jan 25 2007, 01:38 PM) [snapback]380646[/snapback]</div>

You're talking about a very minor aerodynamic change if any. If you were driving 200mph then I would say yes. But the flaps are within the laminar air flow of the vehicle at freeway speeds and thus won't restrict speed or mileage.

 

i have an 04 prius with mudflaps. there is one problem. the front right mudflap rattles with the plastic from the fender. I thought putting in a bigger screw (the old one fell out) would solve the problem. Now the entire inner plastic fender rattles.. it slaps against the outer metal fender. so i'm going to put a screw through the metal soon.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusFTW @ Jan 25 2007, 12:38 PM) [snapback]380646[/snapback]</div>

I thought I noticed a drop when I first installed them, as reported here:

http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=18994&hl=

Longer term, it doesn't seem to make much difference, if any. Nonetheless, I made a small modification to allow me to easily remove them for long trips, when I'm most concerned about wind resistance and least concerned about the gravel in my quarter-mile driveway (the main reason for buying them). I replaced the stock Phillps-head screws with hex-head screws. I keep a box end ratchet in the car to fit the screws. I can now remove the screws without turning the front wheels or removing the rear ones, and can remove or replace the mudguards in about five or ten minutes.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JimboK @ Jan 31 2007, 08:47 AM) [snapback]383212[/snapback]</div>

Your concern is unwarranted. Again...the laminar airflow on the vehicles body removes any resistance to air flow. Thus and again, unless you are going 200mph there is no aerodynamic resistance which causes fuel mileage loss.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rest @ Jan 31 2007, 02:19 PM) [snapback]383410[/snapback]</div>

Sorry, I consider my concern warranted. There is aerodynamic drag that increases at higher speeds, mudguards or not. I prefer not to do anything that adds to the drag. Whether the mudguards actually increase the drag is debatable, but that's a separate issue.

I'm not an engineer or a physicist, but I have a hunch those who are would take issue with the statement that there's no aerodynamic resistance below 200 mph.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rest @ Jan 31 2007, 02:19 PM) [snapback]383410[/snapback]</div>

Try this

Drive 50 miles in a 10 MPH headwind and measure your fuel mileage

Then turn around and drive back with a 10 MPH tailwind and measure.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JimboK @ Jan 31 2007, 06:20 PM) [snapback]383525[/snapback]</div>

I incorrectly stated my post. I never meant to say there was no aerodynamic resistance below 200mph. I should have stated there is very little resistance that splash guards would cause unless you are going at high speeds like 200mph. With the Prius, driving skill is a bigger factor on mileage than the aerodynamics of splash guards. Better yet the side mirrors give more resistance than them. There is something called laminar air flow over the surface of a vehicle. You would find that the wheel well openings disturbance to this flow encompasses the splash guards and thus reduce upsetting this air flow during normal freeway speeds.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rest @ Jan 31 2007, 08:50 PM) [snapback]383607[/snapback]</div>

Correction noted, thanks. So to that extent, yes, my concern probably is unwarranted. And I wholeheartedly agree that driving technique is far more important. I now think the effect of adding (or removing) the mudguards is probably negligible. But I'll take any edge I can. Maybe there's a placebo effect!

I'm reminded of an article I read a few years ago about techniques of SERIOUS backpackers. To save weight the article suggested things like cutting labels out of clothes and sawing toothpaste handles in half. That seemed extreme to this casual weekend backpacker, but there were dozens of little things like that whose collective impact the author presumably thought was significant. Maybe the mudguards are to fuel economy what toothpaste handles are to a backpack's weight.

EDIT: Toothbrush handles, not toothpaste. That's what I get for jumping on here before I'm fully awake! Toothpaste in my neck of the woods has no handles.