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REVIEW/INSTALL: Rally Armor universal mudflaps

jeff

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#1
Hey folks!

I've been wanting mudflaps for my car but wasn't happy with the aggressive look and high price of what's available, so I decided to do some R&D and customize some cheap ($21.83 shipped) Rally Armor universal flaps. I picked these over some other cheap versions because I like the red logo. They also make the universal ones without the red logo FYI.

Link to purchase RA flaps

So the bottom line here is you have to have some ingenuity to make it look decent enough. I've only done one side and I'm happy with the results. It doesn't look perfect but most people probably would not notice. Plus I've read that even with the full-price custom fit RA flaps there is some gap, so even spending big money doesn't make it look perfect.

The deal here is I wanted flaps that didn't stick far out the side of the car like the ones made for our car. Unfortunately in order to keep this from happening and for it to look uniform both front and back (height from ground) I had to pull the back flap in toward the center of the car a bit; otherwise it would have shown that harsh angle like the custom RA flaps for our cars to, which I did not want. Still I'm liking it, the back tires have the oversized look now which is cool, and again most people would never even notice.

If you're doing this it's vital to fit both front and back before attaching as the way you do one will depend on how you did the other, if you want consistency of appearance that is.

Anyhow the basic steps here were (wheels off, of course):

1. Trim flaps (they are pretty large) - I cut off 2 1/2" from the inner side of the flap, it looks much better this way.
2. Measure everything and decide on the correct height and horizontal placement.
3. Fabricate some sort of mounting block for various areas that are not flush with the flap. You'll need this, otherwise the flap will be cocked and not hold well. In my case I used an old exhaust hanger and also made a contoured form out of hot glue for another area. These I bolted to the inner fender liner, then drilled holes into them into which the rivet clips would fit.
4. In addition to mounting the flap to the block you'll also want to mount it a few others places that are acceptable, like to the available parts of the car that are flush with the flap.
5. Once you measure all this you'll drill holes in the blocks/car and flap to receive the rivet clips. It is crucial that before drilling you make sure that the flap is positioned correctly. With the car in the air it is slanted so I lowered it before drilling with the flap taped temporarily in place so that I could make sure it was parallel with the ground before drilling.
6. Apply double-stick tape to help seal and foam tape to hide gaps.
7. Fasten flap to car with rivet clips.

The rivet clips are amazing - the flap is held quite firmly to the car, I don't know that I could even rip it off if I tried. I recommend using these or some type of mechanical fastener - the idea of tape only will not hold over time and will not look right as there is not enough flat surface to attach to. Screws look unprofessional in my opinion, the rivets look really clean.

This took me a full 4 hours because I was basically starting from scratch and doing all the R&D myself aside from having a universal piece of plastic to work with. So if you don't want the hassle I wouldn't recommend this. I didn't want to pay big money for a product that I didn't like the look of, plus it was a fun project, but definitely not for all. The passengers side should go much faster now that I already have the holes marked and know what I'm doing.

Materials used:
* flaps
* rivet clips
* foam tape
* double-stick tape
* hanger of some sort
* bolts, nuts, screws, etc.

Pics of my $22 mudflaps (plus another ~$13 for rivet clips and tape, so let's say $35 total):

EDIT
Pics moved a few posts down, Photobucket bamboozled me but I've got them re-linked below on Fotki now...
EDIT


Pictures don't do it justice, it really does look pretty good in person. I have pretty high standards and I'm happy with it. I might go back later and work with the front more to reduce the gap a bit more, for now I'm tired! I'll post more pics once I get the other side done probably in a week or so.....

*****
OK go spend your money on the full deal for $160 or save a bit of money and get a more subtle look like I did, I can see both being good options. Thanks for reading!
 


Last edited:
OP
jeff

jeff

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Thread Starter #5
Hey thanks John!

[^]

So today I finished the other side, it took under 2 hours since I knew what I was doing.

To anyone following my path here, pro tip - a fantastic product to make your custom mounting block/spacers is......vinyl tile. It's thick, durable, waterproof, cheap, and easy to manipulate and shape. I used this on the passenger side and was way quicker and easier than the hot glue forms I poured for the driver's side. Just build up layers and once you bolt it onto the car it won't move till the end of time.

Flaps look good...I'm really happy I went this route for the look and price savings.

Thanks for reading!





EDIT: Took some better pics when the sun came out today.
 


Last edited:

SnapDragon

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#6
once i fix up my FiST, i plan to have some fun and rally it. any chance we can get you to update your photobucket so the images can show here once again? it'd be helpful to have a visual when choosing whether to DIY or bite the bullet on mudflaps.

thanks!
 


OP
jeff

jeff

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Thread Starter #8
Really wanted to see how these turned out... damn you photobucket


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yeah they really inconvenienced a lot of people without warning.

Eventually I'll get a new account somewhere and update my pics. For now anyone who wants pics feel free to PM me your cell number and I'll text you a few pictures.
 


alexrex20

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#9
I said good riddance to Photobucket years ago. Their site is so slow and their idiotic hyperlinking is... Idiotic. Flickr for me.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
 


OP
jeff

jeff

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Thread Starter #10
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#12
You know, I've had the same concerns you have about the custom-fit Rally Armor mud flaps available for the FiST and was looking for a solution and was thinking about something similar.

Thanks for the write up! The pictures look great, and car looks clean!
 


OP
jeff

jeff

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Thread Starter #14
Can you share some photos of Step 3 and Step 6? If it's visible.
Here are all the rest of the pictures I found in my files:

Hosted on Fotki
Hosted on Fotki
Hosted on Fotki
Hosted on Fotki
Hosted on Fotki
Hosted on Fotki
Hosted on Fotki

Hope that helps, let me know if you have specific questions. PM me if you want and I'll send my my cell, it might be easier to talk through it rather than write.

When it comes to making a mounting bracket, I ended up using some vinyl tile on the passenger side. That's what I'd do if I were doing it again. It's cheap, can be cut to size, shaped easily, and is durable. Can't remember if I mentioned that earlier but it's basically a plastic weatherproof shape-it-yourself to any size/shape solution.

I have a local friend who has a black Fiesta also and he has the RA full-size $160 flaps. So I saw mine next to his. Mine are way more subtle but still look nice with the red logo. I think without the red logo they would be meh but as is they're pretty jazzy and are holding up extremely well so far!
 


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#15
Wow. Quite impressive bit of fabrication. Nice job on cutting it smaller. Fantastic photos! Thanks for sharing.

Looks like a fun weekend project. I think I might pick up a set of those and find a weekend to do the same.
 


OP
jeff

jeff

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Thread Starter #16
Thought I'd update this thread, today I removed my DIY mudflaps and installed another set of the same kind. $23 was the cost.

Reasoning was I just got new wheels and the old flaps which I'd cut a bit smaller and set a good bit inward toward the center of the car now looked silly with the new wheels/offset and the tires/wheels being more protruded. So I put the new set out exactly an inch. I think it looks great!

The old flaps held up well...I was surprised that even after removing the plastic anchors at my 5 mounting points the flaps were still held on quite tightly by the double stick tape.

These are still not protruding as much as the $159 set of RA flaps/brackets do....a nice compromise.

Here are a few pics of the new setup...






 


OP
jeff

jeff

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Thread Starter #17
Made a vid for this mod.

[video=youtube;bx1yzGTqRZo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx1yzGTqRZo&feature=youtu.be[/video]
 


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#18
Time to revive an old thread , I have some Rally Armor mudflaps for my 2019 and the rear is a whole new completely different design . It no longer just has an endcap that comes off . Looks like the teardrop is 1 whole piece that will somehow have to be removed and I'm afraid to go to pulling on it and accidentially break it .





 




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