Outer Limits 4x4 Board

After a recent vehicle inspection by Yarra Ranges Highway Patrol I was informed that I am required to have mud flaps down to the centre of the hubs, as well as wheel arch flares that cover the widest point of the tyre.
As we all know mud flaps are crap as they get in the way during recovery etc, which is why I have none. However now I have attracted the attention of the law I think I should comply, which is where the problem begins. I have a mid wheelbase bj73 cruiser with 2 inch wheel spacers and 36inch Simex, so the tyres stick out a bit. The 80mm flare rubber dosen't quite cover them. Fibreglass flares will just get busted, same for mud gaurds. The highway cop told me of some removable mud flaps with a quick-release pin, so they can be taken off for off road use. I wonder if I could somehow incorporate these with wider, non-breakable flares. If anyone has suggestions, or a similar vehicle set up which is street legal your feedback would be appreciated, Cheers !

So he picked you up for no mud flaps but the 36" Simex's were fine?

He was cool with the tyres

could go the route of removable fibreglass or metal flares, more effort i know, but rubber ones can't really be taken on and off. Daz in the yellow coiled 40 has this setup, 4 bolts and each flare is off only takes 5 minutes.

marin

and the wheel spacers?

everyone is quick to bitch when the cops are doing their job but look at this guy, he even suggested fitting quick-removal mudflaps so you can just remove them when you go off road

what a champion.

he could have been such an asshole to you if he wanted to.

Thanks marin.
I don't think he noticed the wheel spacers or extended shackles, but if he did he wasn't phased by them.
Yes, he could of been a real arsehole but he wasn't too bad. Note I wasn't bitching about him doing his job, this posting was an attempt to comply with his advice, Cheers.

bluemq wrote:everyone is quick to bitch when the cops are doing their job but look at this guy, he even suggested fitting quick-removal mudflaps so you can just remove them when you go off road

what a champion.

he could have been such an asshole to you if he wanted to.

really bluemq, read what was said. Nobody was bitching about the cop doing his job, BJ73 simply told us what happened and was in no way demeaning to the cop for doing his job, and is now asking peoples opinions on how he can implement some sort of flares/mud flaps to his car that are removable.


marin

edit: was trying to find pics of what Daz has done with his flares, couldn't find anything is his members thread though.

marin wrote:

bluemq wrote:everyone is quick to bitch when the cops are doing their job but look at this guy, he even suggested fitting quick-removal mudflaps so you can just remove them when you go off road

what a champion.

he could have been such an asshole to you if he wanted to.

really bluemq, read what was said. Nobody was bitching about the cop doing his job, BJ73 simply told us what happened and was in no way demeaning to the cop for doing his job, and is now asking peoples opinions on how he can implement some sort of flares/mud flaps to his car that are removable.


marin

edit: was trying to find pics of what Daz has done with his flares, couldn't find anything is his members thread though.

yeah and?

i dont see any comments commending the copper's actions except mine.

go read every other thread about coppers pinging you for big tyres and every chips in and has a cry.

someone posts about a copper who isn't a d1ck, and no one even cares.

yeah ta ! So anyway, does anyone have any info regarding these quick-release / removable rubber mud flaps for big tyres ?

if you can't find any, I would suggest fabbing some using those quick release metal clips you can get @ bunnings for wire fencing, they are pretty cheap.

they have a small pull ring and they disconnect

two per mudflap would be sufficient, tie the two pull rings together with a peice of wire or whatever to make it easy.

I don't rate the quick release style - another thing to loose or break or forget about. And if you come off the dirt with caked tyres and have to make a quick run on the ashphalt, the mud flaps really aren't a bad touch.

I've hung my flaps close to the back edge of the trye, and then chained them back to the rear bar. If you want to get them out of the road, you can simply hook/tie/clamp the chain up higher. Having them tied back gets them out of the road for most (not all) situations though.

Edit: the flaps are 10mm thick rubber sheets.

Bunnings have the grass edgeing stuff for lawns and gardens, the stuff is in roles and about 100mm wide x 5mm hard plastic (like garbae bin stuff)

steve

bluemq wrote:everyone is quick to bitch when the cops are doing their job but look at this guy, he even suggested fitting quick-removal mudflaps so you can just remove them when you go off road

what a champion.

he could have been such an asshole to you if he wanted to.

quick removal mudflaps???

bluemq wrote: yeah and?

i dont see any comments commending the copper's actions except mine.

go read every other thread about coppers pinging you for big tyres and every chips in and has a cry.

someone posts about a copper who isn't a d1ck, and no one even cares.

its a sad state of affairs when people say we should praise a cop who does his job without being an asshole. that should be the very least expected of them, not something that commands high praise.

Bundyrum4x4 and I both run Rubber Flexi flare and large rubber mudflaps that are securely bolted and chained to the car at all 4 tyres. No problems with them coming off and the car stays cleaner. IMO if you build them removable they will stay off or be knocked off easily.

Thanks for the input guys, its been a help. I reckon for now I'll just make up some permanent flaps out of thick sheet rubber. If I have ongoing dramas down the track I may have to try something detachable, but its too much haslsle for now. That lawn edging stuff could be the go, I think its cheaper than conventional rubber flares and wider too.
Cheers.

I think i read once in 4wd monthly that mud flaps have to be no higher than 300mm off the ground. As for flares, I think as long as furthest part of tyre is flush or inside 'em, then sweet.

GQ Bear wrote:I think i read once in 4wd monthly that mud flaps have to be no higher than 300mm off the ground. As for flares, I think as long as furthest part of tyre is flush or inside 'em, then sweet.

this is definitely the case in QLD. Another thought for the flares is you could attach a thin piece of angle around the arch of the flare and then just attach a normal rubber strip onto that and make it whatever width you need. Have a look at "Twisty Toys" zook buildup and you can see what i mean. He just zip tied it on and despite sounding a little tacky this method actually looks very good and neat. If you wanted to and could be bothered you could even cut or undo the zip ties every time you went of road and then just reattach them for on road. John

Found a pic...he used garden edging from bunnings

Or rubber flaring, cost me about $60 for 6m from Duncan's in Moorabbin. I just straightened coat-hangers and fed the wire through the eye so it'll keep its shape.

thats funny because i have had 2 roadworthy's with no mudflaps at all from ultratune

Quote from BJ73

I have a mid wheelbase bj73 cruiser with 2 inch wheel spacers and 36inch Simex, so the tyres stick out a bit. The 80mm flare rubber dosen't quite cover them.

Go to 1" wheel spacers?

Made my flares out of garden edging from Bunnings,they sell it 150mm x 6mtr long $28 & when it came to making 'quick release mudflaps',.....I have my mudflaps hanging off 4 pins (or bolts,whatever you wanna use) FIXED to the vehicle with a small hole drilled in them,then I've got 'R' clips holding the flap in place.Have had it this way for 'onroad' for 3yrs & has never let me down.

Swerve wrote:Bunnings have the grass edgeing stuff for lawns and gardens, the stuff is in roles and about 100mm wide x 5mm hard plastic (like garbae bin stuff)

steve

flares need to be structural ie strong enough to deflect a pedestrian away from the moving tyres. I used to run a poly prop sheet as my flares, covered them beautifully and was nice and flexible so that if I lent it into a bank, rut etc they would flex but not break. had to get a RWC and they failed needed to replace them with stronger stuff and garden edging was NOT suitable

grimbo wrote:

Swerve wrote:Bunnings have the grass edgeing stuff for lawns and gardens, the stuff is in roles and about 100mm wide x 5mm hard plastic (like garbae bin stuff)

steve

flares need to be structural ie strong enough to deflect a pedestrian away from the moving tyres. I used to run a poly prop sheet as my flares, covered them beautifully and was nice and flexible so that if I lent it into a bank, rut etc they would flex but not break. had to get a RWC and they failed needed to replace them with stronger stuff and garden edging was NOT suitable

Grimbo, What did you end up using?

I bought some fibreglass front flares and the rear is a custom tray setup using trailer guards. Also got rid of the massively offset custom rims