Mid-ship mud flaps

[jjbsmith]

Rocks and road hazards kicked up by the front wheels were striking the forward end of the radiator on our mid-engine Allstar. No structural damage was visible but the paint on the radiator and the filters was chipped. The radiator had recently been painted under warranty Radiator and the filters replaced with an annual oil change so we decided to protect the area with a mud flap.



As my wife has learned when I build something I like to experiment so we now have 4 mid-ship mud flaps.



The Allstar has channels in the basement floor that provided the anchors for the mud-flaps. The mud flaps hang from flat bars inserted into the channels.



For sure the mud-flaps will cut down on the rock chips but we can't yet report on any other advantages or disadvantages.





Forum members please chime in with your views as you may help us steer clear of a debacle.

[Skipper 05MA]

Great job. Where did you get the flap material? We have an 05 Mountain Aire and the driver's side front flap is tearing and needs replaced.

Thanks, Tom

[Lug_Nut]

Is there a cover missing that should be over the filter group? Spartan insists on a cover over them on the rear engine, and it is at about the same location except in the rear. I lost my cover, as did several others, and I asked Spartan if I could leave it off. They said it needed to be there for protection of the filter group. Newmar sent me a new one with additional hold down screw knobs. So I replaced it with 5 hold downs instead of the original 2.
I would check with Newmar or Spartan and ask if this should have a cover or not.

Peter

[Jetsmania]

Hi! It looks preety good! How are your clearances when you air down the coach? Paul

[Route 66]

My DSDP has both a filter cover/shield and a radiator cover/shield .

I'm surprised the mid engine does not have said covers.

[Norm Payne]

A friend bought a 2008 Dutch Star and his motorhome does not have a cover over the filters. They are exposed to the world.

[rebelsbeach]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Norm Payne:
A friend bought a 2008 Dutch Star and his motorhome does not have a cover over the filters. They are exposed to the world. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Must be a cost cutting move.....

[Route 66]

Once again we see that the only thing consistent in the RV industry is their inconsistency.

[jjbsmith]

Tom,
The material is poly mud-flap 24" x 36" sold at most big truck parts suppliers.

Peter, Dirk, Norm
The only covers provided on the Allstar shield the lowest part of the radiator from side impacts. The filters are not protected on any of the Allstars that I have seen.
I took the radiator cover off because it looked flimsy and was cracking.

Paul,
Good point. The mud-flap material is flexible and may become kinked if we park over a hump in the ground. I left about 4" clearance. I may have to shorten the flaps as needed. The channels seem very sturdy and the flaps can be bent almost flat to the bottom of the coach. I worry about reversing direction if the flap is jammed into the ground from motion in the opposite direction.

[Dav5942]

Excellent work Bob! Just checked underneath and found my transmission lube filter with a large dent(I think it was there when new but..). Everything else looked OK with few dings.

One thing to think about is the mud flaps actually(in many cases) will bring up rocks, etc. Witness the fact that many remove their rear mud flap when traveling to Alaska to minmize the amount of rocks on the toad.

An alternative would be a cage around the filters(similiar to our cage around our 25 gal. gas station).


Another alternative would be the material used with Protect-A-Tow placed under the filter/radiator area.


All in all you got me thinking and will probably do something-thanks!

[jjbsmith]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">
One thing to think about is the mud flaps actually(in many cases) will bring up rocks, etc. Witness the fact that many remove their rear mud flap when traveling to Alaska to minmize the amount of rocks on the toad.
Another alternative would be the material used with Protect-A-Tow placed under the filter/radiator area.
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Dave,
How does a mud flap bring up rocks? I can see it deflecting rocks up onto the toad or hitting the road on a bump and scraping up the rocks.

I like your idea of the fabric bag. I think I will try to rig something up for in front of the filters.

[Route 66]

The large full width mud flap kicks up stones etc. when it hits the road.

Many folks have raised or shortened the mud flap and eliminated this problem.

[Dav5942]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Route 66:
The large full width mud flap kicks up stones etc. when it hits the road.

Many folks have raised or shortened the mud flap and eliminated this problem. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Not sure about the geometry but...we shortened ours and we still got chips on the toad(I think its the sucking up effect of the flap). Now using the Protect-A-Tow and so far no chips.

[Route 66]

Interesting.

Confession.

I have not modified mine, and have not had a problem with chips on the toad.

However, I am going to cut about 1 1/2" off the the bottom after raising the Newmar SS piece.

1 1/2" is the max I can cut off.