Mud flap or not?

[dshogman]

I have an old Riverside mud flap that I transferred from my 2001 coach to the new 2005. It has now developed a large tear below the left side mounting points. Thought I would get a new one from Riverside but they're out of business. WRV's price is ridiculous. SO I figured I would get an UltraGuard from CW.
Then the basic question came to mind - are these things really worth it? I see coaches with and without them. Is there any real reason to have one except to state again what the name of the coach is?
Would appreciate any thoughts and comments.
Thanks and Happy 4th!

David

[dshogman]

I have an old Riverside mud flap that I transferred from my 2001 coach to the new 2005. It has now developed a large tear below the left side mounting points. Thought I would get a new one from Riverside but they're out of business. WRV's price is ridiculous. SO I figured I would get an UltraGuard from CW.
Then the basic question came to mind - are these things really worth it? I see coaches with and without them. Is there any real reason to have one except to state again what the name of the coach is?
Would appreciate any thoughts and comments.
Thanks and Happy 4th!

David

[Jeff and Cheryl]

David,

I had a similar problem. The eyes on the right side pulled through. The fix was to have the top 2 to 3 inches of the mudflap removed, attach a metal bar with eyes in it to the flap (and put holes in the flap where the eyes were), then reattach the flap to the coach. The fix was considerably less than a new flap and still has the Alpine Coach logo.

[Gary Arnold]

I will not install one on mine!
On out trip to Alaska last year on some graveled roads we encountered two diesel pusher coaches with side mounted radiators (same configuration as the Alpine). Each coach had a hole in there radiator caused by gravel entering the fan side of the radiator.

It appears the full mud flap can bounce gravel and rocks from the road surface towards the motor and some will make it inside the radiator housing between the fan blades. Booth coaches had many small nicks in the plastic fan blade and several pieces of gravel inside the fan housing (between the fan and radiator). I would assume some of this gravel would hit the spinning fan at just the correct angle to propel it toward the radiator at speed.

You should inspect your fan and housing. Motor off there should be no nicks or chips in the plastic fan. There is just enough room to stick your arm between the fan blades and feel for any rocks or gravel on the entire bottom of the pan. Our coach is clean with no debris or nicks

The full mud flaps work good in the rain but not on gravel.

[VAGABONDMAN]

If you're interested in a quality rear mud flap, contact WRV service and ask about the one they have on display. They have some on consignment from John Schroeder that are similar to the Riverside ones but don't have any bolt holes; the WRV logo is laser cut and mounted to the heavy anti sail plate with studs welded to the back side. I don't know what they're asking for them, but if you can't make a reasonable deal, I can put you in touch with John (moved to Oregon). They also have his smaller Flaps with WRV logos for individual wheels - stainless etc.

[rmmpe]

I have heard comments about the full flaps disrupting air flow and perhaps restricting the escape of hot air from under the Coach.

[Stretch]

Been running a full mudflap accross the motorhome since new (03 40fdts). Never had a problem with ovrheating. Want a good mudflap system cheap? Buy two 24 X 36 inch truck mud flaps from your local truck parts distributor. It will set you back all of $10.00 a pair. Then buy two pieces of 2 inch by 8 foot 1/8th inch steel angle iron. Sandwich the two mudflaps between the two pieces of angle iron by drilling a series of holes and bolting the two together. weld two small metal tabs to the angle iron. and drill mounting holes and mount it to the underframe of the Alpine. Total cost $35 including the welding. Of course you wont be advertising WRV on the your mudflaps.............