Mud Flap Separation - Probably my fault (LONG)

[Gary.Jones]

I recently became aware of a problem that I, and I assume some others, have had or will have. The problem is a “Failed” mudflap (or rock guard) on my Cornerstone. I was driving back from Dallas when a friendly semi-truck driver passed me and tapped his horn and he pointed down and back and I knew that something was wrong. I assumed it was a tire or hitch problem with my Honda. There was virtually no berm where I stopped but I ran back to assess the problem. What I saw was that the “Cornerstone” rubber backing of the mudflap had ripped about 2/3 of the whole distance from the driver side to the passenger side and the stainless-steel name plate was now dragging on the highway and held on to the coach only by the hardware on the passenger side.

I have included several pictures of the mudflap the way I found it. Luckily, there was an off ramp about a mile or two further on I-20 and I was able to pull over safely and remove the mudflap from the coach and put it into the Honda CR-V. The mounting hardware had not failed and was intact. Related is that I had always known that my mudflap was too close to the road right from the factory or dealer but I never changed it and had been wearing off rubber from one side of the mudflap.

Now the important part of this post. I believe, looking back at it, that the tear of the rubber backing was probably my fault. My coach is parked in front of my third garage at my home when not on the road. My driveway has a very slight downslope ¾ of the way to the garage, and then a very slight upslope to the entrance to the garage. These two slopes are so slight that you would not give them any attention on something this big, but before I level the coach, the back of the coach is fairly close to the ground due to that change in slope. As I back in, the mud flap drags the bottom rubber and slants toward the front of the coach, and when I depart, the mud flap is forced to change position and drags toward the back of the coach. Each time in and out, the mud flap is forced to change position. I believe that that forced change in angle really stressed the rubber backing. I now understand that when coming and going, I was forcing the rubber to bend right at the top of the stainless-steel nameplate. Never occurred to me that this was a major stress, but I’d bet a lot of money that this led to the failure.
My plan is to raise the coach to maximum ride height (>= 4”) with the Hadley air system as I begin to back into position. I may need to also ensure that the rock guard is pulled back by me manually so that it slants toward the garage so that when I depart, even with coach raised, the mud flap is permitted to swing freely. It cost me about $500 to learn this lesson …. Thought I’d pass it along. The flap should be mounted at least 2” below the steel structure immediately above, and a minimum of 4” above the road surface when at ride height. My flap did not meet that requirement but mounting will now be modified to comply with those requirements.

Gary

[Gary.Jones]

If the extra 4" of ride height is not sufficient to let the rock guard "flap" freely under the coach, then I am going to have to come up with some way to force the flap to not get caught in the wrong position when backing in.... My wife is not going to be happy if I ask her to hold the rock guard and force it at an angle as I park, so whatever I come up with is not going to be simple (maybe I attach a line from the center of the rock guard to the tow bar and hitch so that it stays "up" as I go in and out????

Gary

[brobox]

Gary,
Justal did a nice post a few years back with a method to pull the rock guard back and latching it back to keep it out of the way for backing situations like yours.

[Gary.Jones]

I'll look for it Chuck.... thanks

Gary

[Tony Wilson]

Gary, I had the same issue in a 2018 Cornerstone. I even had discussions with Ted Cook about flap being trapped when coach reverses in not even ground.

It is hard in real life to back up a Cornerstone multiple times and not damage the flap.

To me there is an issue with design of chassis, flap position, height and etc.. I back up my Dynasty for over 10 years with no issues with flap damage.

My solution: before backing, I raise the flap with 2 rubber ties 24 " with S hooks hanging in the hitch. I raise mudfap as well before turning coach for service. There are too many challenges for the flap in the service shops.

I know it is one more step to check lists...but saves flap.

[jeff.herren]

I added a couple of eye bolts to the bottom edge of my rock guard with the idea that if I needed to manually hold it up I can hook the eye bolts to the frame with some d-rings or carabener (SP?) I also got some thick aluminum pieces and added to the front and back of the top edge of the rock guard so the point of connection on the top is reinforced, drilled a hole for the d-ring connector and made them long enough to have several of the top edge bolts pass through them. Similar to what LWBAZ did to support the connection of his slide motor.

I'm in storage but will try to get a pic or two once we get it out for trip prep this week.

[brobox]

Originally Posted by Gary.Jones

I'll look for it Chuck.... thanks

Gary

IIRC, it was and eye bold in the lower center of the mud flap. He used his awning hook to pull it back and connected it to the tow hitch.

[LWBAZ]

Below are three photos of what I did on our previous Tiffin Allegro Bus. Basically a stainless steel eye bolt toward the bottom of the mud flap, centered side to side.

These photos were taken shortly after I installed the eye bolt and I was experimenting with how to hold the flap up. Later I changed to a simple "dog leash" style clip secured to the hitch that made raising the flap quicker & easier.

[777 Driver]

The Hadley system offers the ability to raise the rear of the coach at speeds below 20 MPH. I've not used it, or measured how much it raises the rear. The documentation that I've found doesn't specify exactly how much the coach is raised. Wouldn't that be helpful to avoid damage to the mud flap?

Take care,
Stu

[Gary.Jones]

My explanation of my plan was a bit vague, but when I said " .... My plan is to raise the coach to maximum ride height (>= 4”) with the Hadley air system as I begin to back into position. ...." that is exactly what I meant. Yes, on my coach, I should be able to raise the whole coach by 4 additional inches above ride height by raising it on the Hadley keypad.

Now I have not had an opportunity to try it but that is the next step. Whether it is enough raise to avoid this problem is not clear yet. I'll let you know. If t hat is not enough, then the plan to pull the mud flap forward or backwards so that it is in a horizontal position.

Gary

[777 Driver]

Originally Posted by Gary.Jones

My explanation of my plan was a bit vague

Hi Gary,

Actually, your explanation far exceeded my reading comprehension. Sorry.

In the words of Emily Litella:



Take care,
Stu

[Gary.Jones]

Emily was one of my favorite "Commentator". Thanks for making me smile.

Gary

[777 Driver]

Originally Posted by Gary.Jones

Emily was one of my favorite "Commentator". Thanks for making me smile.

Gary

IMHO (which I value highly) SNL was much, much funnier then.

Take care,
Stu

[Prairie Dog]

I use the Hadley to raise the back end every time I put it in storage bay due to slight slope up to door. Seems to work for me, so far.