DIY Removable Mud Guards

MattAlpha

Caught the Bug
Got some time tonight to clean up the beakers and the rails as best I could with a bench grinder and my grinding wheel. Would be nicer if I used the mini grinding wheel on the dremel, but I don't have that much time.

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Everything fits together as they should and they're ready for paint tomorrow.

Here are the mud flaps I'm going to mount on the rails.
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I hope to finish this project next week after the painting is done.
 

MattAlpha

Caught the Bug
Got the brackets, rails and associated hardware painted.
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Here they are with the topcoat. I decided to use the "Hammered" look paint that I thought was black, but it seems more of a dark gray. We'll see how it comes out.
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Once everything cures I'll install everything. Almost done.

On a side note, I found out yesterday that Rhode Island requires mud flaps. Glad I'll have these on soon.
 

MattAlpha

Caught the Bug
Had an hour to work on this today so I got the mud flaps mounted onto the rails. Here's everything now that the paint has cured.
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I double checked everything (measuring twice or three times then cut/drill).
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I cut them using a pair of gasket shears and also a box cutter with a new blade.
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I used each rail and hammered with a rubber mallet to "mark" where each hole needed to be drilled after aligning everything the way I wanted it to be.
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I used my drill press with a 3/8" bit to drill the mounting holes in the mud guards.
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Here is everything assembled ready to mount onto the Jeep. I have the rails inserted into the forward tire mounts to show that everything fits.
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I hope to get the rear mounts on tomorrow but that is going to be weather dependent. Got to love the continuous freezing temperatures and the snow storms...that what I get for living in RI.

Just a note, the mud guards I choose are reinforced with fiberglass, which I didn't think would matter when I cut and drilled them. I used my shop vac after each cut/drilling but my hands were a bit itchy afterward. Good times.
 

Kalums

New member
So when are you going to start mass production? I want a set but am lacking in tools and am a little lazy 😊
 

MattAlpha

Caught the Bug
So when are you going to start mass production? I want a set but am lacking in tools and am a little lazy 😊

Thanks guys.

We'll see how they work out when I have them mounted...they may not work and/or fall-off. I'm certainly not to person to mass produce anything.

I haven't fabricated the second set of rails yet because I want to see how these work out. There's always something to improve in someway.
 

MattAlpha

Caught the Bug
I finally got some free time to finished the rear set. I bolted the brackets on using the hardware for my rear bumpers, certainly overkill but they'll work just fine.

Here's a few pics:
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With the mud flaps installed:
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Seemed to have come out alright. I'm going to run them for a while and see if I need to change the rail design before I fab up the front set.

I still need to install the forward brackets, but I'm going to need to drill and its 25 degrees outside, not fun to work in with the wind...
 
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