DECJ

Let me start this out with "I hate mud".

I have been wheeling for the better part of 40 years and while I know that there are "mudders" out there who love the stuff, I just prefer rocks, dirt, sand, and essentially dry conditions when off-roading. While I obviously know that muddy conditions cannot always be avoided, cleaning up a vehicle trashed by mud is a real pain as far as I am concerned. Now that we go off-road camping a lot with our Ram 3500 and Outfitter camper, throwing up mud all over the camper and slinging it up under the truck (and the clean up of same) is getting beyond old.

So, as much as I also do not like the look of mud flaps on a vehicle, I have decided that installing a good set (both front & rear) will be a lesser evil than continuing to deal with the worst of the mess and clean up.

Anyway, since I am also running 35x12.50 Toyo Open Country M/T tires (which can sling a LOT of mud due to their aggressive tread), I need to find some larger aftermarket mud flaps to accommodate their larger than stock tire width. I did an initial Internet search and came up with two potential candidates:

- PowerFlow Big Mudder mud flaps: Stylin' Trucks Truck Accessories -- pickup truck, SUV, and custom truck accessories

- PowerFlow Big Mudder Extreme universal mud flaps: Big Mudder Splashguard from RoadSport, a Division of PowerFlow Manufacturer of Splash Guards for Trucks and Cars in Canada and the United States

Other than the above PowerFlow products, does anyone have any recommendations for functional yet decent looking mud flaps that can handle my tire size?

Mocho

Fair warning 12" mud flaps aren't even close to cutting it. I bought some for 12.50 wide tires and they didn't do much WAY to narrow. I'd look for a 14" or 15" mud flap. I can't reccommend any, because i'm trying to find a good set still myself. Please update if you find any, it sure is tough!

DECJ

That's a good point, because when I went out and measured the effective section width of my 12.50 tires, it was closer to 13" to 13.5". In the meantime, someone else turned me on to DuraFlap mud flaps, where they have some 14" wide mud flaps for Dodges. Here is a link for you: http://www.duraflap.com/dodge-2500-3500.html

I will be calling them tomorrow to see what they recommend, as I also installed a set of Bushwacker Street Flares (like the ones on a Power Wagon) on my 3500, and from what I understand, DuraFlap has some mud flaps for a Dodge Ram that will interface with the Bushwacker line of flares.

Mocho

That is great to hear, got Bushwacker flares myself to, and really want some that are made to work together

DECJ

Well, I won't have any issues going with DuraFlap's rear mud flaps on my 3500, but it looks like there are going to be some clearance problems with the front.

First off, here is a side shot of my front drivers side tire showing the 2-1/2" clearance to the front edge of my Bushwacker Street Flare:


I used one of the "El Cheapo" dealership mud flaps that initially came on the rear of my Dodge 3500 to jury rig a "simulated" mud flap for the front drivers side wheel well. Note that this mud flap is only 10-1/4" wide at its widest point:


Here it is temporarily installed on the front drivers side (the black wedge/shim is there just to force the flap to hang more vertically once it goes below the Bushwacker Street Flare edge):


And here is a side shot of the same mud flap (with the front wheels straight ahead):


In this shot, I have only turned my wheels about half way to the left, and I am just contacting the front surface of the mud flap:


Now here is a shot looking downwards with my wheels at full lock left. Again, keep in mind that these dealership mud flaps are only 10-1/4" wide:


Although this shot was probably not needed, there is clearly no interference between the mud flap and my front drivers side tire at full lock right (although there obviously would be on the passenger front tire):


Just to cover the rear, here is a side shot of my drivers rear tire in relation to the Bushwacker Street Flare:


I'd honestly like to go with DuraFlap's 14" mud flaps that are designed to interface with my Bushwacker Street Flares, however, I obviously need to have adequate clearance on the front for full lock-to-lock turns. DuraFlap also has some special bracketry and a different design mud flap for lifted trucks and that might work for my front end. Anyway, I will be talking with Dennis at DuraFlap on Tuesday to see what we can come up with.

CD in NM

I have the DuraFlap mud flaps on my truck, they fit right up to my flares perfectly. They have been on my truck for 3 years and still look like new. I have the 12" wides, the are perfect for stock tire width. Since then I have changed wheels/tires H2's with 35's, I have been thinking about changing to the 14's, they stop mud/rocks OK but are just on the outside edge of the tires, could use another inch or two of coverage.

ABSOLUTELY GREAT PRODUCT!!!!!


I am with you on hating mud, truly a PITA to clean up the truck, the DuraFlaps do an excellent job, clean up is minimal. I have a similar clearance on the front tires, I have a leveling kit, it got a little more clearance, only hits at full lock slightly. The DuraFlaps come with hardware that sets the inside of the flap in more tightly to the inner fender area giving better clearance.


CD

DECJ

CD,

That's great to hear that your DuraFlaps fit well even with the close clearance issues on the front with 35" tires. I also have a leveling kit on the front, however, that was to really counteract a bit of sag with my heavy Buckstop bumper with a Warn 16.5ti winch (adding 300+ lbs to the front end over the weight of the stock bumper). So, although it started out as a 2.5" kit from Tuff Country, I only effectively got about half of that in actual lift on the front end.

Anyway, you mentioned that you had flares. Just curious, but what brand/model do you have on your 3500?

Thanks,
Don

CD in NM

Hey Don.

I have the Mopar Powerwagon flares, but I can tell you that they measure up right about the same as you when it comes to wheel/tire clearance on the front of the rocker area tire space. I looked at several trucks with different flares and measured all of them regarding wheel clearance.

I have a Road Armor aftermarket front bumper and a Mile Marker 15K winch, I would guess that we are close to the same regarding additional front weight over stock weight. My leveling kit is the KORE Leveling kit which is about a 3" lift/leveling. I measured my fenderwell height after installing the KORE kit, then measured it after installing the front bumper and winch, lost about a 1/4" to 3/8" of height due to the bumper and winch weight.



CD

DECJ

OK, thanks for the additional info CD. And as it turns out, the Mopar Power Wagon flares you have on your 3500 are identical to my Bushwacker Street Flares, as Bushwacker OEM's the same model flare to Mopar/Dodge for the Power Wagon (and I had an '07 Power Wagon before getting my '07 3500 ... long story).

I am quite interested to hear that you only lost about 1/4" to 3/8" of lift on your front end using the KORE 3" leveling kit (which I believe comes with new, higher spring-rate coils). I went the cheaper route of a spacer kit, and yet with about the same weight of aftermarket bumpers & winches on our respective 3500's, I lost closer to 1-1/4" (effectively netting about a 1-1/4" rise from my 2-1/2" Tuff Country spacer lift). Anyway, at some point I do want to dump the spacers and go with some better (higher spring-rate) front coils to better handle the extra weight up front under dynamic on-highway conditions.

I'll be calling Dennis at DuraFlap in about an hour, so I think I am going to try to go for the 14" DF-8 or DF-8-SS for the front, along with 14" DR-9 or DR-9-SS for the rear.

Mocho

How did you make out? Looking at getting these myself to, and worried about clearance problems also.

DECJ

I had a good conversation with Dennis Perry at DuraFlap on Tuesday. He is shipping me 14" mud flap "blanks" along with a piece of Plexiglas for me to come up with a prototype template for the best fit for someone with a Dodge 2500/3500 with 35" tires and Bushwacker flares in the front. He sees a market for this and plans to come up with a separate part designation once he gets the prototype template back and CNC's a precise unit. I will then get the first set of the final version for my front wheel wells. I really didn't expect this, but I am glad that this will allow me to get the best fitting mud flap for my particular application (and it benefits Dennis with a new product). In the meantime, I will install the 14" DR-9-SS mud flaps in the rear of my 3500 (which should pose no clearance issues).

gies

Any status on the DuraFlaps?

I'm looking for something to work well with a set of Pocket Flares on my 09.
jason

DECJ

Since clearance was definitely questionable on the front of my '07 Dodge 3500, I initially focused on that and I am happy to report that I got the front DuraFlaps to work with my 35" tires. I am able to make full lock-to-lock turns with adequate clearance. Once I get the dimensions and mounting holes transferred over to the Plexiglas template, I will take on the rears (which we decided to do on a custom fit basis as well).

If you are interested in DuraFlaps, I suggest calling Dennis Perry there, as I don't really know whether his mud flaps can appropriately interface with Bushwacker Pocket Flares. In my case, I am running Bushwacker Street Flares and there is obviously a BIG difference between those and Pocket Flares.