Rock Tamer Mud Flaps

Evan

Evan

Administrator
Donating Member
I was referred to these mud flaps by Kent Kanipe (a 560 owner in Oregon). We have driven over 7,000 miles with them since December, and just about nothing gets through them. Best of all, they attach to the hitch and can be removed in a few seconds.

http://www.cabelas.com/p-0054018523066a.shtml#customer-product-reviews

The following picture is from the web - not my rig...
nkn15a.jpg
 
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Evan said:
I was referred to these mud flaps by Kent Kanipe (a 560 owner in Oregon). We have driven over 7,000 miles with them since December, and just about nothing gets through them. Best of all, they attach to the hitch and can be removed in a few seconds.

http://www.cabelas.com/p-0054018523066a.shtml#customer-product-reviews

The following picture is from the web - not my rig...
nkn15a.jpg
Click to expand...

Good to hear Evan, since we just ordered a set from Costco online yesterday.
 
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Yep. They are the ticket. You will get as many comments about the mud flags as you get about your trailer.
 
We have a number of customers using these and I really am a fan. Just nothing better for keeping the trailer looking good and ding free. Plus it keeps down water getting driven back at the trailer in heavy rain from the tow vehicles rear tires and finding it's way into window drains and such.

First time I saw a customer show up here with one I was thinking "well, that ought to do it!". Initial reaction is that it is overkill but experience shows it really is a great setup.

Tina and Jerry are on this forum and they have that setup, they have had it a long time now. With the number of miles they have you can only be impressed with how new their trailer still looks.

Cary
 
I had these on my CR-V and was sold on them, that's why I recommended them to people. Two things to be aware of, first, I had to change my exhaust tip to divert heat away from the flap, second, on my Alaska trip I suspect the flaps bottomed out in the frost heaves and may have actually thrown rocks against the trailer. I have lots of character in my trailer from rocks on that trip. I have changed tow rigs from a CR-V to a Murano and am uncertain if I will use these Tamers again. I must say that folks are surprised to see these on a small rig and they are impressive. Very handy to remove your insert and hang the whole thing on the garage wall. Frost heaves are another story for another time. Kent
 
Question: Do those of you who have these flaps also have the "bra" that fits onthe front of the trailer or do you use the flaps instead of the "bra"?
 
Or would a flap similar to the flaps on the UPS trucks provide the same protection, but be more flexible for the "frost heave" type terraign?
 
No we do not have the bra, just the flaps... we like the flaps because they are interchangeable with what we pull with. The truck or the jeep. We have very little rock chips and figure if we need to later we can always use the bra to cover them if needed.

tina and jerry
 
We have the alcan bra as well. It may be that Alaska is really a horse of a different color. The purpose of the tamers is to stop low trajectory rocks hence they are only about three inches off the ground. On pavement they work great and I have picked many rocks out of the flaps I am thankful did not hit our trailer. On an uneven gravel surface I fear they may not be so helpful. The alcan cover took a real beating, lots of scuff marks from rocks. The trailer has rock marks in the fenders and above the bra. I must say the bra held up very well and the polish job on return home keeps everything looking well, just with character if you look for it. I ran into one guy with his million dollar bus towing a car which was completely sand blasted because he didn't put special flaps on. Perhaps the trailer would have been really hammered if I hadn't had the Rock Tamers. Sorry for the long post......

Kent
 
Here's a few pictures of my Honda CR-V with the mud flaps:

RockTamer1.JPG


They attach to the hitch so can be easily removed.
RockTamer2.JPG


My tailpipe would have melted the mud flaps, so I had it modified to angle down instead.
RockTamer3.JPG
 
Looks like they will definitely do the trick, Evan. I just looked at these tonight at Cabela's and was sure to show the missus, in preparation for our next trip out West. About 20 years ago, we camped with the kids in our pop-up and drove through the Badlands. The frame on the pop-up was scoured down to the bare metal - I had to repaint the entire front end. This will not happen to the CampInn!
Ken
 
I also purchased and assembled the Rock Tamer, but haven't used it yet (my trailer build is in the works). After getting the Rock Tamer put together, I started questioning whether the rear exhaust pipe on my vehicle would pose a problem. When I read your comments about this issue I pulled out the assembly/instruction manual that came with my Rock Tamer and (sure enough) I found one teeny tiny sentence about this: "Vehicles with exhaust systems that cannot be modified should maintain at least 10 inches between Mudflap and exhaust". To me, the key word is "should". There is no mention whatsoever though that not heeding this miniscule recommendation will lead to a hole in the mud flap.

I see that Kent mentioned changing the exhaust tip to divert the heat downwards and Evan mentioned doing his own modification. I don't have the know-how to do such a modification myself. I'm guessing a muffler shop would be able to change the exhaust tip (but I haven't looked into it yet). More to the point, I'd rather not do this at all if it isn't necessary. I need to check the space on mine, but I seem to remember there being about 4 or 5" of space between the exhaust and the mud flap. Anyhow, I'm wondering if there is a general consensus out there as to whether it is necessary to make such an adjustment on a rear exhaust vehicle. Has anyone ever known rear exhaust pipes to actually burn a hole into these mud flaps?

Kelly
 
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Exhaust tips are offered at the auto parts stores. For just a few $ you can add a tip that will direct the exhaust down, to the side, or what ever direction you want.
 
I don't know how close one can get without burning a hole. However, it cost me less than $50 to have it modified by a local muffler shop.
 
I discovered the heat problem about 150 miles into our trip to pick up our raindrop. Couldn't find a slip over tip so had to have a muffler shop do my modification. The heat never burned a hole in the rubber, however it did create a wave in it. The damage was serious enough that I traveled no further until the exhaust was modified.

When I sold my CR-V and got my Murano I stopped using the Rock Tamer mud flaps. Two reasons, didn't want to change the look of the Murano and after getting lots of rock scuffs on my alaska trip I no longer feared trailer "patina".

Kent
 
Thank you for the feedback (and for preventing an issue while on the road trip to pick up the trailer). I'll look into having the exhaust modified.

Kelly
 
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