Mike B. Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 Hi Guys Having picked up some grit on the roads recently which has resulted in my oil seals being damaged on the bike, I am considering fitting one of those Strip Skirt mudflaps on the van. Apart from saving the trailer or the car getting damaged by stones etc apparently they help keep the back of the van clean too. They are quite pricey (£80 +p&p) so want to make sure they are ok. Has anybody fit one? Are they easy to fit? Do they damage the bumpers etc with fitting? Do they work? Are there any drawbacks? Any advice/experience would be appreciated Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 Vans with those remind me of a slug! How about a cover for the bike? C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 No direct experience of these flaps but just one point I've come across... ..after fitting a rear bumper to a previous van(Compass 120),I found that mud'n' crud bounced back off the front face of it,back onto the bodywork and lights.. :-S So if your are going to mount a flap off an existing bumper,then you *may* need to look at fitting a small flap of sorts, in order to fill the body-bumper gap. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayjsj Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Clive - 2011-02-26 10:58 PM Vans with those remind me of a slug! How about a cover for the bike? C. Just put some salt down, that sorts them out. Somewhere else on here someone mentioned that they had used a strip of 'Astro-turf' (green-side IN) as a full length rear Mudflap, as it worked out a lot cheaper and worked 'as well' ? Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Anne Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Hi Mike, We have a full width brush skirt along the back of our MH. It is rivited to the underside of the tow bar rather than to the MH. It is there solely to protect the car when we are towing it. So far - approx 5000 miles - it has worked very well and yes it does seem to keep a lot of the dirty drag spray from the rear of the MH. But as you might expect in really heavy rain and heavy spray the car still gets dirty. If I was to identify a downside it would be in dry dust conditions when the brush skirt can, at times, whip up a bit of a dust storm. But our brush actually touches the tarmac when going slow, howerver it does lift up a little with the increase in speed. I like to think our MH looks more like a hovercraft than a slug ! Hope this helps. Regards, John & Anne. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike B. Posted February 27, 2011 Author Share Posted February 27, 2011 Thanks guys Clive I do have a cover but it seems to spray up through the trailer. So that's not the remedy. I didn't realise the skirt was fitted to the towbar so there's a thought-I take it it's legal to rivet into a towbar?! Thanks for the advice on salt-I usually use bog roll but would have thought salt made it worse! Still if it's already leaking don't suppose you can make it worse! Still not decided what to do any more opinions would be welcome Thanks Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob b Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Clive - 2011-02-26 10:58 PM Vans with those remind me of a slug! How about a cover for the bike? C. I tried a cover for my motorbike when trailing and found that it filled with air when under way. It looked a bit like a spanish gallion under full sail....no matter how I secured it. It must act like an air brake on the rig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 Mike B.. I was going to say,could you not just board in the underside of the trailer and fit some form of front deflector panel..but then I noticed that you also say you tow a car,so that that idea wouldn't of much use :$ I suppose a far cheaper way would be to make something yourself,using some some decent rubber car mats,sandwiched with some flat bar to some a steel angle and mounted to the underside of the rear chassis... Or I suppose you could look at sourcing a one piece panel of rubber,from somewhere like this: http://www.rubbermattinguk.co.uk/rubbermatting.asp?t=3&m=3 (..Although with this option,by the time you've finished,I'm not sure how much cheaper it would end up being.. :-S ) Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 Must agree, When I towed a couple of bikes on a lightweight trailer I had a plastonic cover specially heat welded up to cover them. But it was covered with bungees to tame the cover a tad. Dirt and dust still managed to get in underneath. I do have another heavier two axle trailer with a teak floor, solid steel tube framed plastic cover on top overlapping and strapped to the sides and this works fine, but you could camp in that as well! Today we are fortunate enough to enjoy a MH with a garage capable of taking the two bikes. That big trailer currently has a tonne of gravel in it! C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike B. Posted February 28, 2011 Author Share Posted February 28, 2011 Hi again The latest idea I've had after the advice on here is to look at that sort of astro turf they sell by the yard at the shows as groundsheets. Going to price that up at Peterborough and possibly fix to floor with a piece of flat aluminium which theoretically will mean it will hang at an angle in front of the 'rear end' and should stop crud flying up off the wheels/back of van. It works in my mind-let's hope it might on the van! If I could get say 3m wide by say 2 feet deep and cut to fit it would be ok It's a long shot Cap'n but it might just work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Mornin' Mike.. Just to say,that I wouldn't be fastening directly it to the underside of the vehicle floor though :-S I would imagine a flap of the size we're talking of,would be putting a fair bit of strain on any fixings!?! It's probably how others' have done it but personally I'd be looking at running a full width angle fastened/braced back to the chassis rails somehow... (..Oh! I like the way you've mixed your measurement up,I thought it was just me who did that...3m wide x 2ft deep! but you failed to say how many shillings thick it was going to be! (lol) (lol) Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leake Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 I rather suspect you will find Astro Turf too light and flexible to do a proper job at any sort of speed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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