daverman

After reading the tragedy that rominl went through with his mud guards, I decided to remove my mud guards which have been on for the past 8 months since I bought the car.

Holy crap :wow: those things are like sandpaper! Look what I found under them: a thick layer of mud and dirt have accumulated under there.

doopstr

Oh god, now I want to go check.

Are you putting them back on?

fahoumh

sh*tty ....what are you planning to do now?

Inspire

I know how you feel, tho mine wasn't as bad...

SimTypeS

I did that a while ago, and was worried at what I would find. Luckily, everything buffed out.
For anyone that has taken them off, think about why you need them, and if you have even the slightes inclination to take them off in the future, do it now. The only purpose I can see for them is kicking up gravel. I don't drive on gravel much, so I took mine off. The mirrors were the part I was worried most, as well as the kick panel right behind the tires. Nothing has happened to either. Maybe a little more road moisture splattering on the mirrors but that is all.
I wish I would of taken mine off when I first got my car... the same time I took off the front license plate.
I hope you can buff that out, Dave.

retiree

I will have to check mine out this week. Up here in Canada with the snow and salt it must be bad underthere....

Moo

That pic is before you washed it right? Hopefully it looks better after you wash it. But those scratches look deep.

I took mine off after 10 months to put my kit on. There were visible markings left by the guards and a few minor scratches, but I usually wash my car every week. Time to patch her up. Hope everything goes smoothly.

Augustow

You don't have to remove them, only move them away a bit! Just drill out the necessary space in them to do that and they won't rub on the paint.
Worked for me.
HTH

daverman

Sorry I didn't post up the second pic since I had to leave.

Well, I washed the mud out. All the mud came out, but there was a gash in the paint where the front mud guard was scraping. The gash has gone all the way down to the bare metal. I'm really unhappy about this!

I think I'll take it to the dealer's and ask them to help me out with the repair. I bet a good body shop can use touch-up paint to repair the area and buff it to a shine, but I figure since it's an Acura product, and it's dealer installed, I guess Acura should bear the responsibility for repairing the damage.

By the way, I want to remove them because I think the car looks a lot cleaner without them. Besides, I want to maintain the car's resale value, and I don't want anything that would mar the paint.

2001TL4KCdude

Dave how do you remove your mudguards? Did you have to take out the tires?

Lawaia

Take into considersation the lesser of two evils. Remove the flaps, buff those scratches out and you're good as new. But now having to contend with rocks and debris chips along the doors and rocker panels. I personally prefer leaving the flaps on....what you can't see is no big deal.

daverman

Lawaia: I'm concerned about the fact that the paint is worn down to the metal. Whenever this happens, rust can't be far behind.

You're right. The reason I got the mud flaps in the first place is to deflect mud and rocks from my car. But if the lesser of two evils is between the occasional glancing rock chips (I got plenty of those on my hood already) and rusted panels, I'll take the rock chips.

2001TL4KCdude: I bought a cheap one-piece offset screwdriver ($3) from Advance Auto Parts. Works like a champ.

Shyne

i was the one who experienced this first...forreal though, that really sux, but acura isn't gonna do anythig for ya...just fix it yourself and save your time and their bullShiat...Shyne

rominl

oh man, dave, you got EXACTLY the same stuff as i did..... sorry to hear that man. I found out about that only when I was installing my kits and sure enough that brought some of my smile away.

But yeah it would be an arse to argue with the dealer. I basically have given up on that and decided to do it myself. Of course if your dealer is willing to fix it for you go ahead. After all if they go to a body shop or so it wouldn't be an super tough job for them.

And for other people, what daverman showed you is EXACTLY what I got, only my car is NBP and you can see the clear silver metal. It's really deep.... And if you think about it, the whole point for mud guards are to prevent dirty mud from splashing all over the fenders and doors which could cause chips, but from what I have seen

1) it prevents some but not a lot.... of the many times it rained here my fenders and doors are still full of mud
2) without the mud guards MAYBE i will get some small chips, and i bet rarely big ones. but with the mud guards on you are pretty much guaranteed to get these kinds of DEEP scratches over time.

so don't think anymore, go out and tak off the mud guards!

vojm

OMG, thank ya'll guys so much for your experiences. I lifted up my mudguards and what'd ya know. Good thing I checked early, because even though i couldn't see the scratches, by feeling the surface where the panels surrounded, i felt light scratches. I took those suckers off right away. Thanks again guys, otherwise I woulda experienced terrible mudguard cuts.

medic

even when you are down to the bare metal, isn't the metal treated to prevent it from rusting?

were any foreighn elemets getting into the gash? since it was caused by the mud guard, isn't the guard in effect "sealing" the damaged area for the nasty crap that can casue rust damange?

what is the warrenty for rust damage to the car? all cars come with that these days and I thought it was some outrageouly high number.

for reasle value, as long as the mud guards are on the buyer will not notice the damage unless you actually let them work on your car (which I personally never would). Also, I figure you could get a litte more for it since most people prefer having mud guards on their vehicle.

tdoh

Hey, I can sympathize with daverman regarding the "damage" caused by the mudguards, but I sorta doubt the dealer would be required to repair damage caused by it.

Here's a similar example: for those of you who have those moonroof wind deflectors--are you gonna complain to the dealer when, if you decide for whatever reason to remove it, you find similar damage (like paint burn) and demand that the dealer repair it? If the dealer does so as a goodwill gesture, great; however, I can't imagine that any dealer would be under any obligation to do so at no cost to the car owner.

Quite frankly, it shouldn't really come as a big surprise that the body/finish got messed up the way it did by the mudguards if they were on there long enough--surely you guys didn't really think that they were bolted to the body so snugly as to not allow any moisture or debris to get underneath them, did you?

Tony

daverman

tdoh: You're right, the dealer has no obligation to repair it (it's not exactly covered under any warranty), but you have to admit it would be the right thing for them to do as a service to their customer.

As I said, I'm going to take the car in for them to check it out. If they fix it, fine. If they don't, then I'm going to follow rominl's procedure: paint it and buff it out with polishing compound.

Maybe Acura should stop pre-installing those suckers on new cars coming off the truck. They're basically giveaways. My salesman wouldn't give me any credit if I asked him to remove them.

I'm thinking of selling them on eBay to get a couple of dollars back. How many screws actually came with them? I know the rear screws (and their retaining clips) can be completely removed without affecting the fender. The front screws, however, seem to be holding the wheel well liner to the body, so I left them there.

SL1200MK4

OH........ I won't dare to check..................


damn...

BlackShadow

I thought the mudguards came as an option. That's why I didn't get it put on when I first bought the car.

BTW, good luck to all that decide to take it off.

rockinTLS

Eleven months, 11,500 miles on the car and mine have worn into/through the paint also. I even tried to prevent it somewhat by always dragging the rag under the edge to try and get out any dirt that may have accumulated under there when I wash the car.

Sucks, but oh well. I would rather have those scuffs than all the damage to the rear quarter and rocker panels from stones. Both of my other vehicles suffer from rock chips in those areas due to the lack of guards. It's the lesser of two evils in my book. However, I was not and am not planning on a body kit.

VTEC Animal

However, if you're down to the bare metal, and it rusts, then yes they would be obligated to repair it under that the portion that warranties against rust..... Stupid as it may sound you could just let it rust then get it repaired under warranty.

retiree

Would having a seal between the mud guards and the body panels prevent the damages? Just wondering...

NighthawkBlack

That sounds good. A seal or maybe a peice of that clear bra stuff.

neuronbob

I looked under my mudguards today. 3.5 months, and I've already got mud, but no scratches. They were attached rather loosely. I'll keep them attached for now, but will have to clean under it regularly. Thanks for making us aware of this issue, rominl and daverman--would never have noticed otherwise!

InspectorGadget

After you guys have removed the mud guards, do you put the screws back in?

Or do you leave them out and plug with something else?

daverman

I put the screws back in the front wheel wells, but took out the back screws, along with their retaining clips.

Nate

No one has brought up the fact that you can't have mud guards on with a body kit. So if you EVER are going to get the kit in hte future, take off those mud guards! And if not... take 'em off anyway!

TL

I think that's a good idea too. I need the mud guards in Canada because the roads are covered with sand/gravel in the winter. Hmm...I wonder if it could be custom made anywhere?

Lawaia

Very good point Nate! 5hit now I gotta go check mine! I still want to get the OEM Kit! Wish me luck!

rominl

yeah i took off my mud guards coz' i had to install the kits and that's when i found out about those horrible scratches. really bad.... so if you are thinking about getting the kits SOME DAY, go and take off the guards now. you guys have seen mine (err... heard about), and daverman has shown his.... it's THAT bad. remember, a rock chip, how large could it be in general? 2mm by 2mm? it would be a pretty big rock right? now think about this: the exact same rock was kicked up by the wheel and it hits the mud guards HARD, what happens? the mud guards rubs on the body and it scratches the body!!!!! how large is the scratch? we are talking about 2 or 3 inches here!!!!!!! get the picture?

and btw, i notice that one side is not totally well done so i am going to redo it this weekend. now i have done it before i am more confident, just like shyne

i also got a big chip on the hood, but that's after i really master the technique

Avion

I have read about possible rubbing of splash guard with time...Why not try to put double sided tape on the contact area to prevent the rubbing?...I see this all the time with some body kits and fender extentions for off road vehicles...I'm planning to use the double sided tape without the foam...If anyone has tried this idea please let me know...Thanks

Edr0e

Getting rid of the splash guards leaves something mean behind.

I used 3M adhesive remover and it came off fine. It is usually a build up of rubber and dirt. Just use bug off or something really strong ( wd40 )

TLS RULZ

I knew I would eventually get the Body KIT and did after 10 months of owning the car. With that in mind.. I ALWAYS ran the pressure washer behind the guards when washing my car. (usually 1 every week / at the most 2 weeks). When it came time to put the KIT on ... the paint was perfect...just some fine scratches that some scratch polish easily removed.

So... with 25,000km and 10 months of Toronto driving 5 months of which was winter driving (snow + sand and a lot of salt), I do like the protection the guards provided. I guess you can do even better with the tape/X-PEL tape idea that is mentioned for more protection.

Note: during the winter I ran over something that blew my right tire as well left a 4" gash under my rear quarter pannel. Good thing this was before the KIT as the KIT now covers it up.. I hate to think how bad it could have been without the guards.

Would I put guards on (if it was possible with the KIT) ... YES!!! but maybe I'd do it only for the winters...since I'd be putting on my winter tires anyways it would not be too hard...but now its not worth the hassle.

So guys/gals who have it on... just remember to wash under there when you wash your car (every week) and you should be fine.

Just thought I'd get my 2c worth.