Mud Flap "Restoration"

I hesitate to use the word “restoration” since they turned out better than they were, but nowhere close to “like new”. But I thought I would post what I did to “restore” the factory mud flaps. They were in really, really REALLY bad condition with cracks, tears, and one had been worn down to the metal by the tire. There are probably better ways to do this, but I had these coatings and roofing tape as “leftovers” from other projects so I figured I would give it a try. Your mileage may vary… :)

1. After a good scrubbing and cleaning I coated both sides with multiple coats of Black Rust-oleum Paintable Rubberized Undercoating and let it dry/cure for about 3 days. (It stayed sticky for a while, but I had applied it pretty thick.)

2. Then I taped around the 4WD letters (That was fun…NOT) and sprayed it with Flex Seal White Marine Sealant/Coating. I was hoping it would stick and not bleed the black undercoating through. It seems to have worked ok.

3. Since both were cracked/cut in multiple places, I used some black RTV sealant to “glue” them together. This didn’t turn out as good as I had hoped because the blacks don’t match, as can be seen. :confused: Functionally though, the RTV glued the pieces together well.

4. To further hold the cracks together and provide some improved protection for the scratched/gouged mud flap side facing the wheel, I installed strips of Adhesive-Back Roof Repair Rolls (McMaster-Carr P/N: 9640T1) That is some thick STICKY stuff with an aluminum backing so I hope it will hold up to the nasty environment it will be in. It also conforms very well. One could probably paint the aluminum black, but it is pretty smooth, so paint might not stick very well.

Up close they still look nasty, but functionally it is a 100% improvement (IMHO) and from a few feet back they shouldn’t look too bad. All in all I’m happy, especially considering it didn’t cost me a dime. :-)

So enough with the instructions, here are the photos:
Attachment 25037Attachment 25038

hi, im phil swift. to show you the power of flex seal...

I RECONDITIONED THESE MUD FLAPS

And only used flex seal!!!

(disclaimer flex seal used on 4x4 lettering only because flex seal is really shit)

Meh, I think they turned out reasonably well considering how thrashed they must've been. I wonder if there's a way to take a relief from the OEM mud flaps and maybe make them from urethane or something like that... :think:

And Salteen - if only your comment was half as constructive as this post :rolleyes:

We need Flex Seal in the damage control lockers on USNavy ships :grin:
OK, good job, I know how mud flaps make the truck look good... Might I just say painting the silver area black NO? Your truck is lucky to have you as owner...

Edit: anyone who knows about McMaster Carr has seen a thing or two ALLSTATE

Good idea. Now they will hold up another quarter century.