Fitment Help with Mudflaps

[txfuncars]

I purchased the front and rear flaps for a '22 2DR Badlands with the rock rails. I am having a couple of fitment issues and was hoping for some help.

1. On the drivers side, the metal bracket is at a bit of an angle and as such the flap actually touches the rock rail at rest, is this by design? Pictures I've seen show a fairly decent gap between the 2.

2. I can't get the passenger side on at all due to the hole for the plastic clip (inside most hole) not lining up. I can get the clip in, but at such an extreme angle it doesn't secure properly. Hard to get photos, but below you can see the "U" cutout is touching on the bottom of the rail/bar and still not close enough to the hole to fit.

The "U" shape is touching on the bottom and can't go up any further to meet the hole in the fender.

Fuzzy pic, shows the hole doesn't line up.

hard to see but the plastic clip is a pretty extreme angle to clear the hole, and as such won't screw down and secure.

For reference, here's the fit on the drivers side which is spot on (besides the wonky metal bracket).



I haven't bothered to do the rears yet as I want to see if these will actually fit my vehicle.


Thanks in advance!

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[Fordified1]

Are these the Chinese knockoffs of name brand parts? It’s plastic, modify to fit, slot the bolt hole. Don’t worry about the flap contacting the rock rail. Nothing is perfect, there are allowed tolerances and sometimes stuff just doesn’t line up perfectly.
Take the crash bars off if you want.

 

[txfuncars]

Definitely not removing crash bars for mud flaps...

These are the Mabett set (hence this sub-forum), and they have pretty fair reviews and videos as I've seen around here.

I have no problem cutting them, but if the fit is a poor as I'm experiencing maybe it's a bad set or more systemic to the product, hence my post.

 

[Fordified1]

Definitely not removing crash bars for mud flaps...

These are the Mabett set (hence this sub-forum), and they have pretty fair reviews and videos as I've seen around here.

I have no problem cutting them, but if the fit is a poor as I'm experiencing maybe it's a bad set or more systemic to the product, hence my post.

I have the same Chinese mudflaps. And they seemed to fit ok. I’m not running crash bars because I’m running 35’s, so no clue how they would have fit with the crash bars installed. I think they contact the rock rails but I don’t care. They look great and do their job for a good price.

 

[bkirchhoff]

As for the rubbing on the rock rails, that’s how mine sit in there too and that’s what the sheet of sticky felt is for — to mitigate the metal on plastic rubbing.

With your other issue, I don’t think I experienced this if I’m understanding the photos. I believe that hole lined up fine on mine.

I finally installed the rears last week and the bolts they include are different from the instructions so that two of them stick out inside the flaps. I think I’ll just cut them down to flush and forget it — but as another person said, cheap Chinese parts just have to be modified sometimes. The real solution is to upgrade to better quality parts at 2-4x the cost. So I’m making due with these for now and won’t cry if I destroy them and need to replace them.

 

[Fordified1]

They are great for the price, and who’s to say which bolt holes are slightly off… Ford’s or Mabett’s?

 

[txfuncars]

@Fordified1 Lol fair enough, I can blame Ford or Mabett!

I did end up dremeling the holes out to fit, and the rear was a bit less painful, although I had to squeeze some plastic to get them lined up. I will be finding some shorter bolts so they aren't so obvious as well.

My purpose of this thread was to see if I got a funky set, or if the fitment was a bit over the place with these. Sounds like the latter, but for the price I am happy with them.

My most common use for the Bronco is going to be mud + pasture driving, not so much rock crawling so I figure they will last for quite a while.

Thanks all!

 

[Bill K]

Are these the Chinese knockoffs of name brand parts? It’s plastic, modify to fit, slot the bolt hole. Don’t worry about the flap contacting the rock rail. Nothing is perfect, there are allowed tolerances and sometimes stuff just doesn’t line up perfectly.
Take the crash bars off if you want.

Precisely what I did. Had to slot the holes in order to get the push pin in on one side. Drill press made quick work of it...

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