This is version #3 or 4 for me. The last ones both broke off at St. Joe's this year. My problem with the stockers is that they don't keep much off of ya and the bracket is flimsy. The final straw on those came last spring when the boy and I were riding. It was early spring, so it was cold and super muddy. We got stuck and I threw it in reverse and all the mud came off the rear tires and literally dumped on me and my boy. I don't mind getting dirty, but cold, wet and muddy is not fun. Anyway, I decided to redesign the fenders with a couple things in mind: I wanted them to keep ALL the mud from flying into the passenger area, I wanted them to be durable, and I wanted them to be easily removable. I think I've accomplished all that.
I went to the local truck store and bought mud flap brackets that go on tractor trailers and a set of 36" x 24" mud flaps. The beauty of these is that the retainer for the bracket is squared off and the bracket itself just slides in, without having to bolt it in. Plus, it's really sturdy and designed to hold a heavy mud flap and take miles of bouncing around. I ended up cutting off most of the bracket and only used the angled part and about another foot. This is the base of the bracket. I then welded some 1/8" x 1" steel stock to the bracket and extended it outward with a curve to support the top and rear of the mud flap. I welded a plate to the swing arm and bolted the mud flap bracket holder to the plate(my buggy has IRS, so attaching to the frame wouldn't work real well). I cut the mud flaps in half, long ways, and then trimmed them a bit to fit. The flaps are big and long, and they completely cover the top of the tire and are about even with the back of the buggy. I have to relocate the rear signals - haven't done that yet, just removed them for now - as the top of the mud flaps would hit them when the spring is compressed. Anyway, the nearly final product is below.
I still have plans to fit an inner fender to the rear flaps to keep mud/stuff off the engine compartment. I also still need to clean up my welds (I'm a complete rookie welder and only have a buzz box) and paint the swing arms.
Again, the beauty of these is that to take them off, just lift them out of the bracket. The weight of them keeps them in place and they don't bounce out. Enjoy!
2008 fender 3.jpg: 8 Time(s) Viewed, 3.14 MB Here's the bracket off. I cut off most of the bracket and then welded some steel to it to support the mud flap.
Nice work! The inner fender liners will really help. From the pictures it doesn't look like the fender goes all the way to the back of the tire. I know when I had the el cheapo, decoration only, stock fenders on mine the mud would rain down on the roof when I was stuck and the tires were spinning forward! _________________ 05 Jehm Adventure Buggy 250cc, Torque Spring, 22.5gr Rollers, Modified Roll Cage, K&N, 21x7x10 & 22x11x10 Trac Star Radials, Vapor, Body Panels, 40T Spkt
&
2003 Jehm Blazer 125cc, Vapor
10 gram rollers, 20x10x8 Razr's,
34 tooth sprocket, 9pk cooler
Those look great and there is no doubt they'll keep you much dryer and cleaner. You took the idea right out of my head. I live less than a mile from a truck stop and every time I saw a truck I would think "hey, those would work". They'll probably be more durable than plastic or metal since they have to ability to bend and flip right back to shape.
If you ever have a problem with them slipping out of the brackets, you could drill and tap a hole in the bracket for a pinch bolt. That way you could still take them off very easily if wanted. _________________ Tomberlin Crossfire 150R
Bikes ...
On your mark, get ready, let the Modifications begin!
Im looking at a ....stealth fender (hidden but effective).
Im making a home made one on the cheap if i told you what it was made out of you would laugh....im going to wait to show the finished product first haha
I doubt it will be as effective as yours but who knows. For 10 bucks what can yah do _________________ Darren,
Buggy Junkies
Too much power is almost enough!
Ron - great job! We went riding yesterday in the rain. I had no intention of staying dry. However, we got stuck in a creek and kicked it in reverse - same thing happened to us, a wall a water came up over the seats.
I don't get into truck stops much, but the next time I do you can bet I'll get a set of these. I really like the bracket you make that allows you to remove them without any tools, slick! _________________ Twister Hammer Head 250 - 2006
18 gr Sliders - Polini torque spring
132.5 jet - Uni Airfilter
ITP Mudlites
Yerfdog 3206 - stock - except for my welds
Fenders tend to bring out a lot of ingenuity in you guys....
Guy48065 did the Rubermaid Bucket Fenders...
IM4SEVEN did the plastic sled fenders...
RaceMyBuick (and others) did the diamond plate fenders..
Now we get a Trucker Mud-Flap Fender...
I like your bracket setup....
One of the things that I've been trying to figure out is way to do a front fender that will bend out of the way when you hit a tree and then snap back into place...
I've got a design.. I just need time to implement it.
Fenders and a body kit (like ACBlind and Guy48065 have done) are, in my opinion, the two best body mods.
Again, good job. _________________ Chris Dierkens
'04 Yerf-Dog 3206 10g Rollers, 1500# Spring, Reverse, SuperTrapp, Uni
'04 KPX Xterro: pumper carb, oil cooling, 10g rollers, Junkies pipe, Uni
'05 Blade 150 DX: 4 Valve head, 10g rollers, East Side pipe, Uni
www.northeastbuggy.com
Thanks everybody. I did have the chance to test them out a couple weeks ago and they do work great. I got stuck, reversed to spin the tires good, and did NOT get dumped on. Those mudlites can fling some stuff so I'd say that was a good test. Also, fenders go far enough above the tire to keep stuff from flinging over top of them. I say "stuff" cause sometimes we ride in a cow pasture. I may be full of @$it, but that doesn't mean I want it on me! _________________ Ron
2007 Hammerhead 250SS, UNI, a/m exhaust, 17 gram sliders, blue Polini torque spring, 32mm MRP pumper carb, 135 main jet, iridium plug, ITP mudlites 23x10x10 on the rear.
2003 Suzuki Eiger 4x4
2006 Baja 90 Shifter
2005 Talon 150 (sold)
Can we get some more shots of how the fender attaches at the rear of the buggy? You've got a good shot of how the front of the fender attaches...
Thanks,
They don't attach at the back, and that was by design. I wanted them to be flexible. I hit quite a bit of stuff on the trails around here, so I wanted them to be able to bend, but not break. So far so good. To beef them up, I doubled up on the steel for about a foot where it attaches on the front. Come to think of it, that might be 3/16" steel - I'll double check. It's fairly sturdy, but can be bent in a vise. When I take them apart to paint em, I'll get some good photos. These were taken real quick and I didn't take any pics during mock up.
When I make the inner fender, they will provide some support on the underside. The inner fender is just going to be the same mud flap material, I'll cut it to fit inside the existing flag and then rivot them together using some kinda angle iron, cut into 1/2" pieces to keep the two together. Then, I have a piece of U shaped aluminum that I'll mount to the top of the swing arm. The bottom of the inner fender will sit inside the U piece. Then, I'll probably use a couple pins to hold the inner fender down. You will still be able to remove the entire thing as one piece, but may have to take a couple cotter pins out - no tools required and will take all of 30 seconds. That's the plan, at least. _________________ Ron
2007 Hammerhead 250SS, UNI, a/m exhaust, 17 gram sliders, blue Polini torque spring, 32mm MRP pumper carb, 135 main jet, iridium plug, ITP mudlites 23x10x10 on the rear.
2003 Suzuki Eiger 4x4
2006 Baja 90 Shifter
2005 Talon 150 (sold)
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