As I mentioned in my previous post awhile back, I went ahead with the rubberized eBay ones (bought on Amazon). Data point from what I got with mine:
-- No nasty smell at all
-- Definitely not a flexible as the pics show (like you're wringing it like you would a towel)
-- No instructions
-- Plenty of extra screws and clips
-- Flaps were well-packaged and no damage to the packaging box.
As for installation, I'll include some pics of the rears, as the front pics I took came out all blurry. I already had full PPF on my front fenders, and recently installed lower doors and rocker panel PPF myself. So the fronts could be installed, as I didn't want to install them without PPF protecting the paint underneath the flaps. I installed the right front first, and like some people had happen, when I started drilling a pilot hole, the fender plastic moved back further into the fender, causing the pilot hole to be a bit off. This caused the top of the flap to not be as flush to the car as I had hoped. What I then ended up doing was to pull the fender plastic around and out of the well a bit, to basically let it sit on the edge of the painted part of the wheel well. I then slipped a paper towel coated piece of plastic between the edge of the painted part of the fender and the back of the black plastic fender piece, as a wedge. This prevented the plastic fender from moving backwards when I drilled a new pilot hole. It worked like a charm, and now that flap is perfectly flush. Repeated this process for the other front side.
For the rears, because I didn't have any PPF on the rear bumper, I ended up cutting a piece of PPF and traced it to the same lines as the flap. I installed the PPF leaving about 1/4" inch beyond the edge of the mudflap.
They are definitely doing their job and protecting the paint on the rockers and the lower doors. Definitely an absolute mod if you care about your paint.
Pics coming soon.
Thanks,
-- Cintoman