-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Roadrunner13
Member
The stock mud flaps are attached with rivets. I drilled those out and attached the additional flaps into the same holes. I used a combination of rivets, self tapping screws, and nuts and bolts - all through the existing holes. I also didn't trim the flaps width wise and even got to one of the bolts holding the felt lining in place. That's probably overkill, and I'll end up trimming back (but the tire doesn't rub).
I didn't know how low I could go with the mud flaps. I ended up trying 1&5/8" above the pavement. That's not enough for spirited driving, so right now I'm using the pavement to custom trim the mud flap length as I drive.
So, by how much has pavement custom trimmed your flaps now through 'spirited driving'?
I'm getting ready to do install some and figured 2" should be good enough clearance to avoid pavement trimming...
which I'd rather avoid since I'm going the 'lazy' way and just attaching them to the existing flaps without removing existing rivets.
smorgasbord
Active Member
So, by how much has pavement custom trimmed your flaps now through 'spirited driving'?
I'm getting ready to do install some and figured 2" should be good enough clearance to avoid pavement trimming...
which I'd rather avoid since I'm going the 'lazy' way and just attaching them to the existing flaps without removing existing rivets.
I manually trimmed to about 2" off the ground, and that's fine for most driving, but truly spirited driving, especially around turns heading downhill, does still grind them.
smorgasbord
Active Member
I got these from Amazon. They're too big, but you cut them down. They're thick, so they won't flap in the breeze. Maybe too thick...
Roadrunner13
Member
The ones I got were a bit bigger than these: 40x22 cm.
They don't seem distributed in Europe though: http://www.roadsportinc.com/splash_premier_b.php
I had bought both small and larger ones to see which ones would fit better and I installed the bigger ones.
As smorgasbord mentions, bigger will make it easier to trim to the right size.
Also, our tires are quite large, so the 'car size' ones are usually not wide enough.
Here's what it looks like from up close. It's much better than the original to protect the bottom door from gravel.
They' re still a bit too low.
2 inches creates too much pavement trimming and I'm concerned they may rip off the original one from its attachment.
Here's what I used to attach them to the existing ones.
The Tee nuts make a good job of gripping into the rubber of the existing ones and since they are very large that they won't easily rip out.
So, my brother and I went shopping and bought the following:
- 2 flaps of 400x250x8mm rubber, from an old conveyor belt. It's heavy duty, meant for trucks, but this wouldn't hurt, I guess.
- Some M6 bolts and nuts
We also used the following, which we had still laying around in the garage:
- some drills
- some matte black spraypaint
- some cardboard
- a marker
- a ruler
And then we went hobbying!
Note: before you read on...this pictorial shows some very dirty Roadster parts. You can clearly see I badly needed the mudflaps!
First, I started drawing out the rough outlines of the mudflap on a piece of scrap cardboard. On the next picture you can see the base rubber material.
Then my brother re-did them on a more sturdy piece of cardboard, and we drew up several versions while the wheel was off, to have more working space.
Version 1:
And version 2, a slightly more curved version. We both agreed that this would look and function the best. Time to put on the wheel and lower the car again, to level it with the floor.
Then, we cut the first flap out of the rubber. As you can see, here we decided to go the easier way and go for a straight edge, instead of a curved one. Cutting a curve in 8mm nylon-lined rubber turned out to be a pain in the ass.
Then it was time to drill some holes into the flap, OEM flap itself, and also some holes in the carbon fiber base of the OEM flap... No pictures of this process, as we were both kind of stressed out of drilling into the car. Luckily, we drilled into non-visible carbon "inside" the factory mudflap. We also decided to use some of the left-over rubber to make a better base for the bolts inside the non-carbon base at the top of the factory mudflap. The upper part of the factory mudflap is flimsy, we didn't want to connect the heavy mudflap to just the thin rubber, so we cut a piece of 20x50x8mm rubber to put inside the top.
Then we used a handfull of these babies, and some stuff that could qualify as some serious gyneacologist stuff: working with our fingers in very tight places where we couldn't see what we were doing... turning the bolts at the inside of the factory flaps.
And after this process, we were satisfied to see this:
Brother decided that the nuts and washers looked too shiny and new, so he took a can of black spraypaint:
And then it was time to put the wheel back on, see if everything was correctly leveled:
The flaps lean just a little bit outward. We're still not sure if the straight edge looks awesome and racy, or is a bit overkill.. but it does work better than expected. On a wet highway last night, the lower side of the car stayed almost completely dry!
- 2 flaps of 400x250x8mm rubber, from an old conveyor belt. It's heavy duty, meant for trucks, but this wouldn't hurt, I guess.
- Some M6 bolts and nuts
We also used the following, which we had still laying around in the garage:
- some drills
- some matte black spraypaint
- some cardboard
- a marker
- a ruler
And then we went hobbying!
Note: before you read on...this pictorial shows some very dirty Roadster parts. You can clearly see I badly needed the mudflaps!
First, I started drawing out the rough outlines of the mudflap on a piece of scrap cardboard. On the next picture you can see the base rubber material.
Then my brother re-did them on a more sturdy piece of cardboard, and we drew up several versions while the wheel was off, to have more working space.
Version 1:
And version 2, a slightly more curved version. We both agreed that this would look and function the best. Time to put on the wheel and lower the car again, to level it with the floor.
Then, we cut the first flap out of the rubber. As you can see, here we decided to go the easier way and go for a straight edge, instead of a curved one. Cutting a curve in 8mm nylon-lined rubber turned out to be a pain in the ass.
Then it was time to drill some holes into the flap, OEM flap itself, and also some holes in the carbon fiber base of the OEM flap... No pictures of this process, as we were both kind of stressed out of drilling into the car. Luckily, we drilled into non-visible carbon "inside" the factory mudflap. We also decided to use some of the left-over rubber to make a better base for the bolts inside the non-carbon base at the top of the factory mudflap. The upper part of the factory mudflap is flimsy, we didn't want to connect the heavy mudflap to just the thin rubber, so we cut a piece of 20x50x8mm rubber to put inside the top.
Then we used a handfull of these babies, and some stuff that could qualify as some serious gyneacologist stuff: working with our fingers in very tight places where we couldn't see what we were doing... turning the bolts at the inside of the factory flaps.
And after this process, we were satisfied to see this:
Brother decided that the nuts and washers looked too shiny and new, so he took a can of black spraypaint:
And then it was time to put the wheel back on, see if everything was correctly leveled:
The flaps lean just a little bit outward. We're still not sure if the straight edge looks awesome and racy, or is a bit overkill.. but it does work better than expected. On a wet highway last night, the lower side of the car stayed almost completely dry!
Last edited:
Botbldr45
Member
thefortunes
Active Member
Mark77a
Member
Thanks!
After driving around for a week, my sills are still peachy clean. Roundabouts and sharp corners make the flaps sweep the street, but nothing too serious, no visible wear and tear.
You inspired me to add mud flaps - I'm fed up with filthy sills :smile:
I found these mudflaps in UK's halfords auto stores > Halfords | Halfords Universal Mudflap
The neat thing about these is they are almost exactly the size to fit OVER the existing Tesla Mudflaps
The backs of the flaps are curved and match the curve of the Tesla flaps.
They needed trimming, but there is a line moulded in at almost exactly the right height (see cut off part below)
They are just catching on the ground when there is a bump mid tight turn .. but, as this is only occasional I'll let them wear down naturally, to get the best fit with road/max spay protection.
As others have said - a huge improvement !
Mark77a
Member
The lower 3 of the 4 existing Tesla Pop rivets were drilled out and replaced with quality expanding plastic wallplugs, fixed with stainless steel 25mm diameter 'penny washers' and 4mm self-tapping screws. I was going to paint these black, but as they are low down and hidden by the tyre. I have left them shiny.
Mold for door sill
I'm interested. What mold? Is this for a carbon fiber replacement, or for sealing out gravel and the elements?
I'm interested. What mold? Is this for a carbon fiber replacement, or for sealing out gravel and the elements?
wiztecy
Active Member
Its the door sill, the part on the inside of the car that works also as an armrest. It no way seals out gravel & elements, the door seal deals with that before it hits the inside sill.
Last edited:
ViviV
Member
I am now faced with the issue raised in this thread-- that of rain, salt, road dirt, slush getting into the door sill. Other than the annoyance of having to clean this frequently, the main issue of course is not wanting to get my clothes dirty when I go to work.
It is a particular problem for me because I am small so there is little room between my legs and the sill when I step out. As I read some of the above posts suggesting a mud flap this doesn't seem to be a solution because mine already came with a mudflap (see photo, sorry it is so dirty -- she's getting a bath today--winter is hard).
Is there a current consensus on whether there is a good way to prevent this, for example by adding something to the underside of the door? (if you look closely you will see that KICKGAS, the Model S, photobombed the picture).
It is a particular problem for me because I am small so there is little room between my legs and the sill when I step out
. As I read some of the above posts suggesting a mud flap this doesn't seem to be a solution because mine already came with a mudflap (see photo, sorry it is so dirty -- she's getting a bath today--winter is hard).Is there a current consensus on whether there is a good way to prevent this, for example by adding something to the underside of the door? (if you look closely you will see that KICKGAS, the Model S, photobombed the picture).
Similar threads
- Article
- Article
