Tesla mud-flaps (long version) really scrape a lot! Is this a problem?

[MonoPoly307]

Hey guys

We've just added Tesla genuine mudflaps to the front of the Model 3. We travel on gravel roads and wanted to minimise stones shooting from the front wheel to the back rocker panels of the car.

Tesla mudflaps have a small and large version (the large version involves an extra piece that's fitted with the small flap). We opted for the large as the small doesn't look like it would provide that much stone protection. Here's a pic:

The flaps look great and fit very nicely. However... they scrape A LOT! I had expected they might scrape over some very steep speed-humps from time to time, but they seem to scrape when the car is full of adult passengers, and over some corners when turning into carparks and that sort of thing. It's not a super loud scrape, but it's happening.

The sound doesn't bother me at all... but I wanted to know from your experience whether the constant scraping can damage the flaps or the car wheel arches? Are the flaps likely to be pulled off or loosened over time given how often they scrape? Could the scraping damage the area of the wheel arches (inside plastic part) over time, requiring more expensive repairs than just a new pair of flaps?

Or is it all fine - an annoyance sound-wise, but nothing to worry about?

If you've installed the long version of Tesla's flaps on your Model 3, I'd be very keen to hear your experience with them as far as scraping and longevity are concerned.

Thanks guys!

Cheers
Mike

 

[Soul Surfer]

Same here, but it doesn’t bother me.

 

[MonoPoly307]

Same here, but it doesn’t bother me.

Cool. I’m not worried by the sound either… but worried they might come loose or damage the wheel arches. How long have you had yours for? All OK so far (aside from the sound)?

 

[Soul Surfer]

Then I would make it Tesla’s problem, as this is a Tesla OEM product.

 

[MonoPoly307]

Then I would make it Tesla’s problem, as this is a Tesla OEM product.

Good call, you're right.

 

[MLXXXp]

I also thought the basic mud flaps were too short but the splash guard additions were too long, so I cut the splash guards to shorten them:
Tesla Model 3 OEM Mudflaps

 

[ArcticStation]

We installed them several years ago when they first became available. No issues, and my rocker panels are still in pretty good shape, so they seem to be doing the job. Yep, they scrape--a lot. But we hardly notice it anymore.

 

[MonoPoly307]

Thanks guys. Sounds like I can opt to shorten them if I don’t like the scraping, but if the sound doesn’t bother me then there’s not really an issue.

 

[Yeslak]

Tesla OEM mud flaps are tall and very close to the ground, they always scratch bumpy things, and make noise. We custom-designed them shorter to avoid this issue, and they still work well for protection. The material is the same as OEM, PP for the mount and TPE for the flaps.

Best Mud Flaps For Tesla Model 3 | Tesla Accessories Store

Tesla Model 3 Mud Flaps are comprised of flexible TPE material for the flap and durable PP material for the fixed area with push clips. They protect your Model 3 from snow, salt, sand, and small debris with upgraded mud flaps. Includes: 2x front mud flaps 2x rear mud flaps Installation hardware...

www.yeslak.com

 

[ckegg]

My friend has this long flaps on his Model Y, and one of them from front wheel is already missing. It kept scraping speed bumps and finally it decided to leave the car.....

 

[MonoPoly307]

Tesla OEM mud flaps are tall and very close to the ground, they always scratch bumpy things, and make noise. We custom-designed them shorter to avoid this issue, and they still work well for protection. The material is the same as OEM, PP for the mount and TPE for the flaps.

Best Mud Flaps For Tesla Model 3 | Tesla Accessories Store

Tesla Model 3 Mud Flaps are comprised of flexible TPE material for the flap and durable PP material for the fixed area with push clips. They protect your Model 3 from snow, salt, sand, and small debris with upgraded mud flaps. Includes: 2x front mud flaps 2x rear mud flaps Installation hardware...

www.yeslak.com

These look good, quite different to the hard plastic aftermarket options out there.
Do they still provide good protection from stone chips on the rocker panels in front of the rear wheels?
Also, are they available from an Australian supplier, or only via online order overseas?
Cheers and thanks!
Mike

 

[Yeslak]

These look good, quite different to the hard plastic aftermarket options out there.
Do they still provide good protection from stone chips on the rocker panels in front of the rear wheels?
Also, are they available from an Australian supplier, or only via online order overseas?
Cheers and thanks!
Mike

Thank you for your interest in our products, They do protect the rocker panels after installing the mud flaps, but the protective range is hard to define for different roads.

We ship worldwide; to Australia, it will be like 7–10 days. I hope it is okay with you.

 

[DomDeWild]

Do the Yeslak mud flaps come with new push-on clips to hold the flaps on? Your website isn't too clear on this, it says it comes with 'hardware', but there's no pics of the clips. Sometimes they break when removing them.
Thx

 

[Yeslak]

Do the Yeslak mud flaps come with new push-on clips to hold the flaps on? Your website isn't too clear on this, it says it comes with 'hardware', but there's no pics of the clips. Sometimes they break when removing them.
Thx

Yes, both front and rear have the push-on clips included.

 

[DomDeWild]

Thanks for replying.

 

[launchd]

Those OEM mudflaps are WAY too long, I'm not sure what Tesla was thinking when they made them. Even the most aggressive rally flaps don't sit that low... and they don't need to in order to serve their purpose.

The cheaper plastic option that was linked in this thread have a bunch of vendors that sell them (search Amazon) and they aren't great either. They sit on your paint/allow for road debris (sand, rock salt, dirt) to get in-between the flap/car which often leads to paint damage. If you're going to go the cheap route with the aftermarket plastic flaps, do yourself a favor and PPF the paint area that they sit on.

I love my Rokblokz rally flaps They don't sit on the paint, they provide ample coverage and (in my opinion) they look very nice!

 

[ihaveaking]

Same here, I lost my right mudflap on a speed bump, it sounds my wheel was broken also the sounds scraping speed bumps is not nice!
For my roadtrip Holland-France-Spain-Portugal next week I don't want to experience this moment on high speed again.

 

[Yeslak]

To better understand the dimension, here are some pictures of our mud flaps.