Tesla OEM vs. RallyArmor mud flaps

[1plavs]

They protect more than previous options, wider and longer than the Chinese White Label ones, but rigid enough to maintain form without making annoying noises (like Tesla OEM's).

Did you leave the logos on? In your opinion will these flaps protect the paint better in the winter from snow, salt and ice than anything out there?

 

[Schulz1983]

These specific flaps just came out though so you must have tried a different manufacturer with a poor quality.

The ones you bought are the exact same as everyone else’s. They fit well and look nice. The issue is they don’t sit low enough so the front tires still kick up rocks on the back doors. If you have PPF on the rear doors then no big deal. If not, I guarantee after winter your rear doors will be sandblasted with those mud flaps. They will look good doing it though.

 

[1plavs]

The ones you bought are the exact same as everyone else’s. They fit well and look nice. The issue is they don’t sit low enough so the front tires still kick up rocks on the back doors. If you have PPF on the rear doors then no big deal. If not, I guarantee after winter your rear doors will be sandblasted with those mud flaps. They will look good doing it though.

The owner told me “We have sent out testers to people during the winter. Haven’t heard any issues from those we sent to be used during the winter.”

I’m could ask for measurements?

 

[Schulz1983]

The owner told me “We have sent out testers to people during the winter. Haven’t heard any issues from those we sent to be used during the winter.”

I’m could ask for measurements?

Get measurements and then look at how the tires line up with the rear doors. You will see what I am talking about. If you have the back section of the rear doors PPFed then it is a non issue. I have about 4-5 chips on mine that were touched up before applying PPF. Apparently they are doing the PPF from the factory now.

 

[1plavs]

Get measurements and then look at how the tires line up with the rear doors. You will see what I am talking about. If you have the back section of the rear doors PPFed then it is a non issue. I have about 4-5 chips on mine that were touched up before applying PPF. Apparently they are doing the PPF from the factory now.

Oh gotcha. Are you saying once I install the Tesla PPF (when they are back in stock that is) this is a non issue using these flaps?

These pics are right off of their website.

 

[Schulz1983]

Oh gotcha. Are you saying once I install the Tesla PPF (when they are back in stock that is) this is a non issue using these flaps?

These pics are right off of their website.

I think it won’t be as much of an issue. Personally I would find a PPF installer and try to cover more than what the Tesla PPF does. I agree the Tesla flaps are ugly but they work

 

[1plavs]

I think it won’t be as much of an issue. Personally I would find a PPF installer and try to cover more than what the Tesla PPF does. I agree the Tesla flaps are ugly but they work

I was still thinking of still giving the Tesla Shields above a try. And then go from there if needed.

 

[suprax]

As I've mentioned in this thread, I have the Basenor mud flaps installed. After discussion in here about the potential rock/debris spray path from the front tires, I used some string to non-scientifically visualize it. The 2 photos labeled Basenor mud flaps show the spray opportunity/path on the rear door and it's quite high. It's about 25" higher than the top of the black plastic ground effects molding. I then lowered the string so it's about 1.5" lower than the Basenor mud flap bottom to simulate what the Tesla mud flap spray may be, and you can see it's quite a bit lower. About 9" from the top of the ground effects and seems to fall in line with where the Tesla PPF for the rear doors would go.

I have both the Tesla mud flaps and rear door PPF on order, with the mud flaps coming in this week and no ship date on the PPF yet. Once I receive them, I'm going to install 1 Tesla mud flap and leave 1 Basenor mud flap on and drive through some rainy weather to see the difference in the gunk that gets sprayed up onto the back doors from the front wheels. I can post some photos if there's enough gunk to show. I'll also do the string test again with the actual Tesla mud flap to see if this first estimate is accurate. Additionally I'll install the PPF when it arrives and confirm if the spray from the Tesla flaps falls in line with the PPF which I expect it will.

Also I understand that wind, wheel direction, etc will effect the direction/route of debris spray from the front tires, so this is more of just a rough visualization based on a perfectly straight line debris spray.

 

[labmixz]

Did you leave the logos on? In your opinion will these flaps protect the paint better in the winter from snow, salt and ice than anything out there?

I kept the logo's on... the blue kind of matches my scheme. Logically due to how these are made and the dimensions, they should protect more than anything currently on the market. Seem to due very nicely in mud, as I no longer have huge mud trails on my doors (as I did with other brands) which was why I kept switching the mud flaps before finally taking the plunge and putting down $$ on Rally Armor.

 

[suprax]

As an update on my previous reply, 2 posts above this one, I installed one of the Tesla mud flaps. I confirmed the difference in height off the ground, with the Basenor flap at 4.25" and the Tesla flap 2.5". This nets a 1.75" difference between the 2 brands of mud flaps. Interestingly enough, I can confirm what @jcanoe has found with his MY, in that the left (driver) side mud flap height is higher than the right side. On mine it's .25" higher.

The unlabeled photo shows how it looks with the Tesla mud flap up front and the Basenor one on back, and to be honest in real life you don't notice they are different unless you got down low and close. The other photos show how the flap looks from directly behind it, and then what the estimated spray area could be from rocks/debris under the front tire. If you compare that to the spray area of the Basenor mud flaps as seen in my previous post, it's quite the difference with the Tesla flaps greatly reducing how much of the door could be hit with stuff.

I'm going to stick with the Tesla flaps up front and likely keep the Basenor flaps on the back. I'm hoping we'll get some rainy weather soon so I can drive around and try to photograph and share the difference in the road crud that gets slung up between the left side (which still has the Basenor flap on) and the right Tesla flap side.

 

[1plavs]

As an update on my previous reply, 2 posts above this one, I installed one of the Tesla mud flaps. I confirmed the difference in height off the ground, with the Basenor flap at 4.25" and the Tesla flap 2.5". This nets a 1.75" difference between the 2 brands of mud flaps. Interestingly enough, I can confirm what @jcanoe has found with his MY, in that the left (driver) side mud flap height is higher than the right side. On mine it's .25" higher.

The unlabeled photo shows how it looks with the Tesla mud flap up front and the Basenor one on back, and to be honest in real life you don't notice they are different unless you got down low and close. The other photos show how the flap looks from directly behind it, and then what the estimated spray area could be from rocks/debris under the front tire. If you compare that to the spray area of the Basenor mud flaps as seen in my previous post, it's quite the difference with the Tesla flaps greatly reducing how much of the door could be hit with stuff.

I'm going to stick with the Tesla flaps up front and likely keep the Basenor flaps on the back. I'm hoping we'll get some rainy weather soon so I can drive around and try to photograph and share the difference in the road crud that gets slung up between the left side (which still has the Basenor flap on) and the right Tesla flap side.

Hmmm I didn’t think about that as far as installing Tesla flaps in front and a 3rd party in the rear. Wouldn’t that look odd though? Maybe not I’d have to see it.

 

[suprax]

Hmmm I didn’t think about that as far as installing Tesla flaps in front and a 3rd party in the rear. Wouldn’t that look odd though? Maybe not I’d have to see it.

That's the photo on my post that doesn't have a description on it. The photo is taken from a low angle and I've adjusted the contrast afterwards to highlight details, but in real life in daylight, you'd have to study the front versus the back mud flap to find the difference. I'd bet 99% of people would never notice a difference, nor has it bothered me in the couple days I've had it on.

 

[1plavs]

That's the photo on my post that doesn't have a description on it. The photo is taken from a low angle and I've adjusted the contrast afterwards to highlight details, but in real life in daylight, you'd have to study the front versus the back mud flap to find the difference. I'd bet 99% of people would never notice a difference, nor has it bothered me in the couple days I've had it on.

I may just try that! What I’m really curious on is how it will work during winter time.

 

[suprax]

I may just try that! What I’m really curious on is how it will work during winter time.

I'm not entirely sold on how much value the rear flaps provide. I expect that they prevent some amount of dust/crud/salt dust from finding it's way to the rear of the car but I suppose I'll find out this Winter (Western NY here with 6 months of pure salt).

I should note that when I took the front Basenor flap off to install the Tesla one, here's the amount of debris that had built up in it after 1.5 months. Imagine what it'd look like after 5 years of driving and winters.

 

[1plavs]

I'm not entirely sold on how much value the rear flaps provide. I expect that they prevent some amount of dust/crud/salt dust from finding it's way to the rear of the car but I suppose I'll find out this Winter (Western NY here with 6 months of pure salt).

I should note that when I took the front Basenor flap off to install the Tesla one, here's the amount of debris that had built up in it after 1.5 months. Imagine what it'd look like after 5 years of driving and winters.

Whoah! Have you considered Rally Armor? I did, but I tend to agree with flaps not being needed in the rear ….well until I get past one winter then I’ll know for sure, but RA’s make the MY just look very odd. Did you remove the ones in the rear to see what debris accumulated there?

 

[suprax]

Whoah! Have you considered Rally Armor? I did, but I tend to agree with flaps not being needed in the rear ….well until I get past one winter then I’ll know for sure, but RA’s make the MY just look very odd. Did you remove the ones in the rear to see what debris accumulated there?

I didn't remove the rear ones but I expect it to be about the same. I haven't considered the Rally Armor ones due to their cost and I'm also not a fan of their appearance. They likely offer the most protection out of all of these mud flap options but at this point I'm thinking Tesla up front + rear door Tesla PPF will be sufficient. Time will tell!

 

[1plavs]

I just put on the Tesla Shields mud flaps today and I will say they fit very nicely except for the right front side shown here. What can I do to make this mud flap sits flush?

Here’s the rest of the pics.

 

[jcanoe]

If both of the holes in the wheel well liner were fully open, did the two clips go in all of the way before you pressed the center of the clip to lock it? You could use double sided automotive trim tape. That might hold the mudflap in place.

 

[1plavs]

If both of the holes in the wheel well liner were fully open, did the two clips go in all of the way before you pressed the center of the clip to lock it? You could use double sided automotive trim tape. That might hold the mudflap in place.

Yep the clips went in all the way. Must be a design flaw on flaps like this. I had the same issue with the RPM’s that I removed. Double side tape is best I agree.

 

[1plavs]

Anyone have this issue with their mud flaps and how did you make it sit flush?

Here’s what I tried with no success.