Why a Y Needs Mud Guards/Flaps

[Midnightsun]

Today was a messy road condition day. Light snow and the salt trucks were all over the place so it made for messy crap roads which the Y handled easily.

I looked at the car after I came back for an errand and decided to snap a picture because this is almost like a wind tunnel thing. Notice how the mess is thrown and where. This will give you a good idea where the rocks and sand will eventually eat away at the paint if guards are not installed.

If you click on the picture it should give you almost a full size screen by the way and a little more detail.

 

[Ruffles]

Agreed. I'm waiting for some nice molded mud flaps. I did, however, have PPF applied on the bottom of my doors that ends on the crease line to provide protection there.

 

[jcanoe]

I used to be a flaps guy; always had the dealer install the mudflaps right after purchase. It appears that for the Model Y front mudflaps would provide most of the benefit in reducing road spray. The rear mudflaps would be nice but not essential.

 

[zannman]

I'm surprised true molded flaps for the Y are taking so long to come available. With the Model 3, they also took a while arriving in mid 2019, but the market was saturated quickly.

 

[NudleBoy]

I'm surprised true molded flaps for the Y are taking so long to come available. With the Model 3, they also took a while arriving in mid 2019, but the market was saturated quickly.

Also waiting for this. I clear bra'd my front clip but I'm now debating on doing the doors, or at least 1/3 of the bottom part of the doors.

 

[Midnightsun]

Only ones I have seen so far are these made in Quebec Canada. Price is rather high for what it is but those are Canadian dollars and shipping is free in Canada.

 

[TomServo]

Properly designed mud flaps aren’t ROCKET SCIENCE. Come on Elon, task an intern to design some decent mud flaps.

 

[mark95476]

I think Tesla provides free mudflaps to Canadian M3 owners. I would have thought they'd provide them for Canadian MY owners as well.

Today was a messy road condition day. Light snow and the salt trucks were all over the place so it made for messy crap roads which the Y handled easily.

I looked at the car after I came back for an errand and decided to snap a picture because this is almost like a wind tunnel thing. Notice how the mess is thrown and where. This will give you a good idea where the rocks and sand will eventually eat away at the paint if guards are not installed.

If you click on the picture it should give you almost a full size screen by the way and a little more detail.

 

[NASASpaceXlove]

I'm surprised true molded flaps for the Y are taking so long to come available. With the Model 3, they also took a while arriving in mid 2019, but the market was saturated quickly.

They’d rather wait until the damage has been done to everyone’s Model Y, the same way they did with the Model 3. Sad

 

[Midnightsun]

I am going to order those I pointed to above and use them until Tesla or someone comes out with some nicely molded ones. No real damage to the car except for a couple of holes in the plastic where they show the screw installation which I can easily plug up with those plastic push in fasteners. Thinking about this I will probably drill out the holes and use plastic push fasteners instead of screws which will rust from the salted roads anyway. Or I also have some plastic rivets I could use instead of the screws. Although they do not look all that great they definitely offer very good protection,

As for the ones on the Model 3. My PPF installer warned me they were badly designed by Tesla! Sand and small rocks get lodged between the guards and the body which rubs away the paint with vibration. Told me to steer clear of those or remove them a couple times a year to remove the accumulated grit. Oh My!

 

[RedRocket83]

Those EVmudflaps.com mud flaps work great. I have them on my MY and highly recommend them. A lot of my neighborhood consists of barely maintained dirt roads, and the paint has had no damage thus far.

 

[RedRocket83]

Those EVmudflaps.com mud flaps work great. I have them on my MY and highly recommend them. A lot of my neighborhood consists of barely maintained dirt roads, and the paint has had no damage thus far.

 

[zannman]

They’d rather wait until the damage has been done to everyone’s Model Y, the same way they did with the Model 3. Sad

If the timing holds, they came out with molded splash guards 2 years after the first Model 3 hit the streets. You can expect your Y molded flaps in 2022.

Thing is, I don't remember anyone complaining loudly in early 2019 about this. There was just too much excitement about other aspects of having the car.

 

[Freewheeler]

@Midnightsun Great pic! I’ve been offering a DIY PPF kit to the community here to cover the flare of the rear door up the rear wheel arch. I patterned them off the “strike zone” where my MY was showing contact + paint damage. I have dirt on the lower section of the front door but no indication of damage. Do you detect any down there or is it just accumulation? Curious what different locations are experiencing.

 

[NASASpaceXlove]

If the timing holds, they came out with molded splash guards 2 years after the first Model 3 hit the streets. You can expect your Y molded flaps in 2022.

Thing is, I don't remember anyone complaining loudly in early 2019 about this. There was just too much excitement about other aspects of having the car.

Tesla faces class action lawsuit over Model 3 paint issues in cold weather - Electrek

 

[Midnightsun]

@Midnightsun Great pic! I’ve been offering a DIY PPF kit to the community here to cover the flare of the rear door up the rear wheel arch. I patterned them off the “strike zone” where my MY was showing contact + paint damage. I have dirt on the lower section of the front door but no indication of damage. Do you detect any down there or is it just accumulation? Curious what different locations are experiencing.

My car is barely 2 months old so no issues yet. The picture is simply a mixture of snow, slush and dirt thrown up from the road via the wheels.

I am also having PPF done with Expel on Friday, they were very familiar with Tesla paint issues albeit referring to previous model 3 and highly recommended doing the rocker guard area which I am having done along with full front coverage, mirrors and headlights. He mentioned how soft the model 3 paint was which would come off with your fingernail. Hopefully the paint has improved over the years and the Y is better.

 

[zannman]

Tesla faces class action lawsuit over Model 3 paint issues in cold weather - Electrek

Don't get me wrong - I believe cars need mudflaps in northern climates unless they're very lifted. My post was regarding timing. I did all my research in early 2019 and it just wasn't mentioned at that time. Note the dates on this article - mid 2020 and the Tesla weather package (no cost mudflaps) was offered not long before that if I recall correctly.

Edit to say that I've had some type of mudflaps on my Model 3 since mid-June 2019 and have no rocker chips or other paint issues at about 40,000 miles now. They work and address the issue.

 

[Briss929]

Today was a messy road condition day. Light snow and the salt trucks were all over the place so it made for messy crap roads which the Y handled easily.

I looked at the car after I came back for an errand and decided to snap a picture because this is almost like a wind tunnel thing. Notice how the mess is thrown and where. This will give you a good idea where the rocks and sand will eventually eat away at the paint if guards are not installed.

If you click on the picture it should give you almost a full size screen by the way and a little more detail.

Here the difference with mudguards.

 

[patnshan]

Those EVmudflaps.com mud flaps work great. I have them on my MY and highly recommend them. A lot of my neighborhood consists of barely maintained dirt roads, and the paint has had no damage thus far.

I might get these, because there is nothing else. But I do find them sort of ugly. I was hoping for something more molded and sleek. Maybe I am asking for too much, but for other cars you can get ones that actually look good.

 

[EVchiq]

Those EVmudflaps.com mud flaps work great. I have them on my MY and highly recommend them. A lot of my neighborhood consists of barely maintained dirt roads, and the paint has had no damage thus far.

Did you have to heat the plastic clips like in the video?

Was it easy to get the 2 factory clips off?