Gatorbak Mud Flaps
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Gatorbak Mud Flaps
I recently picked up a set of Gatorbak mud flaps. I searched and didn't find many reviews or pictures of these flaps on here, so I decided to do a quick review of my own.
Gatorbak FX4 Black Wrap Mud Flaps
The first thing I noticed about these flaps was the weight. They're made of thick rubber. This will help when kicking off built up ice and snow during the winter as the rubber can't freeze and snap, unlike the Ford OEM molded mud flaps (which I had before, and for the price they aren't bad).
I've never done universal fit mud flaps before, so I did have trouble getting them lined up and square with the truck and with each other (among other things I had trouble with). All I can say about that is take your time. Make sure you put these on when you have at least a few hours to spare. Having to mount these in a rush with result in crooked, uneven flaps.
When preparing to mount the rear flaps I found on the rear fenders the edge of the fender flare and the edge of the fender are not even with each other. Even after double checking and triple checking I still managed to punch through the flare and miss the edge of the fender. So to look at the finished product from inside the wheel well you can see a few additional holes. Oh well.
After mounting the rears I found the farthest edge of the flap from the fender just hung out in the wheel well and flopped back and forth. If you have wheel well liners you can bolt the flaps to them, but I don't so I came up with some brackets made from angle iron. One piece running horizontal along the top of the flap, bolted in three places, and one piece running vertically from the top corner of the flap to a bolt on the frame. Here's what the angle iron looked like, once cut and tapped:
For the rears I did three bolts down the fender, and then two close together in the bottom corner for good anchors. Here is what it looks like:
The three bolts along the top with the large washers are for the angle iron. You can also see the vertical piece running up to the frame. It is SOLID. Even with my hand gripping the flap firmly and reefing back and forth on the flap I cannot even make it budge. So for the whopping cost of $15 for the angle iron and extra bolts I'm pleased.
The fronts are mounted in a similar fashion, however I had trouble finding any frame to drill into- just plastic fender. The flap was a lot of weight on it. But by combining the supplied self tapping screws and a couple bolts I was able to make it work:
Starting from the top the three self tappers are in and are reasonably solid and should do the job. Along the bottom edge I have two bolts and they are what provide most of the holding strength.
All four flaps have a little bit over hang:
The bolts I used were 1/4" x 1" for the rear flaps, 1/4" x 1 1/4" for the bolt that goes through the flap, angle iron, and vertical angle iron, 1/4" x 2" for the bolt at the top of the vertical angle iron, and 1/4" x 3/4" for the bolts on the front flaps. Each bolt is secured with locking nuts.
So hopefully someone can take something from this review, which is also my first review of an aftermarket product. Thanks for reading.
The first thing I noticed about these flaps was the weight. They're made of thick rubber. This will help when kicking off built up ice and snow during the winter as the rubber can't freeze and snap, unlike the Ford OEM molded mud flaps (which I had before, and for the price they aren't bad).
I've never done universal fit mud flaps before, so I did have trouble getting them lined up and square with the truck and with each other (among other things I had trouble with). All I can say about that is take your time. Make sure you put these on when you have at least a few hours to spare. Having to mount these in a rush with result in crooked, uneven flaps.
When preparing to mount the rear flaps I found on the rear fenders the edge of the fender flare and the edge of the fender are not even with each other. Even after double checking and triple checking I still managed to punch through the flare and miss the edge of the fender. So to look at the finished product from inside the wheel well you can see a few additional holes. Oh well.
After mounting the rears I found the farthest edge of the flap from the fender just hung out in the wheel well and flopped back and forth. If you have wheel well liners you can bolt the flaps to them, but I don't so I came up with some brackets made from angle iron. One piece running horizontal along the top of the flap, bolted in three places, and one piece running vertically from the top corner of the flap to a bolt on the frame. Here's what the angle iron looked like, once cut and tapped:
For the rears I did three bolts down the fender, and then two close together in the bottom corner for good anchors. Here is what it looks like:
The three bolts along the top with the large washers are for the angle iron. You can also see the vertical piece running up to the frame. It is SOLID. Even with my hand gripping the flap firmly and reefing back and forth on the flap I cannot even make it budge. So for the whopping cost of $15 for the angle iron and extra bolts I'm pleased.
The fronts are mounted in a similar fashion, however I had trouble finding any frame to drill into- just plastic fender. The flap was a lot of weight on it. But by combining the supplied self tapping screws and a couple bolts I was able to make it work:
Starting from the top the three self tappers are in and are reasonably solid and should do the job. Along the bottom edge I have two bolts and they are what provide most of the holding strength.
All four flaps have a little bit over hang:
The bolts I used were 1/4" x 1" for the rear flaps, 1/4" x 1 1/4" for the bolt that goes through the flap, angle iron, and vertical angle iron, 1/4" x 2" for the bolt at the top of the vertical angle iron, and 1/4" x 3/4" for the bolts on the front flaps. Each bolt is secured with locking nuts.
So hopefully someone can take something from this review, which is also my first review of an aftermarket product. Thanks for reading.
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