s219
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I recently traded my ITS for a CTR FL5 and was not real happy with the selection of splash guards available for the car -- most of the aftermarket options are either expensive, amateurish looking (like some kid made them in high school shop), or both. So I made a set using the same approach I've used on several other sports cars over the years.
It starts with off-the-shelf Dee Zee DZ17939 "Universal Plastic Mud Flaps" which go for about $22 on Amazon (https://amzn.to/4n8t1rx) and can be bought at other stores like Tractor Supply and even Walmart.
These are made from a flexible polyethylene material with a grained finish on one side and rounded/cupped edges. Just the slight 3D shaping and contoured edges is already an improvement over most of the aftermarket FL5 flaps that seem to have been designed with only flat stock and a ruler.
Step 1 in the process is to tear off one side of the box, trace the mud flap outline on the cardboard, and cut it out. That is the beginning of a template that I position into place until I get the fit, appearance, and coverage I want. After some trial and error, here is the final template I arrived at for the front wheel well on the FL5, along with a mud flap cut down and drilled to match:
Generally, I can press on the cardboard template to mark out fastener locations on a car, whether they are screws, push rivets, or some combination. But the flat screws holding in the FL5 wheel well liner weren't real amenable to leaving marks in the cardboard, so I used a piece of aluminum foil to template the screw positions and transferred them to the cardboard. You can see on the template, I experimented with a few positions for each screw before arriving at the positioning that I liked.
Here's a few pics of the final product on the car:
I went for a low profile look without much horizontal protrusion past the lower fender flare, but that can be adjusted to each person's taste -- there is plenty of flap material to go full rally style if you want. I did not cut out the opening for the aero vent as I have a gravel driveway and stone dust was coming through the opening and getting on the side skirts, however that would be easy to do -- a pencil can be used to mark out the openings on the cardboard template or flaps. I also did not make flaps for the rear wheels, as those have minor benefit in my experience, but the same approach would work well back there.
Note, in this application, the three factory screws were enough to securely hold down the flaps, and they were more than long enough to accommodate the added thickness. On other cars in the past, I've sometimes had to source longer screws or push rivets.
I'll post pics below of the same approach used on a Mazda Miata ND and BMW M2 Comp. Same approach different mounting fasteners. I also have put a set on an S2000 but don't have pics. On all these cars, I generally go as low profile as possible to provide necessary protection without looking obnoxious.
I've had these flaps on the M2 for 6 years, and they still look great and have held up well. No fading or visible damage. Hard to beat for $22 and an hour of work!
I will post a PDF template for the FL5 in the next post.
It starts with off-the-shelf Dee Zee DZ17939 "Universal Plastic Mud Flaps" which go for about $22 on Amazon (https://amzn.to/4n8t1rx) and can be bought at other stores like Tractor Supply and even Walmart.
These are made from a flexible polyethylene material with a grained finish on one side and rounded/cupped edges. Just the slight 3D shaping and contoured edges is already an improvement over most of the aftermarket FL5 flaps that seem to have been designed with only flat stock and a ruler.
Step 1 in the process is to tear off one side of the box, trace the mud flap outline on the cardboard, and cut it out. That is the beginning of a template that I position into place until I get the fit, appearance, and coverage I want. After some trial and error, here is the final template I arrived at for the front wheel well on the FL5, along with a mud flap cut down and drilled to match:
Generally, I can press on the cardboard template to mark out fastener locations on a car, whether they are screws, push rivets, or some combination. But the flat screws holding in the FL5 wheel well liner weren't real amenable to leaving marks in the cardboard, so I used a piece of aluminum foil to template the screw positions and transferred them to the cardboard. You can see on the template, I experimented with a few positions for each screw before arriving at the positioning that I liked.
Here's a few pics of the final product on the car:
I went for a low profile look without much horizontal protrusion past the lower fender flare, but that can be adjusted to each person's taste -- there is plenty of flap material to go full rally style if you want. I did not cut out the opening for the aero vent as I have a gravel driveway and stone dust was coming through the opening and getting on the side skirts, however that would be easy to do -- a pencil can be used to mark out the openings on the cardboard template or flaps. I also did not make flaps for the rear wheels, as those have minor benefit in my experience, but the same approach would work well back there.
Note, in this application, the three factory screws were enough to securely hold down the flaps, and they were more than long enough to accommodate the added thickness. On other cars in the past, I've sometimes had to source longer screws or push rivets.
I'll post pics below of the same approach used on a Mazda Miata ND and BMW M2 Comp. Same approach different mounting fasteners. I also have put a set on an S2000 but don't have pics. On all these cars, I generally go as low profile as possible to provide necessary protection without looking obnoxious.
I've had these flaps on the M2 for 6 years, and they still look great and have held up well. No fading or visible damage. Hard to beat for $22 and an hour of work!
I will post a PDF template for the FL5 in the next post.
