Nov
03
2014
As originally fitted (before the super singles were fitted) the rear wheel mudguards had pretty good clearance between the factory OEM tyres and the mudguards.
But once the super singles were fitted with a wider/larger tyre the gap was decreased. So I thought I had better remedy this and raise the mudguards by about 75mm (3 inches) and move them outwards about 50mm (2 inches).
I forgot to take a photo before I started this job, so the best I can do to show how the mudguards looked previously is to take a snip from an old photo.
The guards used to sit underneath the skirt, and there is not much of a gap between the outside edge of the tyre, and the inside edge of the mudguard.
Not much room for articulation or a build up of mud.
Taking off the mudguards so I could perform the necessary surgery on them was not too difficult, and only took an hour or so. However, the whole job went down hill from there!
I had to chop out a section from the top of the mudguard so I could raise it up, and out. I bought a 2nd hand mudguard from a truck wrecker to practice on, as it seemed a shame to butcher my nice new guards. It was only $30 and that seemed a reasonable price to get some practice and do the prototyping.
Once I had the prototype reasonably well sorted, I cut the real mudguards with the required adjustments. Refitting them was one of those nightmare jobs that come along every so often. I budgeted 3 hours for this job, and it ended up taking over 8 hours. My partner had gone to London for a month, so while she was enjoying walking in the wilds of Wales I was trying to do a two person job on my own.
The mudguards are floppy and I had real trouble holding them in place while I re-fixed them to the truck in their new position.
Anyway - after a deal of bad language and a lot of temporary 'props' I got the bugger re-fitted.
There is now 75mm more clearance on top and 50mm on the sides. The mudguards project out from the side of the canopy a little, but the drop links for the Air CTI now are protected by the mudguards. It actually looks a bit more 'factory' because this is how the front mudguards are fitted.
A line of sealant to fill the gap between the body and the guard, and the job was done.
While I was at it, I painted the white mud-flaps black, as I never liked them in white. We'll see how long the paint lasts! I think they will get covered in mud and road grime, so rough enough is good enough for these.
If I had known how much trouble it was going to be to do this, I probably wouldn't have ever started, but once those guards were cut.....
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