Modifications : Mud Flaps

Adapting Land Rover 110 Rear mud flaps to fit a Dakar

Fitting mud flaps to a Dakar, Simple? Not quite. It took me several attempts, which is why I put this page together, if you can do it better, please let me know!

I fitted these because I was fed up of slipping on the mud and dirt which was getting thrown up onto the side steps, and treading this into the Dakar. Wet, slippery brake pedal... Not clever! This solution is not ideal, but it does help.

Two sets of Land Rover 110 rear mud flaps were obtained. One set complete with standard Land Rover 110 rear brackets. I used Genuine parts as I wanted the Land Rover logo and at £20 a pair I didn't think too expensive.

The rear pair of mud flaps were the easiest to fit. The rear bumper was removed and three holes per side were drilled into the middle bar. These were then tapped to accept M8 studs.The M8 studs were dipped in Sikaflex and screwed into the bumper and left to harden.It was then a simple job of drilling out holes in the flaps, sliding these over the studs and bolting up.

I used studs because I had them to hand, an advantage of using these over bolts is that they can remain in place, sealed by the sikaflex, even if the flaps are removed.  No nasty holes to collect dirt/damp and allow the rear bumper to rust from the inside out.

The front mud flaps took a bit more effort to fit and utilise the standard Land Rover 110 rear flap brackets, albeit in a slightly modified state. The Large BF Goodrich  33x12.5x15 tyres sit much closer to the foot wells than the standard Range Rover tyres, substantially reducing the amount of space into which the flaps must fit. These tyres also sit partially outside of the original foot well, requiring the flaps to be positioned half out of the foot well, to protect the side steps.

To keep the rubber flap as far away from the tyre as possible it is fixed to the back of the steel bracket instead of the front, this requires part of the brackets lip to be ground down.

The narrow end of the bracket was cut off and three holes drilled through the bracket and into the foot well. As with the rear flaps studs were used but these were bolted into position as the foot wells are not thick enough to be tapped. These may be welded and ground flush on the inside at some stage in the future as they leave lumps in the front carpet!

Further enhancements for these is to make a couple of holes in the bottom of the flaps so they can be tied up on a bungee, out of the way when off-roading. I hope that even with the front flaps tied up they will offer some protection to the side steps from flying mud and water.

I've also noticed that the rear wheels throw mud and debris forward when reversing, and when travelling at slow speeds. I'm still debating about what to do about this. Suggestions welcome, as always!

Jon Hudson
March 1999