I would like to buy the kind of mudflap that Liberty put on there buses. I done a couple of serches but haven't found the one like thiers. Will Liberty sell thier mudflap to a non liberty coach? Thanks
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I would like to buy the kind of mudflap that Liberty put on there buses. I done a couple of serches but haven't found the one like thiers. Will Liberty sell thier mudflap to a non liberty coach? Thanks
Hi Sid. It doesnt hurt to ask. Call Tony in Chicago. 1 800-554-9877.
Okay, I'll give it a try in the morning thanks Gary.
Sid: I asked about this type of flap and was told to stay away from them. Search for the thread...seems if memory serves, there was an issue about them kicking up rocks and such that would hit the toad.
Sid,
After owning 3 coaches with full rear mudflaps, we have learned they are the single biggest rock thrower around, not the tires. The tire mudflaps do a pretty good job, and don't drag.
When your coach goes thru a dip of sorts, and the coach front rises, in reaction the coach rear drops causing the flap to drag and pepper your towed or others that follow with stones and pebbles.
Our first Class A didn't come with the full flap, and I was insistant we have one for our trip to Alaska in 2000. Lots of gravel up yonder, and even frost heaves that are high in the center, and presto, the full Airstream logo'd flap peppered and pounded our Cherokee to the point we needed the frontend painted. Not too mention, the replacment of the fog lighs lens.
Later, we had a CC affinity and a 1999 shell 2001 CC bus adorned with the Country Coach full rear flap hanging by chains With the bus, I was following Chris in our Land Rover on Texas Hwy 114/121 heading to Prevost Dallas from Buddy Gregg in Lewisville. Chris ran thru an intersection that caused the above mentioned bus pitching up and down, and our Rover caught a stone right smack where you look out. The crack travelled fast where it was not repairable!! (Those heated windshields are spendy)
So, if you were us, travel sans full rear mudflap.
Spend your money on a towbar based shield and a vinyl padded windshield cover that any good upholsterer can make. We used these to items to this day, and even travelling to Yellowknife NWT Canada a few years ago, with the same Rover, all was fine. BTW, the last 42 miles into the capital city of the NorthWest Territory is dirt and gravel, and Rover got dusty, but no other harm to it.
There is another reason you may want to consider when thinking about the flap.
The coach cooling system is designed for air flow without the flap. If you think about it the flap located at the very rear of the coach is going to have an impact on the pressure in the engine area behind the radiator where you want negative pressure or at worst no pressure differential between the front of the radiator to the back of the radiator. I suspect a full width flap has positive pressure ahead of it in the engine area, and negative pressure behind it which makes cooling more difficult. The negative pressure behind it is likely contributing to small stones being lifted as the bus passes chipping the paint on the toad.
I have no proof of this, but Don Hoffman of Hoffman Coach told me many years ago of this and I think he was right. I have removed the flaps from both my coaches and all my toads have been free of damage from towing.
Sid, go without. I took mine off and am satisfied.
Many driveway and road topography conditions will nearly rub/drag it off.
If you want to experiment try the long hair like streamers that UPS uses on their OTR trailers.
JIM :)
Ya Jim, I forgot, your right!!
We have a grass skirt from Camping World on our CLassic '84 Airstream Class A, and it does a great job diffusing jumping gravel.
One more thing - on our last coach, a 40'Vogue PV the rear flap threw all sorts of stuff into the engine space and after two years the Cat dsl was a cosmetic mess.
Strange I have been without a flap since ownership and just replace my windshield because it looking like it was sandblasted, and repainted the front bumper. So I have made a flap thinking that going without one was the cause. Jon is right though about the pressures, my old GMC4107 had a flap across the front of the engine compartment to create a negative pressure to help cooling.
Well to be honest I really just wanted it just because of the look.
Chris, I agree with you about flap doing more damage than good. I had one on it that I bought from IBP industries and yes boy this tahoe and the previous one are pelted with rock chips!!
So that's my reason I'm going call liberty and see if they would sell me one. I know before I bought the one from IBP I tried to buy one from Country Coach and there was no way the would sell me on! I was even a member of there club with my previous coach a plastic coach,maybe that was why? I bet they would now!
Sid,
If you can't get one from Liberty, I'll sell you mine.
Only thing is........ the bus goes with it :cool:
This is interesting. Jennifer was very worried about her GX being towed without protection. As of now, we have dragged it almost 35k miles over the past couple of years and it is no worse for the wear. Sure there are a few little chips on the bumper, but no windshield damage and the front end is still in very good shape (at least from being towed - operator inflicted damage is another matter) . We don't have the big flap, just the flaps behind each set of tires.
Sid: I removed mine and (I think) discarded it for cooling reasons when I purchased my Liberty. I can't recall exactly how it was mounted, but there is still remaining on my coach a welded to the frame 1" lip with holes in it to which I believe the mud flap was mounted. My point is that the mounting of the Liberty mudflap may be a p--- i- t-- a--. Check out someone else's installation before you make the plunge.
Well I spoke to Troy at liberty coach what a class act! Told me no problem to call back on Monday and talk to the parts manager for price. But now after reading more of the post maybe I'm going to try it for a little bit without one. They do look good when your in a park and you have your bus dumped to the ground. Will let ya know how much they are on Monday. Maybe Paul your deal might sound cheap!! lol
Out of curiosity I checked out mine. There is a length of channel welded to the frame, to which the rear mud flap is bolted.Quote:
Originally Posted by joelselman
Looks like this might be a little more involved than simply ordering up the flap....
Talk to the parts guy and the cost is $685.00 plus shipping. I asked about the installation and he made it seem like no big deal. I will have to check into it a little more. I know how you have to be careful hen welding on our coaches! Paul could you post a picture if you have a chance?
No problem.
I should be able to post it for you tomorrow...
Thanks Paul,hope it's not to much trouble.
Sid,
Between the showers this morning I managed to grab a couple of quick pictures.
Attachment 8605
Attachment 8604
Hope this helps a little.
Paul,so that piece of angle iron is welded to the bottom where the hitch is all the way across? Thanks for doing that. My last flap the guy drilled and put eye hooks in and then hung the flap like they do on CC. The nice thing about the way liberty does it is it doesn't hang as low to get bent whenever you go in and out driveways. Do you think you can bolt the angle iron to the bottom?
Thanks again for going out in the rain!!! Wish you could send some to Texas!!!!!
Sid,
There are actually 2 pieces of angle, each 28" long, that are welded in place (one on each end). There is no actual support in the center and this does not appear to be an issue.
I do not see any practical way of bolting these brackets in place. Tack welding looks to be the answer.
And, yes, the way Liberty does the installation, the mud flap is tucked nicely up against the bus and doesn't drag on the ground like others I've seen.
Once I got up close and personal with my rear mud flap to photo it for Sid, I realized just how dirty and crappy it looked.
So, I asked myself... "What would Jon do...?"
Well I knew the answer without really having to ask it.... take the mud flap off, clean, prime and paint the brackets that hold it on, clean both sides of the mud flap and then reassemble everything.
Or.... just leave it off :D
But I figured the next owner just might want their bus the way Liberty intended it to be so I went with the first option. Posting a couple of pics so you can see how this is put together...
Attachment 8622
Attachment 8621
Attachment 8620
The bus actually didn't look bad without the mud flap and it sure makes it a lot easier to get under the bus from the rear without it.
And, that rascal ain't light! If you want to save several pounds.... ditch the rear mud flap!
Thanks Paul for all the pictures. I think I'm going leave mine off for awhile. Maybe when I get bored I'll look into it again.