FORD TRANSIT Mk5 Mudflaps..and ebay madness!!

For all Mk5 Ford Transit A/S owners i thought this worthy of posting since i lost one of my front mudflaps last year. The aftermarket ones are rather poorly made so i ordered a pair from a local Ford Main Dealer. Not cheap, but they are very heavy duty rubber and last a lifetime as long as one doesn't work loose and drop off like mine did!

I noticed a brand new pair had gone on eBay this week so decided to watch what they went for.........£54 with postage!!      

I paid just £31!!

My Mk5 Transit based van (actually a Flair rather than a Duetto) was 5 years old when I bought it, and one of the first things I did was to underseal it, which meant taking off the mudflaps. The amount of crud that gets trapped behind the fixings was a bit of a shock, and there was significant rust where they had been. So I left the front ones off, and it hardly made any difference to the speed at which the van got dirty!

I sold them secondhand on Ebay, for a ridiculously large amount, considering what they were.

Fortunately mine is an LE model so had extra body protection from new (not sure but i think they used Ziebart). The arches were quite clean actually but before fitting i sprayed a liberal coating of WaxSeal on the arch, then once fitted, sprayed again on the top edge. I use that stuff almost everywhere! Had both battery trays replaced....cut out the stupid foam soundproofing where the trays are mounted and sprayed all over the arch top plus plastered the battery trays in WaxSeal too!

The design of the wheel arch panel is a favourite rust spot for Transits where mud gathers on the inside of the lip. It then dries and hardens and can prove an absolute pain to shift, but that's why you see so many Transits with rusted arches!

I'm not surprised you sold your used mudflaps for 'silly money'. A used pair of front mudflaps went for £28 a few weeks ago on eBay. Crazy and i just cannot understand some folk. Yes Mk5 parts are getting more difficult to source now (my mudflaps had to come from Ford in Germany!), but one off a scrapper in a local breakers won't set you back much more than a fiver.....at least not where i live!

Hi there,

I reversed up a ramp and tore the left front side one off when it went under the wheel!     

The amount of mud and dirt that fell away with it was incredible so I removed the other one, discovered another rust trap and left them both off. 

I have managed without front mud flaps with no particular detriment to the bodywork for the last two years!   

Best regards,
 

mikethebike wrote:Hi Ian sell on ebay.  

regards

Mike

And who precisely would have wanted (and paid money for) a single off-side front mudflap?   

 

Dutto wrote:

mikethebike wrote:Hi Ian sell on ebay.  

regards

Mike

And who precisely would have wanted (and paid money for) a single off-side front mudflap?   

 

The fella who lost his NEARSIDE mudflap 

Dutto wrote:Hi there,

I reversed up a ramp and tore the left front side one off when it went under the wheel!     

The amount of mud and dirt that fell away with it was incredible so I removed the other one, discovered another rust trap and left them both off. 

I have managed without front mud flaps with no particular detriment to the bodywork for the last two years!   

Best regards,
 

That's the reason mine got plastered with WaxSeal behind the flaps before they went on! If you think that's a bad 'rust trap', just take your battery tray off and have a look if you still have the sound proofing there. If you have......cut it away and discard it as that's a prime rust area with water getting in underneath the tray. The sound proofing acts as blotting paper and the first you know you have got a serious problem is when the top of the inner arch falls away with rot! Most Transit owners don't know about it because few, if any, ever remove the battery tray!

modelman wrote:

Dutto wrote:

mikethebike wrote:Hi Ian sell on ebay.  

regards

Mike

And who precisely would have wanted (and paid money for) a single off-side front mudflap?   

 

The fella who lost his NEARSIDE mudflap 

Which actually was the side i lost!!   

As they are sold in pairs i decided to put both new ones on.

Hi Guys,
yes rust is the name of the game with a Transit!!
Ours in a mk4 and has rust problems in all the usual places.
Watch out for corrosion where the rear shock absorbers mount.
Got caught out here on the last MOT.

Tony