Do splash guards keep your car cleaner???

I was curious if anyone has noticed a significant before and after difference of how clean the sides and rear of the car remained between washes. I know on my old Audi the sides of the car would stay cleaner with splash gaurds, but they were significantly larger than the Subaru version.

 

THanks,

 

Noel

I think they helped when I installed them. Its not going to keep everything off but they do work. They also make them in body color from JDM.

Moved to exterior

yes

it keeps the rear bumper cleaner

That is a double yes. Specially in light colored cars.

 

X

try one of these

 

 

http://3wisheslingerie.com/images/frenchmaid-d.jpg

Looks like one front and one rear.

I don't really care about keeping the car cleaner, I just want to keep the damn stones off the paint.

Are the OEM USDM black vinyl ones paintable? I found some for about $100 for all 4 pices (dealer wanted $90+ for front OR rears, so this is about 50% off ) and thinking about getting painting them to match the body color.

They are flexible rubber/plastic. I think you would have to use paint with a flexing agent in it like the bumper covers are painted with.

Depends where you live. Here in Seattle where it rains all the time most of the spray on your car is from other cars, not your own. So I haven't found mudflaps to be useful (in keeping the side of your car cleaner). Maybe in areas where it doesn't rain as much it would be more useful.

This is something I've always wondered about. Now I know....

Hey Red.......

 

Could I try those out for a week & let you guys know the results;)

They are useless on the XT, I'm assuming due to the ride height. More then half the tire is below the guard. Here in Flag they use cinder (crushed volcanic rock) on the roads during the winter and from the middle of the front doors back I've got some nice rock dings. Also from the front mud guard back to about the rear door you get a nice accumulation of road grime that creeps halfway up the door.

I think they helped when I installed them. Its not going to keep everything off but they do work. They also make them in body color from JDM.

 

Moved to exterior

 

Where do we get the JDM body colored splash guards for less price.

From the looks of mine, they do "help", and I would recommend them. As others have stated, they aren't the best, but they look decent and keep some rocks, tar & dirt off of your paint.

Noticeable improvement.

 

What makes them useful at all on our cars isn't the amount they hang down, but the amount they stick out. They do a decent job of covering the bend towards the lower third of the car that exposes tire tread (and whatever is being kicked up) to the rocker panels, lower half of the door panels, and bottom of rear bumper.

 

Treat yourself and spend the extra $$ on the color matched JDM splash guards. Look here: http://www.japanparts.com/db/partslist.php?dealer=1&car=6&middle=2&small=8 and then navigate to page 4 for the 'splash board set'. Fronts were tougher to install than the rear, but the whole process should take like an hour.

 

Definitely worth it to me.

Where do we get the JDM body colored splash guards for less price.

I didnt say anything about less Price. Search there was a thread about it from Oipe

Will do Thanks

Will do Thanks

Here it is...http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8385&highlight=JDM

non painted parts available at http://www.subarupartsforyou.com at the lowest price i could find them

Thanks. JDM splash guards are so expensive. Why do they charge this much money for a Splash guard. I think I will get the USDM.