Mud Flaps tearing off

[Willis Bushogin]

Funny thread HUH????
I have three trucks, hauling asphalt. The paver keeps tearing the mud flaps off. I have tried the soft rubber kind, the hard rubber kind, short, long, etc I tried hanging them on chains, it does help, but????
On one truck, I has issues with the paver hitting the brake booster. I dont know what kind of paver, this is, but I work my trucks with a large paving outfit in my area. We do road/highway paving mostly. I dont recall this much trouble, until recently, I think they bought a new paver.
I dont have trailer hitches or push plates, I know that would solve most of the problems, but what a PITA working on the rears, with this plates on.
OK Guys, what do you think?
I remember a while back, I saw a truck for sale on eBay, with air operated mud flaps, HUMMMM, but I have never saw a kit for this.
What do you think

 

[Steve Frazier]

I worked for a paving company for two years and it was standard procedure to hang your flaps up before backing to the paver. We'd punch a hole in the flap at the bottom center and install an "S" hook from the rubber bungee cords in that hole. A "J" hook was welded to the bottom of the dump body so that the flap could be pulled forward and taught over the rear wheels. It only takes a few seconds to hook and unhook and you'll never have a torn flap again.

 

[Willis Bushogin]

Thanks for the info, I had thought about the same thing, but my drivers are not allowed to get out the trucks, they say its a safety thing

 

[amunderdog]

:idea
Maybe a modified version of an underride protection bumper to keep them out from under your trucks.

 

[Steve Frazier]

How do your drivers clean their truck after leaving the paver?

 

[dozerdave]

Hi Willis,

Right on Steve,

You said what do you think. Well I think I would go talk to the owner or a manager of the co. and explain your problem. He might suprise you and say, ok tell your drivers to put on their hardhat and get out of the truck to hang their flaps and get back in with no horse play, no problem. The hands working there must all carry an empty jug.

 

[jimmyjack]

when i worked for a paving company for three years ,we did like steve said but we used chain instead of s hooks ,we had three links of chain in the middle of the flap and you'd just jump out when u got on site and flip them up while u waited in line for the paver...

the thing that im wondering is how hard are the guys backing into the paver or is the paver backing up with them up against it, cause as long as u go forward the flap wont get pinched in the roller on the front of the paver and the tire ...i know this cause on the truck i was driving i had 3 ft flaps on it and i hardly ever flipped them up and they only got pulled off a couple times,when the paver was backed up ....only takes a couple inches and there off

 

[Willis Bushogin]

Im not sure what the guys are doing, whatever they are doing, they have been doing it for about 3 years, it just seems like in the last 6 months, there are more mud flap issues. They back up to the paver and the paver pushes them along, all they do is hold lite pressure on the brakes and raise the bed.
I know if I had a push plate, it would solve most of these issues, just wondered if anyone had any ideas.
Thanks

 

[spitzair]

When I was hauling asphalt we would just chain/bungie them up like some have suggested. The only problem some guys ran into was that they either forgot to put the mud flaps back down or were just too plain lazy and got one of those "gift certificates" from the fuzz for not putting them back down... In my experience they only tore off if you backed in to the paver kinda hard and pushed him back a bit or if you backed up while on the paver... Sure doesn't take much to rip one off though!

 

[Willis Bushogin]

mud flaps

When I was hauling asphalt we would just chain/bungie them up like some have suggested. The only problem some guys ran into was that they either forgot to put the mud flaps back down or were just too plain lazy and got one of those "gift certificates" from the fuzz for not putting them back down... In my experience they only tore off if you backed in to the paver kinda hard and pushed him back a bit or if you backed up while on the paver... Sure doesn't take much to rip one off though!

Thanks Guys, I have decided to install pusher plates.
answer to question, how does the tailgate get cleaned off without getting out?
Believe it or not, the paver director, cleans it off, just as the truck pulls ahead, takes him about 30 seconds. We keep plenty of solvent sprayed on this area

The reason I dont have them pin the flaps up is, they cant get out of the truck at the job and they will forget to unhook it and the DOT, is real bad in our area, I can replace mud flaps, cheaper than a ticket. The new breed of drivers, I think tend to be gear shifters only and could care less about anything else. Not talking about everyone, just some Ive had to put up with.

Thanks again guys for the advise

 

[WesternStar]

Can I make a suggestion? You said that the guys running the box clean your gate. Do you think you could get them to flip the flaps up/down for you too? I used to do this all the time for drivers who came to our jobs. Granted I got to know them and did it as a friendly thing, but I always tried to help the drivers out if I had time. Just thought I'd run this by you, might be cheaper than pusher plates

 

[Dualie]

I started making all my mudflaps out of cow mat. its 5/8" thick rubber matting used in dairy barns and horse stalls. Fairly indestructible for the most part.

 

[Mrchitown7]

This is an old tread but maybe my trick will find someone else to help.

I get some flat steel that is stiff enough to lift the mud flaps but can still be bent by hand (you will have to straighten it at some point). I cut it to mud flap width and about 8-9" long. Drill holes that match flap bolt pattern on top and bottom. Then make a back piece out of steel, same width but only 1.5" long (basically a big washer for bolts to go through). Now the flap has 2 strong sections that are holding it in place instead of just one at the top. Here's the cool part though when the bed goes up the steel will tuck the top part of the flap under the bed and over the wheel about 5" actually lifting the flap just enough to get it out of the way of the push roller.

Not complicated, cost less than $20, takes 30 minutes to make 2.

 

[R23]

I used to have the same problem,would rip two three mud flaps a season. What I did was I got a small chain, broke the chain into 2 link sections, and hung the flap with the chain links.It gives the flaps a little more flexability. I think what rips the mud flaps off is the rubber on the hopper and the driver drifting from one side to the other in the paver.

 

[buckfever]

There is a guy in my area that makes auot-flap hangers. It's realy simple. It's a air cylinder that is mounted under the bed and has cabels that go to two pullies above the mud flaps. Now when you put the truck in revers the power that goes to the lights on the rear also open a selonoid and contracks the cylinder. It's kinda funny watching a truck turn around. Every time they back up the flaps go up then he pulls forward and the flaps go down.