Volvo V70 Mud Flaps

A while back all Volvos came with mud flaps. For whatever reason they are a
dealer installed option. Why did Volvo give up on mud flaps?

Do the optional flaps on the V70 offer any protection against rocks chipping
the side glass or paint? Are they difficult to install?

Bill

 

All Series 1 850 / 70 series come with front mudflaps in the UK which are
about 50% effective- they're abit too short and mud still sprays up over the
front doors and keeps the stones off the paint, as comparision- without rear
ones fitted you'll loose quite alot of paint off the painted plastic bumper
in time as I've found- the paint doesnt seem to stick that well.

Tim..

 

Got all 4 on my '95 estate (wagon). You are right they are too short at the
front, but seem to do the job nicely at the back, my biggest gripe on the
850, airflow wise is the way dirt collects on the rear screen, does the
optional spoiler reduce this? At least the rear wiper is decent I suppose.

 

I suspect the major marketplace - USA, didn't consider these as an essential
feature. Rather than produce a fully equipped car, as they did previously,
the decided to cut costs and allow the customer to "customize" their Volvo.
My 1999 XC was fully loaded with mud flaps, yet the current 2001 had many
standard features disappear. Yes, the sticker price was less than the '99
but ended up more expensive when I added the features I fully expected: mud
flaps, trip computer, roof load bars, security screen, rear mesh holder
(only 1 on '01 and 2 on '99), CD player, etc... I notice the '04 has the
security cover, grocery bag holder and a CD radio included with the XC, but
unfortunately no mud flaps!.

Installation: You must remove the rear wheels, maybe fronts as well, then
drill out the pop rivets where the mud flap attaches to the plastic trim or
wheel arch. Then use the supplied pop rivets to re-attach the mud flap
through the plastic moulding.

Effectiveness: Not as good as the older style that lined up with the tire,
but they seem to likely catch a stray rock. In winter time, the snow
build-up can distort and possibly dislodge the rivets.

I installed them on my 2001 and could scan the pictorial diagram to give you
a more precise idea of what's involved to install them.

Best of luck... Cam

Cameron Price Newington, Ontario, Canada

http://cvolvo.com

1953 PV444 "E" #54940
1953 PV444 "E" #61576
1960 P 120 Amazon #046279 104,700 miles
1980 262C #6618 244,400 km
2001 V70 AWD XC 62,172 km

F2000SL 4,240.2 km Cannondale Volvo Team Replica
R600 2,882.5 km Cannondale road bike
Jekyll 3000 4,653.0 km Cannondale Volvo Team Replica

TACX i-Magic Indoor Virtual Trainer 902.33 km

 

God knows who designed those silly rivets, I broke two installing them, and
in the end substituted a flat headed troughing bolt (M6) with square nut in
the lower mouting hole each side as the supplied rivets usefulness is
approaching zero. (Even if I hadnt had broken them!)

Tim..

 

Poprivets work best if you use a poprivet tool and use a washer on the
back side. Then they are a snap. Pun intended.

 

Err not to appear dull but thats what I have been doing- for quite some
time- and even now I still dont think I have made enough use of the
professional Sykes Picavant pop gun[1] I bought several years ago.

[1] read expensive

Tim..

 

Never heard of a poprivet gun. My poprivet tools are completely
mechanical. You open the tool, insert the poprivet, then when you
squeeze the handle, the wire stem on the poprivet is slowly pulled until
it breaks at the proper pressure. The reason for using the washer on
the backside is for added strength at the breaking point of the stem. I
have been using this technique for decades with no problems.