Mud Flap laws- school me

StrobeNGH

no user title
Location
WB
School me on Mud Flap laws . . .

I'd like to hear everything . . .

What are the requirements, what are your opinions of the laws, etc . . .

Also, any LEO's on the board: what are your personal feelings about mud flap laws? Do they serve a purpose other than revenue generation and/or an excuse to pull over a car you suspect for DUI/Drugs/etc . . .?

Thanks
 

cruiseroutfit

Cruizah!
Moderator
Vendor
Location
Sandy, Ut
The law-dude asking us to look up laws :D

The Utah State Law:
41-6a-1633. Mudguards or flaps at rear wheels of trucks, trailers, truck tractors, or altered motor vehicles -- Exemptions.
(1) (a) Except as provided in Subsection (2), when operated on a highway, the following vehicles shall be equipped with wheel covers, mudguards, flaps, or splash aprons behind the rearmost wheels to prevent, as far as practicable, the wheels from throwing dirt, water, or other materials on other vehicles:
(i) a vehicle that has been altered:
(A) from the original manufacturer's frame height; or
(B) in any other manner so that the motor vehicle's wheels may throw dirt, water, or other materials on other vehicles;
(ii) any truck with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,500 pounds or more;
(iii) any truck tractor; and
(iv) any trailer or semitrailer with an unladen weight of 750 pounds or more.
(b) The wheel covers, mudguards, flaps, or splash aprons shall:
(i) be at least as wide as the tires they are protecting;
(ii) be directly in line with the tires; and
(iii) have a ground clearance of not more than 50% of the diameter of a rear-axle wheel, under any conditions of loading of the motor vehicle.
(2) Wheel covers, mudguards, flaps, or splash aprons are not required:
(a) if the motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer is designed and constructed so that the requirements of Subsection (1) are accomplished by means of fenders, body construction, or other means of enclosure; or
(b) on a vehicle operated or driven during fair weather on well-maintained, hard-surfaced roads if the motor vehicle:
(i) was made in America prior to 1935;
(ii) is registered as a vintage vehicle; or
(iii) is a replica vehicle as defined under Section 41-6a-1507.
(3) Except as provided in Subsection (2)(b), rear wheels not covered at the top by fenders, bodies, or other parts of the vehicle shall be covered at the top by protective means extending rearward at least to the center line of the rearmost axle.

My personal opinion... It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that gravel on the road quickly becomes a projectile in combination with a tire. However, its hard to say how much mudflaps over the top 50% of the tire really help... really has to do with the distance behind the tire too, the law does not cover that.
 

richpblaze

Registered User
I'm no LEO

But from personal experience they don't work very well. I go through at least two or three windshields a year and all the semi's that throw rocks at me have mudflaps. I drive on the freeway quite a bit. I just got nailed by a big rock the other day by a minivan with street tires. I think its like seat belts just another reason to pull you over looking for other big money tickets ( DUI, Drugs, alchohol etc. )
 
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Herzog

somewhat damaged
Admin
Location
Wydaho
All of my rock chips have been from passenger cars or similar. The tire tread is tighter which picks them up and flings the rock further. I have yet to notice a rock chip from a vehicle with larger tread voids.

Just my experience. :rolleyes: :p
 

SAMI

Formerly Beardy McGee
Location
SLC, UT
i have to admit, i thought this thread was calling in my expertise to something.. what, i have no clue... as i have no real talent in any area... at all..:)


All of my rock chips have been from passenger cars or similar. The tire tread is tighter which picks them up and flings the rock further. I have yet to notice a rock chip from a vehicle with larger tread voids.

Just my experience. :rolleyes: :p

same here
 

Skylinerider

Wandering the desert
Location
Ephraim
All of my rock chips have been from passenger cars or similar. The tire tread is tighter which picks them up and flings the rock further. I have yet to notice a rock chip from a vehicle with larger tread voids.

Just my experience. :rolleyes: :p

X3 I have had rock chips from the dump beds of the large dump trucks, but not from them kicking up rocks. I have never had one from a lifted rig. I have gone through 2 windshields in 3 years, both times it has been from a passenger car.
 

StrobeNGH

no user title
Location
WB
The law-dude asking us to look up laws :D

-_-

I've got my reasons . . .

LEO's, please chime in (especially UHP, if any are here).

Has anyone been on Wasatch Blvd. between Ft. Union and 6000 South?

That has got to be the worst stretch of road in Utah.
There are three cracks and 15 chips in my windshield because of that little piece of work.
Anyone else had problems there? If so, PM me. ;)
 

Slangy

Sgt. CulPepper
Location
Utah
All of my rock chips have been from passenger cars or similar. The tire tread is tighter which picks them up and flings the rock further. I have yet to notice a rock chip from a vehicle with larger tread voids.

Just my experience. :rolleyes: :p

I agree. Last year I got a new windshield in my jeep. The next week I was on Washington Blvd. behind a Honda Pilot and what do you knowm, here comes a rock and breaks my front window. 1 week is all that it took. Nice.
 

spaggyroe

Man Flu Survivor
Location
Lehi
All of my rock chips have been from passenger cars or similar. The tire tread is tighter which picks them up and flings the rock further. I have yet to notice a rock chip from a vehicle with larger tread voids.

Just my experience. :rolleyes: :p

X4
I purchased my TJ in feb of 2004.
I just broke windshield #12....... :mad:
11 of them have been on I-15 by rocks from passenger cars, 1 was from some weird wheelin incident.

Glass shops love me. :D
 

red

Active Member
Location
Eagle Mountain
x5 on passanger cars pickup/throwing the most stuff, you really notice if your on a motorcycle. i can cruise behind a truck or large suv without mudflaps without hardly anything getting thrown at me from their tires. get behind something that is not required to have mudflaps (little passanger cars and minivans) its like getting shot with a sandblaster!
 

gijohn40

too poor to wheel... :(
Location
Layton, Utah
see now I know why I tailgate.... I have a nice windshield with no cracks or chips... however my front grill looks like sh** and I have replaced my headlights a few times.... lol

I do agree that the rocks come from smaller cars and minivans so I think that the law really does no good for us... my mud tires would have to pick up a 3 in rock in order to throw it......

I have been on a bike and gotten the sandblasting of my life as well....
 

Cody

Random Quote Generator
Supporting Member
Location
Gastown
I've had a couple come from passenger cars but the biggest culprit I've seen are trucks carrying gravel/dirt and any big tractor that drifts just slightly into the shoulder. I swear every time I have rocks hit my windshield it's from a truck drifting over the white line in the right lane.

some of you guys are crazy. How could you go through 12-14 windshields? I went through 1 in my Dodge, and it was cracked when I bought it and I only replaced it because I had a van run into it with it's mirror while parked. Coincidentally, that new windshield cracked 2 days later after I drove through a car wash in July and the heat cracked it after I parked it in the sun afterwards.

My car has 2 rock chips, but 1 was pre-existing and I had the other one filled. I don't rememver every getting a rock chip or crack in any of my jeeps. Maybe I'm just lucky?
 

SAMI

Formerly Beardy McGee
Location
SLC, UT
... however my front grill looks like sh** and I have replaced my headlights a few times....

ClearBra... tell them Jason Goates sent you. You will be very happy with the service and product.

801.486.7668
60 e. harvard ave
 

spaggyroe

Man Flu Survivor
Location
Lehi
some of you guys are crazy. How could you go through 12-14 windshields?
Not 14, just 12. :D
It was a running joke around the office for a while. I was driving from Spanish Fork to South Jordan every day. One of those windshields lasted less than a week before it was destroyed.


My car has 2 rock chips, but 1 was pre-existing and I had the other one filled. I don't rememver every getting a rock chip or crack in any of my jeeps. Maybe I'm just lucky?

Funny, my TJ is the only thing that I've ever had to replace windshields in. :rofl:
I have not had good luck with having the cracks "drilled and filled".
Maybe I'm just unlucky?
 

Zombie

Random Dead Guy
Location
Sandy Utah
My brother went through three windshields in two days during the I15 project. It was in a yukon...Mine is getting pretty pitted, but no cracks... Add that to the list of things I should fix.
 
-_-

I've got my reasons . . .

LEO's, please chime in (especially UHP, if any are here).

Has anyone been on Wasatch Blvd. between Ft. Union and 6000 South?

That has got to be the worst stretch of road in Utah.
There are three cracks and 15 chips in my windshield because of that little piece of work.
Anyone else had problems there? If so, PM me. ;)

What are your reasons?

Honestly, with regard to "altered vehicles", this was a negotiating point with the UHP when we wrote the law. Give and take. We had a really crappy law, now we have a good one. Mudflaps and fenders covering the tires was a BIG deal to the UHP. In exchange, they took a neutral position on the bill. Simple as that.

As far as big rigs, can't help you.
 

Herzog

somewhat damaged
Admin
Location
Wydaho
What are your reasons?

Honestly, with regard to "altered vehicles", this was a negotiating point with the UHP when we wrote the law. Give and take. We had a really crappy law, now we have a good one. Mudflaps and fenders covering the tires was a BIG deal to the UHP. In exchange, they took a neutral position on the bill. Simple as that.

As far as big rigs, can't help you.

What you guys did was a HUGE improvement to the law, and I agree that all of it is there to protect people from jerry rigged vehicles which is a very good thing.

My only beef is that I see more jeeps & toyota trucks pulled over for mudflaps & flares than I see the gigantic useless fullsize trucks with tires sticking out over a foot do. That's pretty ridiculous and unfair imo. I could be wrong, but it is an observation that I have and I'm willing to bet that I'm not the only one. :D
 
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