Now I understand - thanks for sharing. On my 911 the rear fender arches are fairly large. Porsche solved for this by adding PPF to those areas as delivered from the factory. It looks like something similar might work with this application.

Matt

 

I am running classic flaps on my 110X from day one, I also installed extended arches that I color matched to the rest of the X trim. Truck went in service Dec 28th, by the time I made it through the thick of the winter months here in NY and did a hand wash I noticed I picked up a chip or two in the rear wheel arch extension (the piece that attached to the rear door), also a couple very small nicks in the lower trim. Now I am running 275/60/20's on redbourne alston wheels with 25mm offset which makes them stick out 16mm further than stock wheels. I think on stock wheel/tire with classic flaps your paint would be safe. At the point I found the damage I touched up the small chip or two and covered the lower body and the arch extension with a panel of PPF (self healing type). I have not noticed any progression of damage since adding the film over the past 2 months.

 

My dealership quoted $800 for installing Wheel Arches, very disappointing

 

Did you by any chance PPF the front as well? I'm in NY also, and between early January (when I purchased) and now the the front of my Defender is covered in rock chips, including the hood. It seems to be a magnet for them.

 

Seriously, installing the extended wheel arches is not difficult to do. Watch the PowerfulUk video, hire a teenager to rage, rip the old ones off (the new ones will cover any adjoining "issues"), pull off the two-sided tape cover, and snap them in. The toughest part was unplugging/plugging in the USA spec lights (on par with changing a battery cover). If someone can change a tire, they can do this. Not being judgmental here, just trying to encourage folks to do this one on their own.

 

Still have to do some protection on the front. Not nearly as much issue up there so I guess I'm being a bit lazy..

 

Just do what Simon (PowerfulUk) did and just Raptor Liner (or was it Rhino Liner??) that front trim down there. In fact, go along with the side trim, too! /s

 

I had a close look after washing my Defender this weekend. I can confirm chip damage to both the paint and gloss trim on both rear doors. Some major chips in the paint actually. I have done around 12,000km and only a few gravel roads. I have had the non-classic mudflaps since new. I can confirm this mudflap design does not protect and I guess I’ll be going back to the dealer soon to see what can be done. A major design flaw IMHO for a vehicle marketed as off-road. Other than that, I love the thing.

 

Your description of the work needed make it seems much more difficult than reality. I installed mine in my driveway, taking about two hours total. And that was taking my time leisurely. There is no need to remove the wheels or even raise the vehicle. No removal of the wheel well lining, just removal of a couple of trim clips and pushing the liner aside. Drilling into plastic requires no great effort or skill. As far as the template; there is a sheet of paper included with the flaps that you simply trim to size with scissors, affix to the trim/wheel arch with a piece of masking tape, mark two dots with a Sharpie, and easily drill. There is one bolt on the heat shield, that once removed, you simply bend the heat shield out of the way, which has the consistency of a thicker than normal aluminum baking dish and bends with little effort. If all of that intimidates you, then take it somewhere. But it is really a simple DIY job.

 

Do you have any more pic's of the non-classic mud flaps? I'm leaning that way but pic's are hard to come by.