skirts

[MetroMPG]

plastic wheel skirts, attached with velcro.

why plastic: lightweight, non-rusting, easy to work with.

why velcro: i didn't want to drill any part of the sheet metal in the wheel well, because it's one of the most rust-prone areas on a car, and ontario is in the rust belt.

that said, drilling and using some other kind of fasteners would definitely be faster and probably easier. also, metal would be fine, or if you're good with fiberglass. the basic layout/planning steps will be similar.

step 1:

tape newspaper over wheel well. try to make it taut and wrinkle free. trace wheel arch outlin

step 2:

use the arch tracing to make up a cardboard prototype. when cutting the cardboard, don't cut right to the edge of the tracing. you need extra material to fashion the curves to get around the tires and leave space from the wheel. and depending on your attachment method, you may be forming a 90 degree lip as i did, to mate to the lip in the wheel arch.

step 3:

make the plastic version...

step 4:

making the plastic version, continued...

- to give the plastic some rigidity and to hold the proper shape to clear the tires/wheel covers, i taped, then drilled and attached 3 screws through a strip of flat aluminum trim on the back of the skirt. (the trim is what you find on the floor in a doorway at the transition between different flooring types.)

step 5:

that's it. i didn't have to paint my skirts because the black plastic is a fair match for the paint (a coulple of shades lighter). fyi, the skirts don't look quite as nice as the pics suggest, but i'm happy overall.
time to complete:

4 to 6 hours.

velcro notes:

i'm confident the velcro is going to hold the skirts in place in all normal situations. the only thing i wouldn't do is subject the gap between skirt & wheel well to the blast of a pressure washer.

[Compaq888]

wow, I love this DYI. It is so direct.

[philmcneal]

YES SOMETHING THAT IS BLACK AND DOESN"T REQUIRE ME TO OPEN THE HOOD OF MY ENGINE! Metrompg your the man and hopefully I can cruise better than 60 mpg on the highway with some less drag on the back wheels!

CAN'T WAIT.... when i'm not lazy anymore of course.

[kickflipjr]

Metro you should of done this in the fall. It will be hard to find a krazy karpet this time of year.

I also think finding a maroon colored one might be impossible. Red might not look to bad on my car.

[MetroMPG]

true. the krazy karpets aren't on the shelves any more.

but there must be other things you can buy that are similar... i'd go browse around the Home Depot or equivalent. see what you can find.

also, re: paint - can't you buy cans of colour matched spray paint? there's an auto paint supplier in town that will make up a full size can of spray paint if i give them the car's paint code. it's about $18, but it's a good match. i've used it before.

also on the list: removable front wheel skirts. for highway use only... relatively STRAIGHT highways. or is that just too krazy?

[Compaq888]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

true. the krazy karpets aren't on the shelves any more.

but there must be other things you can buy that are similar... i'd go browse around the Home Depot or equivalent. see what you can find.

also, re: paint - can't you buy cans of colour matched spray paint? there's an auto paint supplier in town that will make up a full size can of spray paint if i give them the car's paint code. it's about $18, but it's a good match. i've used it before.

also on the list: removable front wheel skirts. for highway use only... relatively STRAIGHT highways. or is that just too krazy?

yeah, that is going a little too crazy. How is your progress on the grill block??

[kickflipjr]

That is Krazy, but I bet you would get good mpg. It would be worth a test. How would you turn (I guess you don't)?

[rh77]

Props on the rocker panel flare -- nice touch! 8) Have you had any problem with suspension travel (camber) and the flare location? I hauled a heavy load this past weekend and noticed on my car that the independent suspension moves the wheel up and out considerably when compressed - as I'm sure most independents do.

I wonder how easy it would be to get a small can of stock paint and spray it with the car's color/clearcoat? However they get the paint to stick to plastic -- like bumper covers -- I'm clueless. Paint experts out there?

RH77
(KCØWPM)

[SVOboy]

fuel economy forum
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[Compaq888]

my wheels go more inside and so do my mom's car when there is more weight in the back.