TM Pilot
Thanks for your post. My mud flaps have not been tested by any blow outs. I did add steel plates later. I purchased one 8 X 24" (16 gauge) plate of steel at Tractor Supply Co., cut it in half to make each section 8" long, painted them with a primer and black Rustoleum. Then I attached the plates using the existing bolts. Then later I added two more plates of the same material (22 gauge) steel plates on the plumbing side of TM to give added protection to that mud flap. Three plates total on plumbing side!
The plates are not only fastened at the top but bolted to mud flaps with three through all layers at lower edge of plates. This keeps the glued sections of mud flaps in place and still allows some flexibility for the four inches of rubber at the lower end. The bottom of the flaps are about 2" above the pavement. I hope it will never get tested.
