Why you should not use regular rivets on mudflaps

[theWIFES_S70]

More like the first ones. But buy them on eBay not piecemeal, you can do it for pennies that way. See viewtopic.php?t=80744&start=20. I'll measure the size of the ones I have, they are a great size.

erik, That'd be great. OLur fender liners flap in the wind... the holes are also huge and might not work, but I'll definitely give it a go. Thanks!

[scot850]

You could use small washers behind the heads and rear of the fender where you can get access to take up the slack!

Neil.

[cn90]

The factory setup with blind rivets work fine for warm weather areas.

In the snow regions, it is always tricky:
- If you have ice buildup, it gets very hard, and if you kick it or hit a small curb, it tears either the rubber flap or the sheet metal as you showed in the photos.
- If the screws or some weaker methods (plastic screws etc.) are used, then you risk losing the mud flap (no big deal as you can get another one from junk yard for cheap).
- I'd rather lose a mud flap than tearing up the sheet metal.

What do I do in the winter? I avoid kicking the mud flap, if you ever need to remove ice, I use the ice scraper and go slow...or park the car inside a warm garage.

This issue of mud flaps in different cars is an ongoing battle...

[cn90]

@scot850,

In your case with the sheet metal holes being enlarged, I wonder if you can use "Jack Nut".
See the video:

[scot850]

Hi cn90, it isn't my car that has the over-sized holes in it. The holes have not been pulled through on the mud-flap, however, the mud-flap itself has a large hole torn in the bottom of it. I still find it amazing that I can still find stuff I did not notice before with these cars. I have now finally noticed there are 2 types of mud flaps. There are the one sided that are almost a scoop shape (must cause a lot of extra drag!) and the flat faced versions as on the V70 base project. Unfortunately, due to the way PnP support their cars they often damage the front mud-flaps. The only flat faced version they had was toast on the RH-side which I needed but they had 2 good hollow faced ones so I've taken them. May just hold off for a good solid one as the cost of the rivets to replace the LH side one to match is crazy (about $25 in rivets). 6 rivets for each one so nearly $50 for rivets, ouch! I had to do the RH side one anyway as it had to come off to straighten the fender lip where the mud-flap had been mounted.

Strange thing, how is it that most of the stuff I need to replace is on the RH side of the car, and yet when I go to PnP, it is always the RH side parts that are busted???

There is a blue V70XC and a V70 base. Both fenders are bent only on the right side, both upper load area panels are broken, sidelight is broken, headlight casing is broken. Weird!

Neil.

[cn90]

I thought Harbor Freight (or Canadian Tire in your case) carries the pop rivet gun and rivets for cheap?
Not sure this Harbor Freight package works but here it is:
http://www.harborfreight.com/hand-tools ... 66422.html


I will show you my trick, I know a local body shop, they are good people that have done body work for me before.
So whenever I need the rivets job done, I simply go there with the mud flap, give them $5 and they install the mud flap for me.
Easy...This is b/c I hardly ever need to use blind rivets...

[erikv11]

Actually I'd say that in these (P80) cars, the factory mudflap setup works exceedingly well, including in snowy areas. Even after 20 years, failure is uncommon. I do kick them lightly when the buildup gets out of hand, but more like a light rap with my toe.

I've run through several P80's and while it is true that when a car comes in it is commonly missing one or two rivets, the mudflaps themselves are usually still securely fastened unless the car has been bashed up (that's not parts failure, that's user error). Just put in a couple extra fasteners and move on. And I've certainly never lost a mudflap in 15 years or so of snow-area driving. It's a very uncommon parts requests in the forums, too.

@ Neil I would be interested to hear from someone who has worked in the junkyard business on this point but, I thought passenger side damage was always more common on wrecked vehicles. The driver is less aware of that side of the vehicle, there are more stationary objects nearby (signs, parked cars, trees etc.). I know if you try to buy used headlights, overall you will always pay more for the passenger side, and/or find fewer of them.

[850forum]

The 2nd issue I had was it was nearly impossible to remove the old rivets as they do not collapse like the coated ones to allow removal from the fender.

How do you "collapse" them to remove them?

My flap got real loose so I pulled it off after years of duct taping it.
Do the OEM rivets have really larges heads?
Right now the rivets are still sticking out of the body.

The flap has a torn upper hole, any way to glue the torn edges together? -- the correct glue with a backer plate, or fold a piece of flexible plastic into a U and slide it over both sides...

Why not use a rivet top & bottom with caulk along the rest?

On the undamaged side I see that the upper rivet has a much larger head, size of a nickle. Looks like a press-in sort of trim clip. On the damaged side its still in the body, it spins easily & seems to have a plastic shaft. Got a P/N for it?

https://www.volvopartswebstore.com/show ... egory=7875

10 Mudflap, left
Part Number: 9133578 ; 137290
$ 15.37

13 Blind rivet
cover plates Mudflaps 975607 $1.54 $1.44

The "clip" that goes on the bottom is no longer in production. Mine is still attached to the body, but it might be one of those parts to save from the crusher.

[FireFox31]

You could use small washers behind the heads and rear of the fender where you can get access to take up the slack!

Old but useful thread. My front mudflaps were torn from their lower rivets, leaving behind slightly larger holes. Is it ok to use washers with the OEM Volvo rivets to fill in these holes? I thought rivets had a certain "break" length, thus a washer may throw that off. If allowable, what material of washer can be used? Thanks.

[scot850]

The Volvo rivets do have a larger head as they have a plastic covering. However, you could still use a rivet behind the head. I would use stainless washers, expensive, but you can paint them and they won't rust.

Neil.