So I've always known that the mud flaps have a hole in them so that you can hook them to the back bumper, but I never really figured out a good reason why I would ever need to do that. Well, out wheeling this weekend with some friends I found out. I tried to go down a steep ditch and up the other side. After finding out that it was too steep to drive up and slamming the spare into the backside of the ditch as I rolled back down, I figured I'd just back my way up and out the backside of the ditch. With both diffs locked she made it right out, no problem, except... As I looked back in the ditch, there were both of my mud flaps, ripped right off the back of the truck. The carnage didn't stop there (yes, you know what is coming). The metal brackets that hold the mud flaps and the tail lights were basically torn off the frame and all bent out of shape, in addition to one of the new TD lights being cracked. Being one who's never been accused of being the brightest bulb in the box when it comes to mechanical stuff, I just figured that I had pushed the bumper, mud flaps, tail lights, and everything back into the dirt of the bank and that the force of pushing back up the ditch through the dirt was the cause of all the damage. It wasn't until I was looking at it all last night again, that it finally hit me about the mud flaps and why you might want to hook them up to the bumper while wheeling. I had basically pinned my mud flaps between the bank of the ditch and the tires, providing great traction for the tires, but at the expense of the tail light brackets. Ouch!
Like I said, old, ho-hum news for the old guys on the forum, but I figured it was worth posting if it helps to save someone else from making the same dumb mistake I did. A painful revelation to have when associated with several $$ signs.
