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With the release of Thunderhawk's rear mud guard kit, we have had a number of people ask about under-bed mud covers. We thought that starting a separate discussion on under-bed covers was appropriate, since their design issues are different from those of the rear mud guards that install in front of the tires.
We know what a pain it is to clean the "waffle" pattern under the bed after a muddy ride, and Thunderhawk has built and tested under-bed mud covers on our own Rangers. Although it appears to be a simple matter of cutting a cover and screwing it to the bottom of the bed, this isn't something that we could sell. The problem lies in designing a cover panel that blocks the mud, but one that can also drain. Otherwise, you end up with the mud that gets past the cover being held on top of the cover and not being able to easily remove this mud (you might be surprised how much mud gets past these covers). Besides adequate drainage, these covers also need to be installed with fasteners that can be removed and re-installed for cleaning repeatedly. So simply screwing a cover to the bed plastic would not be something we could sell, as we know that the screw-holes would strip-out after a few cleanings. Now, we're not knocking anyone who's made their own cover that installs with screws, we're just saying that we wouldn't want to sell this design knowing that the screws would be a problem after a while.
With all this being said, that doesn't mean that there's not a solution. We are planning to open the files and look at the under-bed covers again when we update our Mid-Size Ranger product line in early 2015. So, please let us know what you want and what you think about these under-bed covers, and we will factor your input into what we design. As always, feel free to call me directly if you'd like to discuss this on the phone. I always enjoy speaking with our customers.
Thanks,
Harry
We know what a pain it is to clean the "waffle" pattern under the bed after a muddy ride, and Thunderhawk has built and tested under-bed mud covers on our own Rangers. Although it appears to be a simple matter of cutting a cover and screwing it to the bottom of the bed, this isn't something that we could sell. The problem lies in designing a cover panel that blocks the mud, but one that can also drain. Otherwise, you end up with the mud that gets past the cover being held on top of the cover and not being able to easily remove this mud (you might be surprised how much mud gets past these covers). Besides adequate drainage, these covers also need to be installed with fasteners that can be removed and re-installed for cleaning repeatedly. So simply screwing a cover to the bed plastic would not be something we could sell, as we know that the screw-holes would strip-out after a few cleanings. Now, we're not knocking anyone who's made their own cover that installs with screws, we're just saying that we wouldn't want to sell this design knowing that the screws would be a problem after a while.
With all this being said, that doesn't mean that there's not a solution. We are planning to open the files and look at the under-bed covers again when we update our Mid-Size Ranger product line in early 2015. So, please let us know what you want and what you think about these under-bed covers, and we will factor your input into what we design. As always, feel free to call me directly if you'd like to discuss this on the phone. I always enjoy speaking with our customers.
Thanks,
Harry