Ok so I am a lorry driver and have been for a few years. I was just wondering how many other drivers out there happen to rip off the mud guard on their vehicle when reversing or doing any other type of manoeuvre, and how they stop this from happening. Any info would be greatly appreciated as it’s costing me a fortune to replace 
Thanks 
And old trick is to cut the carpets to size, replace at MOT with correct size then after switch them back. It’s the carpet that catches and that in turn pulls off mudguard.
Rarely comes up for me as an issue but when it does I adjust suspension accordingly and stay away from reversing against kerbs or stoppers or onto muck/grass.
The most common I’ve seen is terbergs raising the trailer up and reversing down a slope the carpet goes underneath wheel rips the whole lot off.
carefully saw off the bottom 4 inches and drill a few holes along the cut edges and reattach with zip ties . perfectly legal and you only lose 4 inches of mudflap , keep any damaged flaps for replacements.
rigsby:
carefully saw off the bottom 4 inches and drill a few holes along the cut edges and reattach with zip ties . perfectly legal and you only lose 4 inches of mudflap , keep any damaged flaps for replacements.
old trick I was taught by the fitter but he’d go as far up as possible, always carried spare ties to re fit after
when I used to go off road daily onto building sites I secured a length of lightweight chain approx. six inch shorter than the spray flap to the centre bolt of the spray flap securing bolts(with a bit of firm stainless wire formed into a hook on the end) , approx. 1 inch from the bottom centre of the spray flap I secured another bolt with a eyelet facing rearwards. Prior to going off road I spent approx. 1 min curving all my flaps rearwards and upwards and hooking on the chain. reverse procedure after exit from site. Never lost another flap.
hth
Have seen companys who deliver to building sites,that have the spray flaps on hinges with small air rams on,when they select reverse the spray flap folds up
Seems a bit of overkill when you read the simple solutions others have given.
Put a slit above the bolt holes, then if you catch it it just pulls it down instead of off.
Thank you for all suggestions I will definitely try some. It is obviously a common problem 
just wondering though it seems strange there are no products on the market to fix this problem other than DIY solutions 
We always hooked the mudflaps up out of the way when reversing onto paving machines, or anywhere that they were likely to get pulled off.
rigsby:
carefully saw off the bottom 4 inches and drill a few holes along the cut edges and reattach with zip ties . perfectly legal and you only lose 4 inches of mudflap , keep any damaged flaps for replacements.
Cracking idea that!!
The common problem here is that most mudflats are actually lower than the 200 mm minimum by a lot so they would stand a better chance if cut at that when loaded,besides they only check them on test if they look miles too high.
Dan Punchard:
The common problem here is that most mudflats are actually lower than the 200 mm minimum by a lot so they would stand a better chance if cut at that when loaded,besides they only check them on test if they look miles too high.
But then is that not what health and safety officials want?? The longer the better right as far as people in cars behind are concerned anyway, they don’t like the spray lol and hooking them up all the time is time consuming and hassle that could potentially be avoided, I mean I love the idea but I’m just confused as to why there are no manufactured solutions on the market. We could avoid this problem by having them mechanically held up just by pressing a switch couldn’t we?? Bit far fetched but soo easy.
Common problem at our place where shunters are parking up trailers and ripping the mudflaps off on the concrete stoppers at the end of the bay 
but of course, they deny all knowledge
Most have to drive fleet spec vehicles on road biased work so the above excellent suggestions won’t normally apply.
Open door and lean out when reversing, you can then see all your axles and where to stop before crushing flaps against kerbs.
**Safety notice…those who can’t manage simple tasks ignore that suggestion, you’ll fall out and the lorry will run over you…
If you have to reverse over a kerb or deep pot hole, then either lift trailer or unit (or rigid) suspension as appropriate to clear then resume, its hardly rocket science.
When our Nooteboom trailers come from the factory they have a bolt in the rear bar and a small length of chain at the bottom of the mudflap so you can hook them up.
We’ve got plastic brackets that are designed to break before you ‘Muller’ the mudguard on most of our trailers. They cost a couple of quid each & take seconds to replace.
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve had ‘Discussions’ with the fitter about lifting the mudguards up a couple of inches to avoid all the broken brackets (he’s obviously making out of them !) I did a couple when I first started here but (touch wood) hav’nt done any for a while.
I think these are the brackets-
hgvdirect.co.uk/catalog/mudw … 00195.html
norb:
Have seen companys who deliver to building sites,that have the spray flaps on hinges with small air rams on,when they select reverse the spray flap folds up
Very knight rider!
Hiya…now then lads (mostly old ones) what was the name of the cafe at Brotherton,
the cafe car park was as rough as the moons surface. you,ve never seen so many flaps
and half,s of mudguars in your life. the cafe closed about 15 maybe 20 years ago but was
always full at nights
John
Silver_Surfer:
norb:
Have seen companys who deliver to building sites,that have the spray flaps on hinges with small air rams on,when they select reverse the spray flap folds upVery knight rider!
Think it is Buildbase who have that set up