The Rav Saga: Epilogue

So on our trip to Lewes, DE this weekend, Nelly and I finally caught the Rav making some funny noises at the gas station and had a chance to investigate. It turns out the muffler was rubbing up against the rear mudflap, and had actually burned a hole for itself through the hard-plastic.

Last night, after we got back, I removed all the mudflaps. I think that a lot of the odd noises that the Rav has been generating over the past 2-3 years are due to these crappy mudflaps. The screws and bolts used to hold them on were rusting or had already fallen out or had been removed and improperly replaced over the years. So taking them off led to a startlingly smooth and quiet ride in the Rav.

I'm hoping that removing the mud flaps will increase the fuel efficiency of the car (at least a little bit). I know that the weight + drag of the flaps isn't that significant, but I have to wonder if we removed all the mud flaps from all the SUVs that never go offroad in this country, maybe we'd save some gas.

Ah well, just pie in the sky.

As a bonus, here's a picture of the bottom of the Rav after I removed the flaps. Note where the plastic has bonded to the muffler.

He's a trooper, that Rav o'mine.