Mud guard destroyed front fender

lapoolboy · December 31, 2019

21 minutes ago, CmackR56 said:

as the front tire dropped off into a rut, it sounded like it tore something up but upon inspection I found no damage. Nevertheless, the front tire definitely made hard contact with something.

This sounds more to me like you found the droop limit of the factory UCA.

The only ways the tire is going to make contact with the fender as in the OP's case is if something in the suspension is broken/damaged/bent, the tires are not OEM size, or the wheels are not OEM offset. Climbing a curb is not going to put the tire into the fender unless one of the conditions I gave is true. The suspension articulates vertically, not horizontally. You can climb all the curbs you want, and unless it breaks/bends something, the suspension is going to move upwards, not rearwards.

CmackR56 · December 31, 2019

26 minutes ago, lapoolboy said:

This sounds more to me like you found the droop limit of the factory UCA.

The only ways the tire is going to make contact with the fender as in the OP's case is if something in the suspension is broken/damaged/bent, the tires are not OEM size, or the wheels are not OEM offset. Climbing a curb is not going to put the tire into the fender unless one of the conditions I gave is true. The suspension articulates vertically, not horizontally. You can climb all the curbs you want, and unless it breaks/bends something, the suspension is going to move upwards, not rearwards.

If this was my first rodeo, I'd probably agree with you but since, I took my driving test in a brand new 1973 Bronco and have been in 4 wheel drive trucks/SUV vehicles ever since, I'll have to disagree. I do know the noise and feel a vehicle makes when the tire hits or rubs on said vehicle. I'm not sure where mine rubbed but it wasn't the mud guard and the wheels weren't straight. 46 years of offroading have put me in the position like that insurance commercial. "I know a thing or two because I've seen a thing or two".

Edited December 31, 2019 by CmackR56

lapoolboy · December 31, 2019

1 minute ago, CmackR56 said:

If this was my first rodeo, I'd probably agree with you but since, I took my driving test in a brand new 1973 Bronco and have been in 4 wheel drive trucks/SUV vehicles ever since, I'll have to disagree. I do now the noise and feel a vehicle makes when the tire hits or rubs on said vehicle. I'm not sure where mine rubbed but it wasn't the mud guard and the wheels weren't straight. 46 years of offroading have put me in the position like that insurance commercial. "I know a thing or two because I've seen a thing or two".

That's funny....I took my driving test in a 1977 F-150 460ci. Still have that truck sitting at the shop. Good times!

Daniels79 · December 31, 2019

There’s nothing more to the story, like half on here wants to believe. Took it in to get the recalls done today, and the mechanic could only find one rub mark on the front (tire) edge of the mud guard. He found zero signs of concrete matching plastic damage ( obvious telltale sign of bottoming out a fender flare in a driveway). Did anyone really believe I thought coming on here was going to make GM miraculously buy me a fender? Come on. It was more wondering if anybody was running those Goodyear tires, and GM installed fender flares, and had clearance issues. I have close to a dozen friends with 2019 GM Silverado’s, and none of them have the Goodyears on them. I only saw one other at over a dozen dealerships. The specs are all the same as the Bridgestone 20’s though. I’m the only person I know with an LTZ, Z71, Goodyear’s, and front guards. That’s why I returned here to this site. For insight from someone who has the setup. Thanks for the ignorant “100% percent user error” comments though. Very helpful. I know it’s impossible the engineers at GM made their first mistake ever, on a tire clearance issue with sourced mud guards.

Sorry for for the long rant, to anyone who actually gave input on the situation.

Edited January 1, 2020 by Daniels79

lapoolboy · December 31, 2019

All that and you didn't tell us what the dealer said/is doing about the situation.

Thomcat · January 1, 2020

A final thought.....is the front suspension/shock OK and any jounce rubber installed?.....a bad strut could cause an abnormal rebound and vertical tire travel reducing ground clearance.

Edited January 1, 2020 by Thomcat

Daniels79 · January 1, 2020

They are doing nothing. I did hear a random thump in the front end on the way there. It’s very inconsistent though. The mechanic checked the bolts and said nothing was loose. I’m not sure how he would mimic a 4500lb truck impact on a lift though. The manager found a stone chip in the rim. Says it won’t make it through a battle with GM when they see it. I’m still gonna hound them when it goes back in for the second round of recalls next week. In the meantime I’m taking the guards off, and painting the holes they drilled for the screw in each one.

Silverado4x4 · January 1, 2020

Those mud guards are factory installed on the assembly line all of us have them they are not dealer installed.

OnTheReel · January 1, 2020

1 hour ago, Silverado4x4 said:

Those mud guards are factory installed on the assembly line all of us have them they are not dealer installed.

The standard factory ones are much smaller. There are a couple different larger splash guards sold as accessories. Sure looks like he’s got the ones below, which would have been dealer installed.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2019-Chevrolet-Next-Gen-Silverado-Front-Molded-Splash-Guards-84109902-Black-OEM-/263850084213

What’s interesting is that according to shopchevyparts and some other sites, that part number (84109902) is no longer available and has been replaced with 84649174.

The two front mud flap style options originally were 84109902 and 84109903. 84109902 (which looks to be what you have) has been replaced with 84649174, and 84109903 is still being sold.

Long shot, but I think it’s worth asking some questions on why the part has changed. If you indeed have 84109902, of course.

mistaare · January 1, 2020

I would imagine with all the people running oversized tires there would be more posts like this?

Have people been removing these?

RaisedByWolves · January 1, 2020

On 12/30/2019 at 3:36 PM, lapoolboy said:

There is more to this story methinks.

He hooked it on something.

The tire didnt do all of that.

Dnt · January 1, 2020

I would guess that the mud flap really did bottom out on the road surface due to a funky approach angle. There might be a break or offset concrete expansion joint where the mud flap maybe caught the edge just right and jammed it back? If you get back to that parking lot and have an opportunity, maybe you could duplicate the maneuver and have someone video it from the outside? Would be awesome to have it on youtube and might actually keep someone else from messing up there new truck!

UGADawgs · January 1, 2020

I have a 19 LTZ with factory mudflaps and the 20" goodyear ATs. The only way that mudflaps does that is if it gets caught on something like when someone jumps a curb (drop off the curb, land on the flap pulling into a parking spot) or something else sticking out in a parking lot. ymmv.

FiatDale · January 2, 2020

He hooked it on something.

The tire didnt do all of that.

Yep. That’s obvious. No way did the stock tire do it

Daniels79 · January 2, 2020

We don’t have the same mud guard. Unless I’m seeing yours wrong, yours is all cut out. Mine are flat across. This was an early build 12/18. Wonder if they changed them for a reason.

Edited January 2, 2020 by Daniels79