I really hate how the front fender splash guards look on my SS. The recent fuel mileage and speed record conversations have got me thinking more about finding a better solution than the stock parts because those big plastic sails behind the front tires can't be good for the aerodynamics and are ugly as sin. I haven't had any luck finding an alternate solution on the aftermarket seller websites on options to remove them or replace with something that looks better with less aerodynamic drag than what the factory slapped on there. I found a few older posts on here that discussed running without them, but nothing recently so wanted to see if there were any new thoughts on doing this mod or if anyone knows of a good aftermarket solution to clean this area up. Looks like a pretty simple process to remove a few screws attaching the splash guard to the front rocker panel and then drill out a couple of rivets from the splash guard retainer. I would need something to fill the gap in the rocker panel to clean that up once the splash guard was gone (noticed that Slingrazor has something filling that gap on his) and was thinking I would also need a machine shop to fabricate a metal plate to replace the plastic splash guard retainer underneath the fenders to provide support and keep them from flapping around (and maybe a set of hood pins to securely lock it all down if necessary, but would like to avoid putting any holes in the hood / fenders if possible). The thing that scares me is that it looks like a pretty simple mod to just remove the OEM parts and have a machine shop fabricate a support plate, but just about every SS that I've ever seen still had those ugly hunks of plastic hang off the front side implying that it isn't as simple as it looks at first glance. There were some highly modified and beautiful slings here in town during the homecoming rally and just about every one of them still had the OEM parts installed. If there was a simple solution my assumption is that the owners of those machines would have already done it. I don't want to start yanking these things off only to discover that there is a major implication that I didn't think of (and I would rather leverage other people's lessons learned than have to learn them on my own if possible). I appreciate any insight / recommendations from the group on this.
Front Fender Splash Guard Removal / Replacement??
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I really hate how the front fender splash guards look on my SS. The recent fuel mileage and speed record conversations have got me thinking more about finding a better solution than the stock parts because those big plastic sails behind the front tires can't be good for the aerodynamics and are ugly as sin. I haven't had any luck finding an alternate solution on the aftermarket seller websites on options to remove them or replace with something that looks better with less aerodynamic drag than what the factory slapped on there. I found a few older posts on here that discussed running without them, but nothing recently so wanted to see if there were any new thoughts on doing this mod or if anyone knows of a good aftermarket solution to clean this area up. Looks like a pretty simple process to remove a few screws attaching the splash guard to the front rocker panel and then drill out a couple of rivets from the splash guard retainer. I would need something to fill the gap in the rocker panel to clean that up once the splash guard was gone (noticed that Slingrazor has something filling that gap on his) and was thinking I would also need a machine shop to fabricate a metal plate to replace the plastic splash guard retainer underneath the fenders to provide support and keep them from flapping around (and maybe a set of hood pins to securely lock it all down if necessary, but would like to avoid putting any holes in the hood / fenders if possible). The thing that scares me is that it looks like a pretty simple mod to just remove the OEM parts and have a machine shop fabricate a support plate, but just about every SS that I've ever seen still had those ugly hunks of plastic hang off the front side implying that it isn't as simple as it looks at first glance. There were some highly modified and beautiful slings here in town during the homecoming rally and just about every one of them still had the OEM parts installed. If there was a simple solution my assumption is that the owners of those machines would have already done it. I don't want to start yanking these things off only to discover that there is a major implication that I didn't think of (and I would rather leverage other people's lessons learned than have to learn them on my own if possible). I appreciate any insight / recommendations from the group on this.
You could always go with the fenders developed by StickerDick, he also had the filler piece for the tub. But if you go to the full size fender like I did, the fender is more of a drag that the stock splash guard. They are like a parachute, dropping my top speed on the front straight at the race track by 6 MPH. By speed-O an easy 115-116 mph dropping to and very hard 110 mph if I came out of turn 9 really hard I could barely get to 110 mph.
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If your primary concern is aerodynamics I would suggest you simply remove the stock setup and go fenderless - several people here have done this and from what I understand it works fairly well
StickerDick sells filler pieces to cover the holes left behind and if you dont want to go without fenders he also sells fenders in different sizes that really look sharp
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by any name they are damn good lookin !!!
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Also, you can go to the vendor section on this forum and look at the Threes Da Life page to see discussions on those fenders.
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The next time at the race track there will be no fenders on my Sling.
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Also, you can go to the vendor section on this forum and look at the Threes Da Life page to see discussions on those fenders.
Thanks, I'm in that FB group already. I'll check it out. Are those the same fenders that FunCycle has on his? The fenders look great, but I'm not opposed to the semi-open wheel look if they make the aerodynamics worse than the stock piece. What did you add to provide support to the fender/hood to keep it stable once the splash guard was removed?
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The splash guard really does not support the hood. I am thinking that STYLN is selling 2 or 3 different length fenders. You would have to check with him to see what is offered. Some are just for looks. I left mine the full length. But when and if I pull them off I am going to cut another 4 or 5 inches off of the back. Right now the back is 4 1/2 inches off of the pavement so after cutting off I will be around 9 or 10 inches off of the pavement and still have some guard against the water splash. I HOPE. Yes, I was like the second person I think to install the Stickerdick fenders.
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Here's a fender option..They were sold by Slingshot Only called the Evolution fenders:
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Hello Will Stewart ! We sell 2 size front fenders known to most as the Bobbers, which cover about 33% of the wheel and function well for water and debris and we also sell a larger set know as Street-fighters. These cover about 45% of the wheel. FunCycle is a true OG and has the fenders in which my buddy Mark aka StickerDick initially created prior to our takeover of the company. His are a one of a kind make.
You can also run with no fenders and add our Fender Eliminator kit which covers nicely the hole or footprint for which the stock fenders mount and have no fenders at all. I did this prior to owning Three's Da Life and ran my sling that way for over a year. Only thing is if you are susceptible to getting caught in rain or driving down old country roads, when you turn water and debris will come into the cab area.
Hit me up on Facebook and I can shoot you some pics of the 2 fenders offered and also the eliminator kit and how to remove your stock fenders. We will have more Eliminators ready to ship by Monday July 15th.
We also have our rear fenders on the way to match as well!! More info to follow on that via Facebook Three's Da Life group soon!
Jonathan
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The longer fenders do work keeping the water down, I do not know if the shorter fenders would work as well. To me the shorter fenders are more for looks than function
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The longer fenders do work keeping the water down, I do not know if the shorter fenders would work as well. To me the shorter fenders are more for looks than function
The medium fenders do end up putting some water into the edges of the cockpit.
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Let me add in my $0.02. I went with their Fender Delete kits, eliminating the fenders all together. As far as stuff in the cab, yes, maybe, but not normally. If you're running on dry roads, no major issue. If you're picking up dirt/stones, there might be some intrusion, but very little. As far as water, I never run in the rain. But water on the ground mostly went down the side, not into my legs. I loved it and plan on doing it again on this set. Do it.
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Let me just say this one more time 86,000 miles in all kind of weather. You never know when you will be riding in the wet, either the fenders work or not. But they do look good! Like I said. If you only ride on dry roads why do you even need them except for looks.
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Display MoreHello Will Stewart ! We sell 2 size front fenders known to most as the Bobbers, which cover about 33% of the wheel and function well for water and debris and we also sell a larger set know as Street-fighters. These cover about 45% of the wheel. FunCycle is a true OG and has the fenders in which my buddy Mark aka StickerDick initially created prior to our takeover of the company. His are a one of a kind make.
You can also run with no fenders and add our Fender Eliminator kit which covers nicely the hole or footprint for which the stock fenders mount and have no fenders at all. I did this prior to owning Three's Da Life and ran my sling that way for over a year. Only thing is if you are susceptible to getting caught in rain or driving down old country roads, when you turn water and debris will come into the cab area.
Hit me up on Facebook and I can shoot you some pics of the 2 fenders offered and also the eliminator kit and how to remove your stock fenders. We will have more Eliminators ready to ship by Monday July 15th.
We also have our rear fenders on the way to match as well!! More info to follow on that via Facebook Three's Da Life group soon!
Jonathan
Thanks. Sent you a note on FB. I used a good chunk of my mod budget at the Homecoming Rally so not sure I can go for the fenders at this point, but I am interested in the elimination kit since it at least gets those huge splash guards off.
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Let me add in my $0.02. I went with their Fender Delete kits, eliminating the fenders all together. As far as stuff in the cab, yes, maybe, but not normally. If you're running on dry roads, no major issue. If you're picking up dirt/stones, there might be some intrusion, but very little. As far as water, I never run in the rain. But water on the ground mostly went down the side, not into my legs. I loved it and plan on doing it again on this set. Do it.
Did you experience more fender "flop" once you removed the stock splash guards? Was out looking at my SS last night and there is a bracket on the bottom of the hood that sits down on the top of the splash guard that looks like it stabilizes the fender behind the tire (mine is a 16 model / looks like the newer ones have a rubber bumper on the splash guard instead of the hood like mine). Looks like the headlight assembly does same thing in the front so there is support on both sides of the tire in the stock setup. Worried about fender flap at speed if I remove half of the fender support structure since it looks like the fender delete kit is just the piece to fill the gap and cover the bolt holes once the splash guard is removed. the hood was pretty easy to flex up and down when I lifted it a bit to check how much flex there was in the hood/fender to get an idea of how much flex there could be if the splash guard wasn't there. It is all plastic supporting plastic in that area so not a good place easily add in a minimalist bracket to something solid to provide support to the hood behind the tire to maintain that support structure. I noticed that Kyle had his splash guards off for the speed run, but he also has the plastic fender panels removed. I don't plan on going 140+ mph anytime soon so don't plan on doing anything that drastic, but cleaning that area up a bit and improving aerodynamics while not causing new support structure problems is important to me. I'm really not worried about intrusion (water/dirt) since other than getting caught in an occasional pop up storm my rides are generally in dry, clear conditions. I figure I can keep the stock splash guards in the garage and throw them back on if we decide to take a trip, but for my normal driving around I'm not too worried about that. My main concern right now is whether removing the stock splash guards is going to make the hood look like a huge red bird flapping it's wings as I drive down the road or not. I read the threads on guys installing hood pins to counter fender flap and it looks like most of them still had the stock splash guards. I don't have a fender flap problem now and don't want to create a problem by pulling these things off.
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I had a lot of hood flap before removing the fenders and as such had installed @MNIRON's hood locks prior to removing the fenders (you can see them in my Avatar <--). But I can't think removing the fenders wouldn't make it any worse than it already is. At the rear of the hood is a triangular piece that the fenders rivet into and the hood sits on. This stays on when you remove the fenders.
BTW, my hood doesn't flap barely at all on my new 2019, and I still (temporarily) have the side fenders on for now. (Fender Delete kit is on my list of mods soon.)
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Some pics may help.
Running fender delete with Street Fighter fenders.
Hood partially open with V-brace removed. Upper right you can see the old style oblong fender rubber stop that no longer serves a purpose.
Hood closed. Notice the inactive stop location. Beyond that, the bright red that the inverted U of hood aligns with. Support is the closure latch and that channel.
Another view from side lower. Top center you begin to see the inactive stop. Top right is the inverted U channel. This shot includes the fender gap filler.
Hood open and missing support structures.
Just showing the adhesive backed foam mounted on that inverted U channel. Was done long before the fender delete to protect paint area. Makes better sense now with the fender delete.
Had the hood pins by mniron installed before the fender delete because I got tired of the Slingshot waving at truckers.
Can't address directly the stability of the hood wings with a fender deletion without the hood pins.
Hopefully the pics give you a better perspective.
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I was the one who designed the fender eliminators that are now being sold. Removing the splash guard (Barn Door) takes about 5 minutes. The fender flap is reduced because the airflow travels over the wheel and aft. With the splash guards installed the air has no where to go, so it pushes up and down on the fender.
