Winter in the Northeast means road salt. It’s an inevitability; as soon as accumulation can be measured, the highway department starts spreading the stuff like it’s free. While helpful on the traction front, road salt is harmful on paint and can do serious damage over time. Hence why mud flaps have become such a popular “modification” in the Northeast: aside from being inexpensive, they are an easy way to add visual flair while also protecting one’s paint.
When it comes to purchasing a set, mud flap options for the Subaru WRX are more extensive than for most other vehicles but are still limited. After much searching I decided on a set from Rokblokz; they had just what I was looking for at a fraction of the price of other companies’ products, so I ordered up a set to give my WRX both a little appearance boost and to help keep the demon of winter from ruining the paint. Read on to see if they’re a worthwhile investment for your 2015+ WRX/STI.
While not the most well-known brand, Rokblokz has become a very popular mud flap maker for Subarus and other cars alike. They offer multiple colors as well as two length options for the 2015+ WRX/STI, but I opted for the sleek and function-over-form combo of the short flaps in black for my own car. The set cost me under $80 during a holiday promotion, putting the Rokblokz’s flaps at over $100 less than those made by the most popular and well-known company, Rally Armor. There are differences, but they’re insignificant enough that it really just comes down to how much you want to spend.
Upon first inspection, Rokblokz’s product itself seems solid, literally, as they’re difficult to bend and could easily stop a baseball should you chuck one at them. They do bend a little, not a lot, which makes them great on the highway as they don’t blow backwards and sacrifice protection in doing so.
This was the first time I’ve installed mud flaps on anything, and it was fairly simple. The instructions that Rokblokz provided were somewhat lacking, but I honestly can’t remember a single instance in which I’ve bought a part for a car/truck and it’s come with perfectly detailed instructions. That being said, there are a number of great YouTube videos showing the process, so I relied on those to guide my way rather than just hacking at things. Jacking the car up does help quite a lot, and you will need to remove the rear wheels/tires to get the rear flaps on, but all in all it’s a fairly simple process that didn’t take more than an hour and a half from start to finish.
The most difficult part comes when removing and re-installing some fender lining, and if you don’t have a lift you’ll be spending quite a bit of time on your stomach and/or back. I recommended painting the provided mounting hardware black (multiple coats, at that) before affixing the flaps on the car, but that’s down to personal preference. I did have an issue– okay, not so much an issue, but rather a bout of second-guessing myself– as to which way they should be installed,as one side has a different texture and is shinier than the other and there’s no telling which side should go which way, but it’s something I haven’t thought about since the day I put the flaps on the car.
The fitment of the mud flaps is pretty good, with only a little gap between the flap and curved part of the body, and provides enough protection without sticking out four feet and looking heinously offensive. The brackets allow for you to adjust the alignment to your liking, but I chose to keep them most of the way towards fully “in” and they still stick out far enough to fight off whatever it is that the tires try to throw at the side of the car.
I am very pleased with how the Rokblokz mud flaps look, and never once have second guessed my choice not only in brand but in length and color. They’re extremely sturdy and have already proven time and time again to stop a large amount of snow and slush from ending up on the car rather than in the wheelwell or back on the ground. Even in the rain it’s easy to tell that the side of the car remains cleaner longer and is covered less by grime and the likes that get tossed up once the precipitation starts falling.
So what’s the bottom line on the Rokblokz short mud flaps? They look great, are well made, and amid the winter months are already doing a great job of protecting my WRX’s paint from the harmful winter road treatments. The mud flaps were a simple modification to install and have proven to be a great bang-for-your-buck “mod” when it comes to adding visual flair as well. I would absolutely add these mud flaps again in a heartbeat, and would encourage any other WRX owner to do the same. Oh, and Rokblokz threw in a nice little keychain (in the shape of a mud flap) as well as some candy just to sweeten the deal. A nice product indeed.
Review: Rokblokz mud flaps for my 2015+ Subaru WRX/STI
6 responses to “Review: Rokblokz mud flaps for my 2015+ Subaru WRX/STI”
-
The keychain is awesome.
I bought a kit for the ST but never got around to install.
Sold it on ebay. I kept the candy though. -
You’ve got the Smarties, all you need now is milk.
-
Wrong kind of Smarties. In the UK they’re like M&M’s – chocolate with a candy shell.
-
-
Makes a change to see mudflaps added to a car! This type is good in that they won’t rub the paint like the ‘moulded’ factory type.
A challenge – on an old car I once scraped both front mudflaps at the same time (didn’t have rears). Challenge part 1 – How? Challenge part 2 – Replicate! -
Zero cred’.
They aren’t red.-
But…but…the wheels are gold!
I regularly see WRB cars with gold wheels and red mud flaps. To each their own. But it hurts my eyes.
-
Leave a Reply