i had been camping all weekend and had dealt with melting snow. heading home on the highway i was pulled over in my very muddy truck and given a fix-it-ticket because i had no splash guards. i have spalsh guards that i can install but know for a fact that they will not even mildly help in keeping the truck from throwing mud everywhere. the only thing i can imagine would help would be to install large, unsightly mud flaps. if i put the splash guards on will i stop being hassled every time i go through a puddle or will they say i need mud flaps? also, the ticket specifically states the lack of "splash guards". thanks

I wasen't aware that a vehicle HAD to have "splash gaurds"........none of my vehicles have them........

I'm not sure what the exact vehicle code is in AZ, but in CA, according to vehicle code: 27600, the vehicle must have adequate protection against tire splash/spray. From your ticket, it sounds like the code is similar over there. The guys with tires that extend past the fenders get hassled a lot here due to this vehicle code since the fender no longer covers the entire tread. Below is the CA vehicle code verbatim:

27600. No person shall operate any motor vehicle having three or more wheels, any trailer, or semitrailer unless equipped with fenders, covers, or devices, including flaps or splash aprons, or unless the body of the vehicle or attachments thereto afford adequate protection to effectively minimize the spray or splash of water or mud to the rear of the vehicle and all such equipment or such body or attachments thereto shall be at least as wide as the tire tread. This section does not apply to those vehicles exempt from registration, trailers and semitrailers having an unladen weight of under 1,500 pounds, or any vehicles manufactured and first registered prior to January 1, 1971, having an unladen weight of under 1,500 pounds.

i had been camping all weekend and had dealt with melting snow. heading home on the highway i was pulled over in my very muddy truck and given a fix-it-ticket because i had no splash guards. i have spalsh guards that i can install but know for a fact that they will not even mildly help in keeping the truck from throwing mud everywhere. the only thing i can imagine would help would be to install large, unsightly mud flaps. if i put the splash guards on will i stop being hassled every time i go through a puddle or will they say i need mud flaps? also, the ticket specifically states the lack of "splash guards". thanks


Welcome to the "club". I used to get harassed in my lifted Tacoma and now I get stopped in the Dmax too. Stupid Az. law, and go figure it only applies to truck...not SUV's or jeeps. Sorry to hear that. I ended up buying one polypropelene big rig flap (You Do-It Truck Stuff $14) and making two truck flaps out of it for the dmax. Check my garage for pics. Although not Completely legal to the letter, they prevent more trouble for trying.

BTW the law states that it must be wide enough to cover the width of the tire and no less than 12 inches from the pavement on any "bumper height altered vehicle classified as a pick-up truck"

well thanks for the replies guys. i guess the law only applies to lifted trucks. however, if that is the case then a majority of the truck on the az roads should have splash guards or mud flaps. anyway, guess ill throw the splash guards on so i dont get in any more trouble.

well i learned somthin new.....:duh: i'm glad i don't live in either of those states :D

Thats a bummer of a law if I ever heard one. Went through AZ one time on vacation but did have mud guards on. Didn't have a clue about that law though. Does sound like a law that came out of California.

Yeah I got one of those as well. The killer was I had the lift on but I still had the stock tires. As I was getting the ticket I counted no less than 15 lifted trucks with no flaps passing me with big tires. I grabbed a couple sheets of alum diamond plate from Pep Boys and screwed them into the back and so far I havent been bothered.

hey warlock-post up a pic of the diamond plate. i am curious about how that looks.

just like you said, as the cop had me stopped there were numerous lifted trucks without mud flaps or splash guards that passed. its az, everyone here has a lifted truck. moisture is so rare that i am wondering why we bother about keeping mud and other sh*t from flying.

anyway, i installed the splash guards. the aren't the best looking mod i have ever done but they should keep me from getting anymore tickets.:mad: