Quote:
Originally Posted by Sayyad
The front wheel skirts are complicated. Look at the third image from the first post in this thread. It shows the partial front wheel skirt. Notice the notch in the skirt's lower edge about halfway along it's length. That notch is from the front tire rubbing against the skirt when some set of conditions are present, perhaps accelerating around a turn while going over a bump.
So if you are going to install front wheel skirts you'll have to figure out the full range of motion of your front wheels to get the size just right, especially if you're using coroplast, which could easily melt. Or you could build a flexible skirt which would work better anyway.
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I had to replace one of my inner fender skirts in August, and there are a few mounting screws on the Jetta fenders along the edge that could be used to hold brackets that secure a more permanent skirt.
Back on the GasSavers forums, there was a fellow that made a full rubber and Coroplast front skirt. With the mounting points available, I'm thinking that a gap-filling partial skirt for Jettas that covers the top and front edges is feasable.
If only that one portion contacts and wears in the center, then it seems likely to me that coroplast + rubber edged top, or top and front skirt would work. After prototyping, to figure out the right shape to avoid rub points, a more permanent material (ABS plastic?) could be used for the hard portion of the skirt.
My only BIG concern about this approach is how a front skirt will change the fenderwell behavior in winter (since we three Jetta owners commenting in here all live well into the snow belt).
I'm not so sure I want to be a guinea pig for this, because I know the worst situation would be that a front skirt would promot more fender "filling" with snow and ice while driving long distances on the highway... which may fill enough to impact steering.
I'd love to hear any input on the winter situation, either to confirm or allay my concerns.
And on the weekend, I might go and try to snap pictures showing the screw in points on my A4 fenders. I'm assuming there'd be similar points (maybe, possibly identical positions) on the A3 that Sayyad and tasdrouille have.