Tuesday, October 16, 2007

The Most Versatile Truck and Auto Accessories: Mud Flaps

Mud flaps, also knows as a splash guards, are more than just your standard rubber variety truck and auto accessories. It is more than a useful quality auto accessory that protects your truck from flying dirt, slush, or road debris. The mud flap has become a blank slate where a driver can plaster his or her personality in the form of great truck and car accessories that can protect as well as make others laugh.

A classic image found on these truck and car accessories is recognized as "The Mud Flap Girl". Who hasn't seen this buxom silver silhouette of the long-legged beauty, one leg crossed over the other, hair blowing in the wind? This famous character was based upon the well-known model Leta Laroe. She was created by Bill Zinda of Wiz Enterprises in Long Beach, California, to promote his line of truck and auto accessories.

Another character commonly seen on truck and car mud flaps is Yosemite Sam, pointing his guns with the caption "Back Off!" or, "All Fired Up". Other classic Warner Brother's characters that have been used include Daffy Duck and Tweety Bird.

Classic mud flap characters have become such a part of pop culture, that they've moved out of the arena of car accessories, and started appearing in commercials and on TV. One such commercial appeared during the 2006 Superbowl, and featured the Mud Flap Girl and Yosemite Sam driving off in a Honda Ridgeway.

Arizona officials were apparently not amused, and have proposed legislation banning both cartoon creatures due to a perceived political incorrectness, regarding sex and guns. Currently, the legislation about truck and car accessories has been thwarted.

This means that auto accessories and mud flaps can be embellished with the image of your choice. And this will remain to be true, as long as that law doesn't pass.

Manufacturers know a good thing when they see it, and customized truck and car accessories such as mud flaps are big money makers for truck and auto accessories. If you don't want Yosemite Sam or the Mud Flap Girl, you can have your own mud flaps customized with whatever you want on quality materials to continue protecting your truck and showing everyone who you are at the same time.

Currently, custom mud flaps seem to be most popular on company vehicles. Anyone ever caught behind an 18 wheeler on the highway or following a commercial van in city traffic, knows how effective a custom mud flap can be, if it used as an advertising tool. Companies wisely invest a little extra money in this truck and auto accessory, thus creating a advertisement on wheels that proudly displays the company name and phone number on eye catching mud flaps.

There is a lot to be said about these protective rubber truck and car accessories hanging off the back of someone's truck or car. Truck and auto accessories have never been so versatile, useful, and smart as mud flaps. Choose your design, spruce up your truck, and head on out to show off your style!

About the Author
Alex Springton is an expert in auto mechanics and understands the importance of a well maintained vehicle. Alex has had good experience using automotive shop management software from Winworks and recommends their auto shop management software to other mechanics for car repair estimates, fleet maintenance, and shop scheduling.

Truck and Auto Accessories; Splash Guards

The main function of the mud flap is to keep dirt, slush and other debris from being kicked up by your truck's tires, protecting both your truck and the windshields of the drivers behind you. Usually, people don't pay much attention to mud flaps, but these days, the standard variety of truck and auto accessories have become yet another form of automotive self-expression.

The most iconic of these truck and car accessories characters is simply known as "The Mud Flap Girl". We've all seen her before: She's the buxom silver silhouette of a long-legged beauty lounging with one leg provocatively crossed over the other, hair blowing in the wind. Bill Zinda of Wiz Enterprises in Long Beach, California, created this famous character to promote his line of truck and auto accessories and based the character upon a famous model named Leta Laroe.
Another famous character to make an appearance on these truck and car accessories is Yosemite Sam pointing his two cartoon pistols with a caption beneath declaring, "Back Off!" or, "All Fired Up". Other Warner Brother characters have also made appearances, such as a frightened Daffy Duck and an overly upset Tweety Bird.

These mud flap characters are so engrained in our psych that they have gone beyond truck and car accessories and began appearing in commercials together. One famous commercial created for the Superbowl in 2006 had the Mud Flap Girl and Yosemite Sam driving away in a Honda Ridgeway.

Sadly, it appears that both of these figures have been targeted by legislation, when officials in Arizona tried to pass a ban on the two icons on the grounds of political correctness (one promoting sex and the other promoting gun violence). For the time being, the legislation on these truck and auto accessories has been struck down.

As long as that law doesn't pass, you can find quality auto accessories and mud flaps that can have anything on them from your favorite sports team logo to the picture of your dog.
Manufacturers know a good thing when they see it, and customized truck and auto accessories, such as mud flaps are big money makers. If you don't want Yosemite Sam or the Mud Flap Girl, you can have your own mud flaps customized with whatever you want on quality materials to continue protecting your truck and showing everyone who you are at the same time.

The most popular use of custom mud flaps nowadays are for company cars. If you've ever been caught behind a large semi on the highway, or maybe stuck in traffic behind a moving van, you may have noticed that mud flaps are an effective advertising tool. Most companies spend a little extra in this truck and auto accessory to manipulate their vehicles to carry their company name and phone number on mud flaps.

More than mere truck and auto accessories, mud flaps can be a unique form of showing off who you are or acting as a clever bit of advertising. Never before have truck and car accessories been so interesting, versatile and amusing - while it protects!

About the Author
Terry Bolton is an internet publisher of automotive stuff. Read his useful and popular articles about how to buy used cars online as well as car parts the cheapest way.