Need detail help - Whelan you out there

[BIGGMIKE88]

I have a 2006 Black Vibe and I love it except........Everytime I wash the car we drive 2 blocks and the rear hatch is completly covered with dust or dirt. If it rain is seems to get a lot of water on the hatch. I was told that if I put mud flaps on it that will help a lot but I don't want to shell out the 45 for the factory flaps if it will not helpThanks

[zionzr2]

I'm definatly not Whelan but can offer that a California Duster will help with dust, esp. the loose dust. As far as the mudflaps go I do not have them so i can not comment. I'm sure some one that has them will chime in shortly.

[WaveAction]

honestly..the back end of any car out there during rain or snow..gets the back the dirtiest the fastest..it's one of those things that are hard to avoid

[Whelan]

Some people claim that a longer spoiler off the roof or even a midgate spoiler helps with the Vibe.It all comes down to simple science. When you are driving through..well...air you are creating a bubble of pressure directly in front of the car. Hence things like leaves and such don't always get stuck on the front, but flow over or under the car. When the air being moved reaches the end of the vehicle, it swirls and become cyclonic, thus creating all the dust on the back of the hatch. It's one of the reasons truckers drive so close to one another. By creating a gap of air pressure in back of you, the second truck can essentially ride the wave and use less fuel traveling at the same speeds. I have learned to live with it by getting a California Car Duster. Good for a quick easy wipe down. Given that Spring is coming, you will see this more and more cause of pollen. Summer is not so back either cause the roads are pretty clean. But winter is also notorious cause the roads are still dirty and nasty. Mudflaps will help with spray from the rain, but not from dust so much. Cause it's not just the tires kicking it up, its also the pressure wave around the car, otherwise (given no wind), you would see brown roads of dust with just tire markes in them. Invest in one of these and when you polish up the car, do a good job so it doesnt have a surface to stick to in the beginning thus leaving less to worry about.

[engineertwin2]

Yep, Whelan has it fundamentally right. An area of low pressure develops behind the car. The low pressure creats what serves as a "slight vacuum" and pulls the dust towards the car (this low pressure area is called drag and attempts to pull the air/dust and car back together).This problem occurs significantly more in vehicles without an extended boot (like big trucks, Vibes, Mini Coopers, vans, etc - all have problems).Mud flaps won't help this problem. They'll directly reduce the amount of dirt and mud build up on the rear side of the fenders, but nothing will stop this problem save for some major body work.