I decided to reply in this topic, as it appears to be related to my question.
I always do a good practice of thoroughly pressure washing the underside of my Jimny after any contact with muddy terrain.
When washing the inside of rear wheel arches, I noticed that there is an area inside which is very hard if impossible to wash of, and mud, dirt, leaves, ice, etc. always get piled up there.
There is an inner metal "lip" above the wheel which follows the arch's curve. It is located on the inner side of the car's body in the arch. The mud and dirt piles up on top of that lip, because the lip is factory twisted up and therefore does not let the gum pour down. It also prevents jet water spray from reaching anything behind it.
Therefore, in order to clear the mud and guts behind the metal lip, I have to stick my own hand over there and chuck it out, risking to cut myself in the process, getting my sleeve dirty and my wife mad.
After closer inspection of the lip, it appears that it was designed as an anchor for the inner rear wheel arch. I don't have inner rear wheel arches. I took a look at few other Jimnys on the streets, and none has them as well.
So, my question is - are Jimnys factory equipped with inner rear wheel arches? My Jimny was made in 2006, it's a facelift 2005-2012 model.
Should I obtain and install an inner wheel arch? The only reason to install it would be to lessen the amount of piled up mud inside the wheel arch, and behind the rear bumper light, and on the fuel tank hose. I usually find those items badly covered in mud, and I am afraid they might get damaged by mud or pieces of rock etc.
If those inner arches would not do any good (if they would just hide more mud behind), would it then be better to grind off that metal lip?
