I'm not really fastidious about washing my car, less so in winter. Though the Fit has a very stubby butt, I thought it would be good to install rear splash guards in order to keep the car cleaner. All Canadian Fits come with front splash guards. The rears cost me $61/pr from my dealer. US stores are charging $69 for all 4 splash guards. I did not remove the wheels. There were neither missing nor extra parts in the kit.

Splash guards, or mud guards attach rearward of each wheel and reduce water, mud and snow kickup, keeping your car cleaner.

The install instructions can be downloaded from Honda. I thought I'd add some comments and photos to the process. This install was not difficult (3/10) but took about 1.5 hrs. There are 4 general steps to the install. 1) remove wheel well cover, drill a hole and cut out two tabs 2) install two metal clips to the fender 3) reinstall the wheel well cover 4) screw in the splash guard.

Start with the smaller right guard, which is only attached by 1 screw and one popout connector. Remove the cover. Use a thumb tack to pierce a hole, marked by a small dimple in the plastic. Drill out a 3/8" hole, which is used to connect the splash guard to the wheel cover (blue arrow). The plastic is soft and easy to drill.

The two tabs (red arrows) are clearly marked at the back of the cover. Use a utility knife to cut them out. As these will be covered completely by the splash guard, don't worry if you make a mistake. Please use caution with the utility knife. It is one of the most dangerous tools you have because it looks so unassuming. There is no noise nor spinning blades, but it is razor sharp and can slice open your hand/leg with a simple slip.



2016 Honda Fit: rear right splash guard install. Cover top is on the left. Drill out one hole (blue arrow) and two cutout tabs (red arrow).

Attach the paper template, which comes with the kit, to the fender lip with tape. The paper contours with the outline of the lip. There are 4 indentations on the template. Use a crayon/grease pencil to transfer these marks to your fender. Your clips will attach to your fender here. You'll need the template for the left side so don't destroy it.


2016 Honda Fit Rear Splash Guards: Install paper template, mark right clip locations.

Now attach the metal clips. The splash guards will screw into these clips. These clips are oriented into the car. They have teeth that dig into the plastic fender for a solid connection. You use one of the screws to tighten both sides of the clip together. Install the clips on the marks from the paper template. Once tightened, remove the screws. note that these screws are extremely soft/cheap, so don't over tighten and don't slip.



2016 Honda Fit Rear Splash Guards: Install right clips.

Reinstall the wheel well cover. The cover is attached with a screw, behind the plastic fender and the metal tab. The cover sits on top of the metal shelf. Reinstall the single popout connector.



2016 Honda Fit Rear Splash Guards: Install right wheel well cover on top of clips

Now you can install the right splash guard. Screw into the two metal clips. There is one popout connector at the bottom of the guard. You drilled the 3/8" hole for this. The splash guard has 2 triangle tabs. One fits into a groove on the wheel well cover. The other hugs the side of the wheel well cover.

Note that there is very little room, like 2", between the splash guard and the tire. You'll need a philips 90 degree screwdriver or a stubby. Some people have used a philips bit held with a pair of pliers. Whatever works for you.



2016 Honda Fit Rear Splash Guards: Install right splash guard with 2 screws and a popout connector.

The left wheel well cover is larger, with 1 screw and 4 popout connectors, but follows the exact same process.



2016 Honda Fit: rear left splash guard install. Cover top is on the top. Drill out one hole (blue arrow) and two cutout tabs (red arrow).



2016 Honda Fit Rear Splash Guards: Install paper template, mark left clip locations.



2016 Honda Fit Rear Splash Guards: Install left clips. Lower clip still has screw, which will need to be removed.



2016 Honda Fit Rear Splash Guards: Install left wheel well cover on top of clips.




2016 Honda Fit Rear Splash Guards: Install left splash guard with 2 screws and a popout connector.

Hardest part: Cutting the tabs from the covers with a utility knife, while not cutting myself. Learning how to remove the popout connectors.

That's pretty much it. It rained yesterday and the Fit seemed to be a bit cleaner.

 

Nice write up. Im doing it this weekend too, after turkey!

Gotta say though, it's really ridiculous of Honda's design team to have us do all this custom install work just to mount mud flaps.

 

I need to get these but I'm ALMOST tempted to just let the dealer install them when we take it for service.

You have to similar things with other cars as well. I installed a set on our mini that we had and you had to cut the wheel liner and do some other pretty annoying stuff to get them installed. it was a total pain.

 

Its one of the more complex OEM accessory installs thats for sure. Hell if I can disassemble the harnesses to install tow wiring then the mud flaps are a walk in the park for me haha

 

We have had a couple of rain days since the rear splash guard install, and the splash guards do keep your car cleaner. Yay, I did not waste $61 and 1.5 hrs for nothing.

The install was not so complex but you do need some reasonably warm weather. I'm new to car mods.

 

I just installed them this past weekend. Certainly easy, just the rear is a PITA/time consuming. Here are my time savers:

I used a stubby screw driver [1] but found it still too long. So I used an angle wrench [4]

A long big screw driver [2] was great to pop the fasteners under the wheelwell.

Instead of using the screws to tighten the fasteners on, I used a pair of Lineman Dykes [3] to crimp them into place. Hell, I wasn't gonna sit there with a stubby screwdriver against the tire trying to secure those !@#&*)^. The pliers did the trick.

Of course, your other option is to jack the car up and pull the wheel. "Aint Nobody Got Time For That!"

 

@Chapito is that blood on your driveway? LOL. There's nothing like bleeding to make the job feel worthwhile.

Good tips. I did not think about using the linesman's pliers.

 

lol, no no just some old deck paint and motor oil. looking close at the pic it does look like some fresh!

 

Nice writeup. can you take a picture from the rear of the car to show how low it hangs? Also, is it abs plastic? Or is it rubbery? wondering if i could paint it body color

 

The splash guards are ABS, I'm pretty sure. Not rubbery at all, but hard plastic. I'll take photos tomorrow.

 

I know this is an old thread, but I just installed the mudguards today. One small tip, if you have a step drill bit (pyramid-like) it is much easier than swapping 4 different conventional drill bits. It's plastic so even the cheap ones will do. Also, a right-angle driver ($3 from Harbor Freight) is essential.

 

Sorry old thread rivival... I had unaddressed stone chips resulting in rust damage to the rear quarter panel (metal) and the OEM kit is installed rear facing on a plastic bumper which won't help rust prevention. I'm in Toronto, Canada with heavy salting on roads during winter.

After the body shop repair, would the preventative solution be to buy generic flaps and DIY (not handy) or maybe even apply some thicker clear film/PPF in that area or would there be any other aftermarket solutions?

TIA.

Driver side rear. Body shop will cut out and weld new metal in place to repair. Need preventative solution after this.