[Miami Son]

Yeah, I just put mine in on Monday after telling the dealer I did not want the drop-in plastic POS liner. I put the top row of fasteners right on that bead line. Took some doing to pre-drill the holes so they didn't end up on the curve, but an automatic centering punch does wonders in this situation. Love how much better this mat was tailored to my truck compared to the one I had in my 2000 Ram.

 

[Miami Son]

That's one of the reasons I didn't want the drop-in liner. It was only in the truck for 3 weeks, but after it was removed there were all kinds of residue from water puddling underneath it. The rubber lets some air flow in to evaporate the water, but being able to easily remove and clean under it is a bonus. Not to mention, stuff stays put on it whereas things slide all over the place with the plastic drop-in.

 

[Miami Son]

As for the installation of the mud guards, I had no modifications to make, no extra holes to make, it uses the screws that were already on my truck and the plastic clips that held the little plastic piece I had to remove to put those guards on.

As far as the factory mudguards go, there is definitely an additional hole on each one that is supposed to be drilled and it lines up with metal, not plastic. You can still install them without the drilling, but the holes are there nonetheless. I'm waiting for my first tire rotation to do the rears.

 

[Miami Son]

Be sure you are looking at the correct instructions. They have pics on the pages, but they are year specific. IIRC, the '08-'09 are different from the '10-'12. It can be confusing as to which pics go to which years.

 

[Miami Son]

I painted mine, also, but with a much easier method. I masked the logo off with painter's tape after cleaning the area with brake cleaner to remove any grease or oil. I then sprayed the logo with VHT paint and removed the making tape. I took a paper towel folded into a square and saturated with brake cleaner and quickly wiped the area gently so that only the paint in the recesses remained. A few quick wipes with minimal pressure so as not to touch the paint in the recesses is all it takes. Took about 7 minutes per mudflap and no brush strokes.:smileup: