A fashion developed for the appearance of off road vehicles and by far the majority of SUVs virtually never leave the paved road. The thought of taking them through mud baths and fording rivers or ploughing through deep sand would never occur. The fact is that a large 4x4 vehicle as well as the SUVs are nice cars to drive. Set up for road use the suspension is pleasant and the seats are comfortable. The height and driving position makes them ideal as mostly one is sitting above the other vehicles on the road and thus has a view over most other autos.

But there are those people, farmers and camping enthusiasts as well as folk who like the challenge that off road driving offers. For them it is a certainty that their vehicles will be set up differently from the normal, off the show room floor, kind of 4wd auto.

For a start they are almost certainly going to have a raised or hardened suspension and wider tires. Driving across rough roads, across sand or through rivers and muddy patches needs soft, chunky tires with as big a footprint as possible. All of these guys will carry on board compressors or compressed air in a bottle so they can let down or increase the tire pressures depending on need.

For on road usage, buy which is meant paved roads these tires would be inappropriate as they cost substantially more and will wear out a lot faster as the abrasion from turning is greater.

But having wide tires does affect the legality as well as the appearance of the vehicle. Tires need to be covered by a mudguard to protect other road users from spray and stones and mud being thrown up. Plus of course the appearance is ungainly.

Factory built vehicle all come with standard mud guards so if one is fitting broader tires then one should consider adding flares to your wheel arches to cover the tires and give you and the other road users protection. Bushwacker Fender Flares are an ideal solution. Models are available for a large range of vehicles and are attractive and easy to fit. There are a whole range of styles for many models from the no screw option to one where a cut out of the original bodywork is required.

Of course it is not only fender flares that are required by the genuine off road user. 4wd.com provides a large range of jeep parts for all possible uses. Any offroader will vouch for the facr that the bodywork has a pretty rough time, constantly getting scratched and chipped. But there is a large range of body protection available to fit over the standard body panels protecting them from the battering that the stones and branches can dish out. There are roll bars and tube doors, light bars and tire carriers.

If you are looking for any accessory for your off road vehicle this is the place to start. Browse through the online catalog.