Land Cruiser Mud Flap Strap?

[Dragoon]

I noticed a strap on the rear mud flap of the new Land Cruiser and I thought it was sort of odd. I don't remember ever seeing this on a mud flap before and I was curious why the new Land Cruiser First Edition has this. Is it a tether in case it gets ripped off or is it a limit strap so that the mud flap doesn't get pulled forward?

 

[Dragoon]

Ahh, the strap is there to keep the mud flap from getting sucked into the tire. They talk about it in the video below at about the 10:45 mark.

 

[supersix]

That is interesting, I've never see that before either.

 

[Rocket]

This is going to be one of those quirky things that people will really love I think. Kind of like the three wipers on the FJC.

 

[Nuke]

My opinion is they are an afterthought. The mud flaps appear to be fairly thin/flimsy, so could be caught by the tire when in reverse.

 

[FJ432]

I believe it's a clever design. Molded plastic flaps can be caked with mud or snow to where there's rubbing. I think this is a way to prevent that. It also allow you to pull them up, out of the way completely without having to remove anything.