So I'll give you folks a tip.
When I make a traffic stop, by the time I reach your door, I've already got a rhetorical question in mind to ask; meaning, a question that I already know the answer too.
If your cool, polite, and don't give me some lame ass excuse for something I see people do everyday, and all your paperwork is current and in order, I will more than likely let you go so long as your not a dick.
If you lie, downplay what you did, or play stupid, your getting cited. . .period!!
And if you have multiple citations on your driver's record when I pull your DMV record, nothing you do or say will change the fact that your getting a ticket because obviously you haven't learned you lesson, so why would I cut you a break now . . .
As for equipment violations, that is the highway patrols job to hammer you folks on those issues. To be honest, I could give two ***** if you don't have mudflaps. HOWEVER, if you look like a someone I might want to talk too for whatever reason, I will use your lack of mudflaps as probable cause for the stop so I could identify you.
I stopped a guy once with a lifted custom F-250. My intention was to get some face time because I didn't know who he was, I'd seen him in town before, and I wanted to ID him because lifted F-250's are a hot item to steal. Sometime we just want to get to know you, so if someone is driving your truck that isn't you, maybe we can catch them BEFORE it hits the chop shop.
But again, I'm in California so that's just the way we do law enforcement here and you area could vary.