Fender Flare Repair

Has anyone repaired there front fender flares when the tabs (where the blue and orange clips fit in) have broken off? I have about 5 tabs broken off - I cant believe that the connection points are SOOOO THIN!!!! WTF?

I bought a large sheet (alright a HUGE sheet) of .096" thick piece of ABS today thinking that I would be able to fabricate something or at the very least make some gussets on the ones that haven't broken off (yet!).

Any solutions or any ideas?

I've looked at the bushwackers but I'm not real hip on the idea of having the exposed bolts - I like the look of the factory flares, just not the flimsyness of their design.

TIA!!!

 

i took mine into the dealership. the body guy there reattached them (not sure how, i could find out tomorrow for ya if you like!)

 

That would be great! I have new clips but the places to clip them to are gone or broken. Thanks!

 

Do you have the broken tabs ? If you do, plastic weld them back on.

 

ya my lower flare was smashed off. the clips were completely snapped off and the previous owner/shop just siliconed it back on at the tab location.


i really cant remember what they did, but they didnt charge me for it and i had to drive around for 24 hrs with electrical tape holding it in place

i have pics of it hanging off in my gallery thingy

 

mine were still stuck in the clips but they said that it likely wouldnt hold since they are such thin plastic

 

Silicone! That sounds like a GREAT IDEA! What the hell, even if it didn't work out - It wouldn't ruin the paint. I knew my women was right when she called this place Smarty Pants World!

Now what am I going to do with this 4x8 sheet of ABS!

 

the silicone held up well (i have owned my truck for a year and halfish) and its been through a long canadian winter and only let go this fall so it should be a good temp fix if you need it

 

Come to think of it, I had a gf that had silicone and they held up quite nicely too!

 

dude..do what i'm getting ready to do...drill holes in the plastic flare where the blue/orange tabs go...and bolt them on the fender Bushwhacker style



EDIT: when are you heading out to All Pro's desert shack..i'll be there around 5ish friday evening

 

Dang Murphy,

You are beating this 09 TACO so fast. I'm shedding tears and pouring 40's curbside for ya. . . You sure are enjoying it though.

Your TACO will be in prayers tonight
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Bushwacker style? There's another guy that did that on here... It would work. PM to you regarding All Pro Shack time.

Thanks for the prayers... It's all good. I did like it new - but using it has been fun too. It still looks good... It just has character now!

When I am sitting on my death bed I maybe saying a lot of things but one of them won't be "I wish I babied that thing a bit more!"

 

lol, you and me are on the different ends of the spectrum.
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Don't be scared - I have my car that I like dent and scratch free!

 

I replaced one of my orange tabs today. I couldn't figure it out so I took it to my new buddy at The Truck Shop (James, the owner) and he grabbed some special tool that grabbed the broken clip and pulled it out. He then used the same tool to pop the new clip in and then he pushed the flare onto the new clip and voila.


(He did it for free by the way. )

 

Just grab them with needle nose pliers and turn them 90 degrees and the pop right out. You can also get replacement ones at Fastenal for ~90c each

 

Sounds good.... did you glue some kind of boss to the fender flare? Do you have exposed screws? Thanks!

 

Gotcha!

 

For the l-bracket tabs on the flares themself, JB Weld works great.

 

How do you remove the danm flares? I've got all the screws off, do you just pull hard? Dont want to break it, heh.


oops, I have a 1st gen