Bolt on flare mod (poor mans bushwhackers)

@Rattletrap66

like everyone else i broke the clip holders off the inside of my flare making it impossible to attach my flares. I've seen a couple other ways to mount them that i wasn't a fan of and i can't stand the flare-less look.

i used

(34) 1.5in 3/8s bolts


drill with a 3/8s bit (i used a slightly smaller bit and reamed it out to fit)


first thing to do obviously is to pull off your flares. try not to break those clip holders anymore if you can help it. having them makes drilling a hell of a lot easier.

now id recommend cleaning all the dirt out from behind your flare. pull out those clips. i bet they're destroyed by now so theres no use in saving them. just get them out.

now that they're out break out the drill. drill from the inside of the flare out using the clip holders as your mark to drill. if they're missing a clip holder like a couple of mine just skip it and we'll come back to it.

don't judge my makeshift drill. I'm impatient and couldn't find mine.

the front side of the flare should now look like this.

make sure all the bolts fit into the holes you drilled and align the flare and turn the bolt into the fender. the threading of these bolts grip the fender and you won't need any nuts unless your paranoid. I've gone about 1k miles now and they're still solid.


if you have any broken bridges take a sharpie and mark from the inside of the fender holes onto the flare. then remove the flare and drill where you marked from the inside.
now tighten them down securely. i tightened mine just enough not to warp the flare. i used a socket with tape on the end so i didn't scratch up my flares too badly.


now do the other 3 the same way and enjoy your removable flares

 

Interesting.... I just used superglue

 

use some button head bolts for a cleaner look and more like the bushwackers

 

Looks good bud!

 

i thought about doing that but i kinda like the way the bigger bolts look. i might change to those eventually though.

 

thanks man!

 

My only suggestion for anyone doing this is to use Stainless hardware.

 

i painted my bolt after the install pics to keep them from rusting but stainless would probably be a better idea if your in an area that does road salt

 

I like it.

 

This is actually pretty cool, I like the look better than bushwackers.

 

shoulda used these


or


or better yet

 

So the bolts thread directly against the paint and body in the holes? Potential rust locations?

 

Maybe if you scrape all the paint out of the fender clip holes when threading but I didn't see any getting scraped off. I'm in SC so rust is far from a problem here. You should be fine as long as your bolts don't rust

 

Totally rad bruh

 

All done! Well I need to repaint the bolts. I went with washers as well

 

did you use bolts on the inside or let them grip the fender holes like i did

 

Yes bolts on outside and inside


Hehe I used nuts

 

Lol probably a good idea. I think I'm gonna put some nuts on mine after popping the lower portion of the flare off

 

I LIKE WHAT YOU GOT.

 

SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT