Aluminum fender liners

Trying to gauge interest in custom aluminum fender liners for the Tacoma. These are popular with the Jeep crowd but for some reason not a thing with Toyota’s. Probably because no one makes them.

RCR4WD presently makes these out of mild steel which in my opinion is prone to rock chips damaging the powder coating with resultant corrosion. I am trying to get these guys to make them out of lightweight aluminum. As you can see, these offer significantly more protection than the stock liner.

I have no affiliation with fabricator.

Price point $299 if I can get 20 people interested.

Simply respond with your name.

 

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Looks like these would make servicing my aftermarket UCA a bigger pain in the @$$. What would I be gaining protection from?

 

Would these be aesthetic or functional? If functional, what is the benefit over the plastic ones?

Also, is drilling required for installation?

 

Horrible idea. One is going to hear every pebble and grain of sand hitting them as it goes down the highway.

 

Why not make them out of kydex?

 

I think the reason these are not a thing in Toyota’s is because other companies make them out of vinyl/rubber/plastic that covers the same area as the steel/aluminum ones you are referring to

 

Not trying to jack the thread
But I found making them out of nitrile rubber works great

 

Now youre on to something!

 

That actually is a fantastic idea

 

Just to clarify and answer some questions raised. Stock liners cover 33% of the fender area. These cover 90% and decrease the amount of water, mud, snow, gravel thrown at the engine. Not to mention yes, there is an aesthetic component as these look pretty damn spiffy. These are designed to flex with rubber grommets used to mount these to the stock holes. No additional drilling. No metal on metal sounds or rubbing. There is no increase in pebble or road noise for road use. Obviously this will increase with off-road use.

 

A few thoughts on this:

These are popular with the Jeep crowd because it's a cheap aesthetic mod they can add to make their jeep look cool. You can get a set from several venders for $100-$150 depending on what you want. The other reason is that most jeep parts come from bigbox stores like 4WD, and 4WheelParts from companies manufacturing in China. Toyota on the other hand is mostly supported by local privately owned fabrication shops.

The other reason why I think no one makes them is the price point. $300 is already steep for an aesthetic mod that provides more form than function. That said I wan't to clarify that the stock splash guards and liners cover significantly more than 33%, thats entirely misleading and unsubstantiated. They provide almost complete coverage with the exception of the gap at the top of the coil bucket.

I would argue that these only provide an additional ~10% of coverage because the bulk of the liner is covering vestigial items such as the frame. Covering the frame is a waste, we really only need to cover the gaps to the engine bay and the stock guards accomplish that.

 

The total surface area of these cover almost three times the amount of the stock liners. Regardless of where you personally think it’s critical. Shielding the frame in my opinion is a plus.

You can get the liners from RCR cheaper in powder coated mild steel... If you want to hit these with rustoleum on an annual basis.

The design can be modified to be more accommodating to those looking for more access to UCA’s. Presently there only looks to be 4 or 5 bolts that would need to be removed for complete access.

 

I think thats where you are going to lose the bulk of people.

 

What are the black patches? Is that a sticker or an insert or just paint?

 

Isn't there a 4 sale forum for this? @4x4Runner

 

Do these mount to the frame and body? If so that’s going to be an issue for anyone who does any sort of off-roading in which they flex at all.

 

Doubt it. It really is your personal opinion. If you look at the area exposed to the elements you will see areas of your engine rusted or caked in mud.

Powder coated mild steel in the above pics.

This is a post to see what interest exists for a new product most of you have never heard of.

You guys want fabricators to attempt to make new products or not?

See earlier response. No concern with flex.

 

Having just returned from a rainy muddy trip to Moab and also running a snowy/muddy trip last weekend with CST, there is almost no build up in the engine bay.

And while it is "just" my personal opinion, its the opinion of a consumer, the same consumer you are trying to get buy-in on this product.

Best of luck

 

So you use pics from RCR4WD to try and sell products you haven't made yet? In hopes of raising 6 grand. Doesn't seem ethical to me.