Filling the holes in the fenders after removing the flares

I don’t know what’s going on? I used the OEM clips that were actually holding the flares on. The rubber washers I got were 1/16” (2/32) and were too thick for my clips. Maybe I should have bought aftermarket clips? I don’t know. The nylon rings I tried were between 1/16 and 1/32 and didn’t work.

I tried out a piece of 20mil self-amalgamating rubber tape (a wrap for faucets as I recall) and it was a pretty good fit, perhaps a tad thin. 20mil is .02”, 1/16 is .0625 in. Maybe the clips I have had a tighter tolerance? Likely 30mil is the perfect fit. ~1/32. But I can’t find washers that thin.

 

You have to make sure the rubber washer is fully seated on the clip so the barbs are thru. Then it should compress enough to clip in

 

Tried it. Tried a dozen different washers on a bunch of different clips to no avail.

 

Very clever. Having the studs be matte black would also look good. A bit of a Mad Max style.

 

Pulled my fenders off to repaint them. And I've always liked the way it looked without the fenders. Stumbled across this thread and tried it out. The clips I ordered from ebay had some foam washers already on them and got prefect. Glad I'm not the only that likes this look. Thanks for the idea.

 

Do you have a link to the clips? I trimmed/sanded/primed/painted/ clear coated my oem clips, and I’ll be dammed if I can’t get the rubber washer to fit (I’ve tried several different ones). So at the moment I’ve the the clips with no washers and they are a little loose.

 

https://www.ebay.com/c/17018316210


You can probably pull the foam washers off the new ones and put them on the ones you have.

 

Hey everyone - first post - getting the Taco fully repainted and going the "flareless" route. My dad gave the truck to my son and he is still 2 years out from driving so fixing it up for him. It lived in Florida and the red paint literally cooked off of the hood and roof. Full sanding of the to bare metal - that was some work!

When putting the clips back in do you pull from the inside and twist or just push them in from the outside?

Much appreciated!

 

Push them in from the outside

 

Great - thanks for the info - I thought when I pulled them out they need to be twisted then pulled. But I will push them in.

Going to prep 2 sets of the clips for painting this Saturday for back ups.

Any idea on what to do to fill the holes on the front fender - the rectangular holes? I have seen many with them just open and some have aftermarket bumpers. Just curious to hear some solutions for that area.

Thanks again!

Dennis

 

The front and rear fenders use the same clips. Orange clips in the square holes, blue clips in the rectangular holes. This thread is about using the oem or aftermarket flare clips to fill the holes left in the fenders when you remove the flares. So the clips you are trimming/ sanding /painting go back in the holes you pulled them from front and back. Then you have no holes.

Or am I fully misunderstanding your question?

 

i took some 1.5" fender washers and cut them to about 3/4" or so, painted them black and used a screw/washer/nut to hold them in place. not the most elegant, but it was the best i could come up with. for the bottommost one I just slapped some gorilla tape on it since its curved.

 

took a closer pic at lunch. I missed the one that would be in the top left of the pic. that one needs a custom cut to follow the bumper curve. again, i'm not saying this is the best solution, but its a cheap/easy one that worked well enough for me. having a black truck helps it blend it a little bit better.

 

Sorry I meant the rectangle holes on the bumper section where the small flare attaches. I see people with aftermarket bumpers that take care of it but from what I can tell everyone is just leaving those open. Just wondering if someone had a solution for that area besides putting an aftermarket bumper on.

 

Got it - that is one way and pretty good - I just wish the clips for that section covered lie the fender ones.

 

Ah. Got it. Can’t help you there. I’ve got an after market bumper. My oem bumper is up in the garage attic. I would have assumed the bumper holes were the same as the flare holes. Guess not.

 

You sir, are a scholar and a gentleman!

So I bought these for less than the box of rubber washers I wasted my money on. The foam washers come right off the new clips and can reuse them for my already painted clips! Done and done.

 

Deekyn,

What clips and washers did you order and where did you order them from.

Thank you

 

Short answer is that I eventually used these

https://www.ebay.com/c/17018316210

Actually I trimmed, sanded, primed, painted, clear coated my oem clips and stole the little foam washers from the eBay ones I just linked.

Most other people used whatever clips (oem, eBay, etc) and then rubber washers from Home Depot or Amazon you can find my link above somewhere or others in this thread . My clips just didn’t allow for that, to tight of a space. I slightly prefer the larger washer look that eatsleepstacos has in this thread. But I could not get any washers I found to work. Even bought a rubber sheet to try to make my own washers and gave up. In the end I used those eBay ones above and they look great.


Now to try to get rid of the line left by the rubber from the oem flares!

 

Finally finished! Sure love the flare-less look!