DIY TRUE BOLT ON Cheap Ebay Longbed Flares on a Shortbed!

Hi All, I recently did a bit of an experiment and thought I'd write a little how to in case anyone wanted to do the same. What I did was buy the cheapest fender flares I could on eBay for around $120 shipped at the time of me writing this and fit them to my truck. What I bought were LONG BED fender flares to fit to my SHORT BED. The cheapest short bed flares were well over a hundred dollars more, and I knew I'd be cutting them up anyways to I gave it a shot.



I wanted flares because my stock ones were sun faded and had multiple broken tabs. Also, I'd have to cut them anyways for my wheels and bigger tires that are stuck in NYC amidst the Covid-19 outbreak.

DISCLAIMER: This is a very specific install that I did. You may want to actually cycle your suspension and figure out what needs to be trimmed, however I'm only going to 34s so I didn't feel the need to trim too much. Use the information in any way that will help, as some of you might not even trim anything and will simply use this to convert your ebay flares to true bolt on.

Parts Needed:

• EBAY FENDER FLARES
• 40ish - 18-8 Stainless Steel Button Head Hex Drive Screws Black Oxide, 5/16"-18 Thread Size, 1" Long
• 100ish - Black-Oxide 18-8 Stainless Steel Washer for 5/16" Screw Size, 0.344" ID, 0.75" OD
• 40ish - 5/16-18 Nylon Insert Hex Lock Nuts, Stainless Steel 18-8 - Included with Flares
  
• 40ish - 5/16 SS washers that were supplied with the fenders
• 100ish - Nylon Plastic Washer for 5/16" Screw Size, 0.344" ID, 0.875" OD
• 40ish - 18-8 Stainless Steel Hex Nut 5/16"-18 Thread Size, ASTM F594
• $36 TRIM-LOK - 62B3X1/64-25 Trim-Lok Edge Trim – Fits 1/64” Edge, 3/8” Leg Length, 25’ Length, Black, Pebble Texture – Flexible PVC Edge Protector for Sharp/Rough Surfaces, Easy to Install
  Trim-Lok Edge Trim – Fits 1/64” Edge, 3/8” Leg Length, 25’ Length - For sheet metal fender
• $40 TRIM-LOK Edge Trim – Fits 5/32” Edge, 9/16” Leg Length, 25’ Length, Black, Pebble Texture – Flexible PVC Edge Protector for Sharp/Rough Surfaces, Easy to Install, 150B2X5/32-25
  Trim-Lok Edge Trim – Fits 5/32” Edge, 9/16” Leg Length, 25’ - for trimmed fender flares
• Paint

Tools Needed:

• Hex Set
• Various Drill bits
• Power Drill
• Flat File
• Round File
• whatever small socket fits 5/16 nut
• small ratchet
• $19 General Tools Automatic Center Punch #89 with Adjustable Stroke, Stainless Steel
  Center Punch

One last thing before I start, is I wanted to thank @tetten for his Bushwacker writeup which is what I used to get mine to fit.

Remove Existing Fender Flares

Here's a video for the rear flares: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-BctrACMKk

Here's a video fro the front flares courtesy of @boogie3478 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRhTshBLkZc

Wash and Wax your truck (optional)

I decided that with the flares removed, it'd be an easy time to wash, clay bar, and wax my truck before I never see behind the fenders again. Plus I didn't want the trim on the new flares to rest against dirt on the pain and eventually make marks.



Front Fenders Install

I decided to start with the front fender flares, because I knew they'd be the same between long beds and short beds (duh).

Don't be like me and learn the hard way, cut a panel of the box that the flares came in to lay down as your work surface to not scratch up your fenders.

Next, Install the supplied trim on the flare first



I then went ahead and made a little tool to mark where to cut to leave roughly 1" of flat part on the flare, and marked it after laying down painters tape.



Using the jigsaw, cut along the line you made and then install the hardware on the fender the following way:

- 5/16-18 1" Black Oxide Button Heat Bolt
- 5/16 Black Oxide Flat Washer
- FENDER FLARE
- 5/16 SS washers that were supplied with the fenders
- 5/16-18 SS nut
- 5/16 nylon washer
- TRUCK FENDER PANEL
- 5/16 nylon washer
- 5/16 Black Oxide Flat Washer
- 5/16 -18 SS Nylock Nut

Be sure to leave the second from the bottom hole empty, as that's the hole that needs drilled (Not Pictured)



Place the fender on the truck



Mark where the hole needs to be drilled with a sharpie. Pull the fender flare off and drill a whole in whatever way you want. I used a center punch, pilot hole, final hole. I used a round file to clean up the metal, and hit it with a little bit of paint for piece of mind.

What I did next was lazy but worked. I put painters tape on the fender panel, and with the flare in place traced a line a few inches inside of the flare by holding a sharpie at an angle.

I used a small angle grinder to cut the sheet metal away.



After the sheet metal was done, I hit it with a little bit of paint and then bolted the fender on.



Repeat for the other side and you're done!



Also, if you haven't by now, a trimmed fender panel makes smashing the pinch weld flat much easier.



Now, if you have fender liners and you don't want to trim the fenders or flare, you basically only have to drill one hole to get full bolt on flares. Although I can't attest to the inside part of the flares by the pinch weld and cab mount as mine have been modified for a long time now.

Rear Fender Install

So Here is the experiment part of this thread. Will long bed flares fit on a short bed? Also, to complicate matters, I have a high clearance rear bumper so my first step was to cut about 14" off from the bottom of the rear end of the rear flare. I then trimmed to fit later on.



After holding the flare up to the bedside, it was clear that NONE of the holes would line up. I wasn't shocked, as these were made for a long bed.

I installed the bolt in the front of the flare to hold it on one end and held the other end in place with painters tape to see what needed to be done next:



I could see what this flare, was in fact a smidge longer. So I did what any red blooded American would do and shoved it into place to make it fit:



What do you know, it "fits" The only change is that the bottom of the flare flexes outward which we'll address later.



Well, with the flare in place, use that trusty sharpie to mark where the holes ought to be. Remove the flare. Then use a center punch to help aim the pilot hole drill bit against the curved surfaces and you'll be left with this:



Follow through with the bigger drill bit and then clean up the holes with a file





I'm lazy but I am against rust, so I used the instructions that came with the flares for the first time, by making a small hole in them that was bigger than the new hole in the fender.



I then hit each each new hole with some paint



and then sprayed the inside of the fender with rust inhibiting paint as well

I then cut the flare to the height of my rear bumper, installed the supplied trim and installed the hardware the same way as the front flares:

- 5/16-18 1" Black Oxide Button Heat Bolt
- 5/16 Black Oxide Flat Washer
- FENDER FLARE
- 5/16 SS washers that were supplied with the fenders
- 5/16-18 SS nut
- 5/16 nylon washer
- TRUCK FENDER PANEL
- 5/16 nylon washer
- 5/16 Black Oxide Flat Washer
- 5/16 -18 SS Nylock Nut

Also don't forget to install the stock screw on the bottom.

I didn't install any screw on the underside of the flare, as obviously none of them line up. Also in my case I'm figuring this fender will be trimmed more in the future anyways. The rear looks like it doesn't line up in the photo, but it's just the lighting.



The last step is to trim the part of the flare that flexed out when the flare was positioned into place:






You'd have to look really hard to know that the rear was modified.

Here's a shot after all of the work was done:



Well I hope this helps someone out there, and if you have any questions about my poorly written DIY steps let me know!

 

Also if you are are installing the trim lok, two things make the install a breeze.

A little roller I had from sound deadening my car made installing the trim on the fender panel much easier because you could apply force to the trim evenly and basically roll the trim on. You just have to get it started and then push with the roller along the edge and you're done.



The next thing that helped installing the trim on the fender flare was foaming soap! When a bottle gets too low to be used in the house, I fill it with water and use it in the garage and it was perfect. A little bit of soapy water and the trim slid right into place.

 

Finally. Thanks for the write up. Did you cut your bed sides prior to installing? Mine are cut but I can still make these work.

 

yeah I’ve had a HC bumper for a while now. I don’t mind drilling into the body so I figured with all the wheeling true bolt on flares make more sense!

 

All my flares are bolted on now but they look like trash lol. Just ordered the flares now that it’s been confirmed they work. Working on the bolts and misc items as well.

 

awesome post up how they turn out!!

 

Ever install the flares you got?

 

I’m watching, @Newlife.. lol. I am excited about this one also.

OP, how much, if any do you think these stick out further than oem on the sides?

 

Just see mine in a week or two. They’ve been in the building for a while just bigger things going on to get time to cut them lol

when I placed them on the truck they were about an 1” out further than my current flares. But that’s pre cut

 

No they are all sitting in the box in my building with all the hardware from McMaster Carr. That will be my next weekend project

 

Well hopefully you don't lose too much of that. Its funny I have been combing the web the last couple weeks looking for exactly this. Looking forward to seeing how yours come out!

 

2” I think from the listing


I’ve gotten a ton of compliments on them

 

Any idea what the difference is in fender flares between 2005-2011 and 2012-2015?

 

I"m pretty sure it's just that front part that goes on the front bumper

 

That would make sense. Awesome, thanks. I am glad you created this thread, its great info!

 

Thanks! I always wanted to see if I could make long bed flares work because for some reason they are so much cheaper!

 

Don’t be me.

don’t bolt your own flares on when you kept breaking clips.

 

Ok had a nice flex today and thought my passenger side front oem flare was gonna rip off, so these are officially on order.