Filling the holes in the fenders after removing the flares

Decided it was time to pull them off. Now it’s time to work on the clips and gaskets...

 

This is a pretty good idea! I think I like it most because its "undo-able" if you don't like it. Will definitely be giving this a try.

 

Do it! I think it’s one of my favorite mods to the truck. Some how she just looks better, tougher somehow.

 

I think it’s because there is a little more tire reveal. Definitely looks sharp.

 

sub for future reference

 

Just curious if you have a pic from the front, wanna know how the width looks with the flares off. Nice rig!

 

Not that you asked me....but here we are

 

Looks good man, I know a lot of people are against it because it makes the truck "leaner" but I like it. Thinking about doing this since the red on my flares is starting to fade really bad

 

I think it looks tougher, more utilitarian!

 

Closest I’ve got is this...

 

Exactly what I was thinking of if I go this route. Those retainer clips are tough & cheap. I wouldn't mind the contrast either, being that my truck is Silver Streak Mica. Just don't know how pronounce the lines on the fender will be.

 

About a year ago I saw this thread and I thought 'no way, that's way too much work lol'. Turns out it wasn't too bad - a couple nights hanging out in the garage. But my original plan was to just paint some push-fasteners and back them up with washers.



It worked alright. 80% of the look for 20% of the work. But they didn't fit very well. Only on about half of them was I able to get them pushed in enough to grab that last 'fin' and make it tight. So a lot of them were somewhat loose. And a few were even floppy. But they covered the hole and looked mostly a'ight,. But, I was bored and wanted better, so I started in on a set of "OEM" flare clips I had.

These are what I worked with.

NWCLIPS 2006 Tacoma Fender Flare Clip Kit C44-49x4

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0155POBD6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They come with thin foam washers that seem to work good. No need to get neoprene ones.

Sanded them down with the following:

• Clipped off most of the fastener to start
• Dremel sander to get it down mostly flat
• 220 grit sandpaper to get even closer
• 400 grit did most of the work to get it to where I wanted it
• 1000 grit for about 10 seconds just to give it a little more smoothness

Highly recommend laying the sandpaper on a table and rubbing the fastener over it. That will help keep the shape of the flattop. I don't know if these were manufactured different than OEM, or if I just didn't sand down far enough, but I never ran into those 2 slotted holes, so I never had to do the bondo step, thankfully.

Primed with adhesion promoter and did about 4 coats of the Toyota colormatch spray paint. They turned out pretty good. If you get your face up close to them you'll see the leftover marks and scratches from sanding, but they're good enough for me. If anything they just match the rest of the scratches on the truck.

After I got them on I was immediately glad I did it. These do look a lot better - they fit super tight and flush, and cover the holes perfectly. Now if my paint job manages to hold up and not start flaking off after a couple months, I'll be happy. I'll try to post a full picture when it stops raining tomorrow.

 

Fuc king LEDs every hole!

 

@HolyReptar

 

Wouldn’t it be easier to swap fenders and bedsides with a 5 lug?

 

Definitely not. This costs like $30 in material. The challenge of just finding good 5 lug donors, plus hoping they're color-matched, and then the cost of them is pretty extreme. Plus short bed 5 lugs are extremely rare. I could see this working out if you could find someone to trade with, but that'd also be hard.

 

Any of you guys running mudflaps? I had to ditch mine after i got tired of hearing like my fenders are going to rip off offroading. Now im worried about shit flying on the side.

And i kept my stock wheel liners, anyway to add edging to blend the wheel liner together?

Something like 3rd gen guys, something extremely low profile

 

@ducati

 

Fuck mud flaps. That was my first mod, pulling those stupid things. The crunch crunch off road was too much. But, then again I wheel and explore forest roads, my truck is pin striped to hell, so I wouldn’t even notice rock chips.


I’m sure you can get creative with some abs plastic and a heat gun or something similar to give a bit more of a barrier in the wheel well.

 

I love this idea! Using the less noticeable
Has anyone tried filling these holes with bolts that have a hex head on them?
That might look utilitarian tough ic it was done right. Especially if you coated the bolt head with bedliner.

???