2021 SR5 factory painted fenders flares to the black off road style, possible?

I have the 2021 Tacoma SR5 with the color matched fender flares but would like to swap them out to the black off road oem style. Can that be done by simply unbolting from the underside of the fender and swapping to the black ones?

I've searched for the oem off road style and mostly find the big aftermarket style fenders and don't care for the oversized look. Has anyone done this and has a link to an oem set?

 

Call the dealership, they sell them but they are pricey. Like over $1000

 

Imo, last thing i'd want is black fender flares on the sr5. When i ordered my truck i made sure they were the same matching color so the truck would have a clean look. Why would someone buy a truck trim then make it something it wasn't? On the other hand those sr5 grills just plain suck..toyota could have done better.

 

Looks like you can do it a fellow forum member TRD_Nope did.

 

You can absolutely do that. They are held on with plastic clips and double sided tape, and once you remove them you reinstall the new ones using the same clips (might want to order some new ones, they apparently break very easily but they're cheap) and new 3m double sided tape.

 

@Bammer55 what color is your truck (flares)? Put a deposit down on an OR but I actually prefer color matched flares--current and previous Tacomas were both SR5s.

Haha I'd ask if you were new here but ~2k+ msgs says you're not. We all have different needs, funds and desires for our own trucks.

 

Take em off, sand em down lightly, hit em with a coat or two of Rustoleum Rust Inhibitor, then go with flat black plasti dip.

That's gonna be my plan come summer time. I can't afford aftermarkets or OEM.

 

Damn, that is spendy but good to know.

 

I bought it in the Voodoo Blue.

 

Curious why you specify to use rust inhibitor as they're entirely plastic?

 

mmmm.... are you sure? Mine feel like pressed steel/metal... In fact, I backed into my wifes car a few weeks ago, dented pretty good, as well as the rear quarter panel and it does not feel plastic. It retained the "bend" dent.... removed some paint and I am almost sure its not plastic.

edit: I have a 2019 SR5

 

2018 sr5 here. I'm almost certain they're plastic, I've disconnected the front clip of the front flaps to drop the front bumper shroud and it bends like plastic. I also have rock chips that nicked it down the black material that looks like plastic. I also can't think of why they would use metal for them anyway.

The black ones on the off road models are all one material, as in the finish you see is what the entire flare is made of, and it's obviously black plastic, not metal.

 

No argument here. Ill take your word for it.
Maybe I can just pop the dent back out of it?

 

Im going down this rabbit hole currently. I bought a used set of flares off fleabay, I think they were 250shipped for the set. I've spent somewhere around 50-75 on paint and sand paper. I used a Rustoleum sandable primer and their truck bed liner in the aerosol form. The texture isn't as overbearing as most liners seem to be but enough that it looks pretty good, afterward I put a few coats of some SEM trim paint. Haven't had time to install them on the truck yet so not sure on that.

 

Those turned out great, you should take some pics on the removal of the painted ones. Im curious to see how much 3m tape they used and what pita it would be to clean up.

 

I don't know much about dent removal but I don't see why not, especially if the paint is intact.

 

At least if you install new flares you'll cover the old tape residue lol

 

From what I've seen in other peoples vids its used along the entire piece. Removal of the tape shouldn't be too bad, just use a heatgun. I'll probably polish the area up cause my ocd will get the better of me.

 

I did this. Found a set of OEM OR matte black on Offerup and swapped them out. Took 1-2 hours with most of that being adhesive removal (would have been faster but I didn't figure out the trick in the video until the last 2).

Any tips for removing fender flares properly/safely?

What Have You Done To Your 3rd Gen Today?


I like the final look on my SR5:

 

Why not just take it over to a vinyl wrap shop and have them do a matte black vinyl on them? Would pry not cost you all that much and if you ever decided to go back you just peel the vinyl, tons less prep work than painting them the right way and you pry wouldn't even have to remove them. Just a thought...