Fender Flares that are cut

I have my fenders & fender flares cut for more flex with bigger tire but now I'm having an issue with them staying on. Once removed the attachment points on the back get weak and break off. So I do not have all connection points on the back of my flares and I'm looking for a solution.
I realize I could drill holes through the flare and attach them with some bolts but I'm wondering if anyone has done something else or has a suggestion. I was also thinking I could use some 3M tape.
Main issue is driving on trails with brush and branches that try to rip them off.

Here is a pic of an untrimmed fender but red dots are where plastic pieces are now gone

 

I deleted mine entirely

have you tried replacing all the plastic clips with good new ones?

I imagine it might be possible to use bolts instead in some of the areas, or add bolts in certain places

 

Once you cut off those screw on attachment points, you really need every last one of those clips to hold those fenders on against the wind. After having to turn around on a divided highway to go get two of mine on separate occasions, I just drilled the plastic through the existing square holes in the metal, tossed in some stainless screws with nyloc nut and wide fender washer to cover the square whole on the back side. Haven't moved since. Definitely get stainless hardware.

 

Yeah after I cut the fenders I replaced all of the the clips with new ones so those are secure. When I first did this I tried to glue some of those things back on but it didn't work at all. I've seen this one guy on YouTube that was doing fender trimming professionally down in SoCal and he would use a plastic welder to secure those things back on.

 

That looks good. I think I'll probably end up doing something like that.

 

I mean yeah, plastic welder might be one way
definitely would read up on whatever the pros are doing

3M body panel tape is strong and removable, but it might be hard to find or make a big enough contact surface
genuine VHB I believe it's called is the strong one.
as opposed to say, for example putting a flexible solar panel atop a camper shell, where there is a ton of contact surface between the two being large and flat

that way nothing is permanently glued on and unable to be removed in the future such as if work needs to be done, additional trimming later, replacement of any clips, etc.

 

I haven't had to do anything with my flares, but I did need to replace the 3rd brake light housing in my canopy.

This is what I used to glue it in place.
https://www.permatex.com/products/a.../epoxies/permatex-black-plastic-welder-25-ml/

I've been over some really rough trails, even shook the canopy slightly loose, but the light hasn't budged.

 

Ripcord’s Tacoma did the same thing. He ended up drilling holes where the clips were and putting bolts

 

I decided to secure the fender flare with small screws backed by nut and washer.

 

Shameless self plug to an alternate method of trimming your fender flares.

-J

 

Nice clean approach for those that dont want the screws showing. I'm guessing that glue has held up well over the years?

 

Yup, they're on there tight. With that said, I haven't had any reason to remove them since I've installed them so I can't say for sure if they would take the reverse torque required to remove the self locking nut. The edge trim though has needed to be touched up with more Goop to keep it installed. The thin sheet metal of the fender doesn't give much in the way of purchase power for the adhesive to hold onto. I keep my lines pretty clean when on the trail so I don't know how they would fair given any rubbing on the trail.

-J

 

I like this! When I first removed my flares I ripped off many anchor points. If I were to do things from the beginning I would have just cut the blue and orange clips off to protect the anchor points from damage. I tried gorilla gluing a couple back but it did not work. That goop stuff you used looks like it did the trick.