200 series LC - take off the fender flares? (1 Viewer)

[TexasHusker]

I bought a green LC with the flares already on it. These things leave a lot to be desired in terms of fitment: they see ivory held on by three screws and you can easily pull the flare an inch away from the body on the arch.

I kept hearing a vibration at 60+ mph and sure enough it was the poorly secured flares vibrating against the car body. So I wedged some 3M adhesive tape in part of it - that should do the trick.

Question ... Should I just remove these things and be done with it?

 

[AL LC2013]

If they vibrated on the paint your clear coat is likely gone and the rubbing went down to or through the paint. They're probably on for good unless you can stand the line it made where the fenders met the body. Take them off and check. I wish gulf states toyota distributors never put that crap on the land cruisers.

 

[TexasHusker]

I don't think there's an issue with rubbing through clear coat - it's rubber against metal. Polishing compound would likely clean it up.

 

[ikeb]

I'm personally not a fan of the flares on the 200... I think they look okay on some of the LCs, but the 200 isn't one of them (Arctic Trucks may be one exception for me... but, while I enjoy looking at the pictures, I don't think I could see myself driving one daily). I'd take them off as long as the paint looks good and there's no holes to fill after removing them.

 

[blatant]

so who added these things? Port installed / Gulf states?

 

[JtBrown]

Depending on whether you plan to do bigger tires and lift, I think they would look great. I also think it looks great now!

 

[TexasHusker]

So I figured out that these were at some point installed/reinstalled incorrectly - they wee missing some clips that force the glare tight to the body.

Without going into a lot of detail, I fashioned some rubber shims that accomplished the sane thing. Pretty solid now - as long as they don't make noise I think they look pretty nice.

 

[Narkhelek]

They do provide some utility as far as protecting the fenders from door dings and what not.

 

[cc1999]

I agree, I have always liked how the Oem fender flair gives it a nice finished look. Plus the added fender protection they provide.

I do think they look best when they are accompanied by a 1.25" wheel spacer to push the wheels out a bit, with the spacers they set just a tiny bit inside the flair.
I have flairs and spacers on both my LC's. I am Very happy with the look and stance it gives them.

 

[Narkhelek]

I think they would look better if they were black which makes a nice contrast. You could plastidip then just to see what it would look like.

 

[UCrazyKid]

Mine are not aging well and I want to get rid of them and have the paint polished to remove any scuffs. Any one actually do this and have any tips?

 

[CruiserEd2011]

Mine were making noise as well. Took them off today. Unfortunately paint is gone is some places. I don't really want them on because they also trap debris when going off-road. The decision now is do I complete the job by taking off the door pieces (which look glued on only) or do I put them all back on and try to install where they don't flap around over 70mph...

 

[TexasHusker]

yep mine are flapping on the highway as well. Awful. Only real good solution is to take the off and have every quarter repainted.

 

[stevopike]

would you say the front wheel wells are smaller because of the fender flares?

 

[CruiserEd2011]

yep mine are flapping on the highway as well. Awful. Only real good solution is to take the off and have every quarter repainted.

After a round-trip last weekend of 10+ hours each way to Branson, Missouri (from Pearland, TX.) and back...It had to be done.

Today on the highway at 90 mph, quiet as can be...huge difference.

But, at minimum, it's gonna take some touch up paint. I'll have to see how the door pieces come off as well.

 

[CruiserEd2011]

would you say the front wheel wells are smaller because of the fender flares?

Only by the thickness of the fender flare part that slides in to be secured by the screws. So a minimal (maybe 1/8 of an inch) intrusion into the wheel well. So combined, adding both sides you may lose a 1/4" at most. Looking at my Yoda, it looks cleaner and like there is more space now, but I think that's just my eyes playing tricks on me...

 

[nvsmythe]

Did you get the door pieces off?

Is it just double sided taped on?
That’s my guess anyway.

How about buffing the lines out where the flares touched? How did that turn out?

 

[TeCKis300]

I like the fender flares from a style perspective. Breaks up the vanilla styling of the sides. And harkens back to old school 4x4.

Would be awesome if someone modified these to use them functionally to handle more aggressive offset setups like Tundra LCAs. Cut away the sheet metal and use flares as they were meant to be used to house a wider track.

 

[pmrosendo]

Mine were making noise as well. Took them off today. Unfortunately paint is gone is some places. I don't really want them on because they also trap debris when going off-road. The decision now is do I complete the job by taking off the door pieces (which look glued on only) or do I put them all back on and try to install where they don't flap around over 70mph...

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Did you removed it?

I ordered some FJALLASPORT flares and got them yesterday but not very happy with them since they are a bit wider than expected, causing my wheels (EVOCORSE ZERO ET0 8x8,5) to be so recessed they would need some 60+ wheel spacers.

If you took yours off, are you willing to sell them?

Thank you.