Flare End Caps (1 Viewer)

[Irish Reiver]

Last week i installed my 4x4 Labs rear bumper. I went with the rear mud flaps but after 1 week i think they look hideous. I plan on removing them this weekend. I also binned the running boards as part of my remodel so now i am looking for a solution to make the flare look finished. A search showed that @D farms was looking in to 3D printing some. Not sure if this is a real solution but in any case it is still vapourware.
Does anyone else have alternate solutions?

 

[Malleus]

I haven't seen any, but I'd be leery of 3d printed exterior trim components. From what I've seen, this technology is really only useful for prototyping and light duty applications. I work in an industry that's exploring this on a large industrial scale.

I'd make an interior trim part this way in a minute, that would be a really cheap way to produce one-off replacement parts, but anything requiring tensile or flexure strength or resistance to fatigue is unlikely.

Immediately following this post will be 18 people who can give you examples of why I'm wrong. My experience so far though, is that the claims are more advertising than anything else.

 

[tacoma2002]

I actually saw some that were printed. They didn't look very "finished". Almost like milling a part then not sanding and polishing it...very crude.

Not sure about tensile strength.

 

[inkpot]

Ends of the flairs are not a real high load/stress location. Caps would be primarily cosmetic.

 

[Fj81]

3d printed caps were recently talked about in another thread. As inkpot mentioned, they are not high stress pieces, just pleasing to the eye so the flares look more complete.