Opinions on fender flares, to keep them or not?

[alia176]

We need to talk about your flair....

Wasn't this a thing in a movie called Office Space or something like that? I think it was Jennifer Aniston who worked in a restaurant and had to wear specific # of "flairs" on her uniform, or some such thing.

But I digress......

 

[blobmaster]

First off, buy that Cruiser! That thing is clean, and no roof rails/holes and no moonroof is awesome.
Re the fender flares, I have deflared and I love it. I actually did a pretty muddy trail run when I had only removed the fender flares on one side. I didn't plan it that way, but it was a fairly objective test of whether the flares really do prevent mud getting up on the truck. In my case, it didn't seem to make any difference at all.
Without the flares, my 285/75 R16 KO2 tires on the stock rims stick out just slightly wider than the body, which is a look I like. To me it looks closer to a 60 Series without the flares, and I love the 60 Series look.
I'm happy I deflared.

It still has the moon roof. Honesty I don’t know it it’s a thing that Toyota decided every single one needed in the USA. I HATE MOON/SUN roofs. They all leak, break, and let in heat and noise.

 

[Marco Lau]

or these.....

 

[Broski]

It still has the moon roof. Honesty I don’t know it it’s a thing that Toyota decided every single one needed in the USA. I HATE MOON/SUN roofs. They all leak, break, and let in heat and noise.

So is it a poverty pack ?
I thought they did not come with a sunroof

I'm a no flare Guy because they would not last on the trails I run !!

And yes theres more cleaning involved

 

[blobmaster]

So is it a poverty pack ?
I thought they did not come with a sunroof

I'm a no flare Guy because they would not last on the trails I run !!
View attachment 3103598
And yes theres more cleaning involved

I wish I could find a poverty pack. It’s literally everything I want in a car haha. But alas this one isn’t, and it’s hard to tell in the picture but it does have the sunroof still. Whatever 80 I buy I want to at some point delete the sunroof. The hard part (other than the patch itself) would be the headliner pieces for the interior. Although one I idea I had for that would be to use the sunroof cover to hide switches and stuff haha

 

[blobmaster]

I wish I could find a poverty pack. It’s literally everything I want in a car haha. But alas this one isn’t, and it’s hard to tell in the picture but it does have the sunroof still. Whatever 80 I buy I want to at some point delete the sunroof. The hard part (other than the patch itself) would be the headliner pieces for the interior. Although one I idea I had for that would be to use the sunroof cover to hide switches and stuff haha

 

[Broski]

PS my moon roof still works, is not broken and no leaks.

I still prefer that it was not there

 

[White Stripe]

I like flares. But it's up to you. The land cruiser badge on that 80 is not centered on the hatch. Unless it's an illusion.

 

[blobmaster]

I like flares. But it's up to you. The land cruiser badge on that 80 is not centered on the hatch. Unless it's an illusion.

It’s also not the right badging. It’s from a 100 series I think. He said it was painted 2 years ago.

 

[CPACruiser]

I'm with Adam, I H8 MUD so much that I'm currently hording about five sets of mudflaps from people removing them. I LOVE mudflaps .

If you're removing your mudflaps, PM me for my address and I'll send you some PP

Lol I think I have a passenger side rear laying around in my garage somewhere

 

[blobmaster]

hah I'm glad im not the only one who cares so much about dumb things like fender flares

 

[John Young]

Ok, so here is my 2 cents.

Here is a photo of what I call the Holy Truck more or less as I received it:

Here is how it sits today:

(The little Prado is also something I'm working on. The 90 series forum could use some love, I think, if you want to take a look.)

I am still in the process of putting some black rubber bumpers on the sides where you see the holes. I had thought I was going to use OEM moulding but that turned out not to be possible; I now wish I had filled them in, but so be it.

I'm going for kind of a commercial/industrial look for the Holy Truck, which I like. I've got a Middle East 80 with flares in Virginia that looks just fine. But I do think the truck looks cleaner without them. I did struggle a bit to find narrow enough tires that would be completely inside the wheel wells and still go on OEM rims.

 

[blobmaster]

Ok, so here is my 2 cents.

Here is a photo of what I call the Holy Truck more or less as I received it:
View attachment 3104065
Here is how it sits today:
View attachment 3104066
(The little Prado is also something I'm working on. The 90 series forum could use some love, I think, if you want to take a look.)

I am still in the process of putting some black rubber bumpers on the sides where you see the holes. I had thought I was going to use OEM moulding but that turned out not to be possible; I now wish I had filled them in, but so be it.

I'm going for kind of a commercial/industrial look for the Holy Truck, which I like. I've got a Middle East 80 with flares in Virginia that looks just fine. But I do think the truck looks cleaner without them. I did struggle a bit to find narrow enough tires that would be completely inside the wheel wells and still go on OEM rims.

Yeah the tires fitting under is a slight concern. I don’t get to mud a lot around here in SoCal though so that part doesn’t worry me. The only thing that would is an over eager cop looking for reasons to ding me.

Also I didn’t know those side moldings needed holes, I was actually thing of getting some because I like the way they look as I’ve seen them one the 40th/Collectors edition and seem to block peoples doors from dining you in parking lots. I’d love to get some that day Four Wheel Drive but it wouldn’t be worth it to have to put in holes haha.

 

[MMaxim]

I do not know of any flares, except universal rubber flares, that will fit these wheel arches.

 

[John Young]

Yeah the tires fitting under is a slight concern. I don’t get to mud a lot around here in SoCal though so that part doesn’t worry me. The only thing that would is an over eager cop looking for reasons to ding me.

Also I didn’t know those side moldings needed holes, I was actually thing of getting some because I like the way they look as I’ve seen them one the 40th/Collectors edition and seem to block peoples doors from dining you in parking lots. I’d love to get some that day Four Wheel Drive but it wouldn’t be worth it to have to put in holes haha.

No need to put in holes. The stock moulding comes with little pegs attached, but you can cut them off. Use 3M or other quality trim tape and you are G2G. Stuff mostly never comes off if you are careful about clean application. I'm not able to use the little holes when I put my strips converted from a 100 series.

Also, have a look at my thread on the Holy Truck. I ended up with a set of rims and tires that do not protrude at all after deleting the flares.

 

[Broski]

I do not know of any flares, except universal rubber flares, that will fit these wheel arches. View attachment 3104197

Nice job on the wheel openings.
Very similar to what I did except my fenders bolt to the inner fender wells just like OEM did it

 

[roadstr6]

I love the look of flares on an 80, but keeping them intact is a lot of work if you run tight trails. I try like Hell not to hit mine, and I've been really lucky so far...only a couple of scratches and gouges, but no real damage. If I ever lose one, I'll probably take them all off.

 

[Squeegee]

I believe that 80s require two things. Flares and an antenna that goes up and down. Everything else is optional

 

[Broski]

I believe that 80s require two things. Flares and an antenna that goes up and down. Everything else is optional

Ha ha some of the first things removed from my rig

 

[John Young]

Ha ha some of the first things removed from my rig

I can't stand radio programming any more. I deleted the hole on the turbo diesel after removing the antenna. It was on the wrong side anyways.