Opinions on fender flares, to keep them or not? (1 Viewer)

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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 ;)
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Excellent work!
 
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.
Oh don’t get me wrong. The antenna isn’t even plugged into the head unit. I just like that the antenna goes up and down😂
 
The fender flares are the only thing on an 80 made out of fiberglass.

80s are cool and tough. Fiberglass isn't. Therefore, flares don't belong on 80s. I rest my case.
 
I've been pouring over ways to make my flares removable. I'll make it happen one day...
 
I've got two 80's right now, neither with flares. I like the look.

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This white one has the original wheels for a factory flareless truck from 1997. The wheels are 6 x 16 (offset 30, I think), and came originally with (are you ready?) 215/80R16 tires. A guy could easily mount 235/85R16's on them, or maybe even 255/85R16, but that's about it on a rim that narrow. I'm planning on going to 7" wide wheels with probably no larger than 265's. Haven't measured yet, but it looks like there's room. Trying to keep the tires tucked into the fenders--I personally don't like the "tires sticking out past the fenders" look.

Here's the other one:

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This one's currently wearing 265/75R16's on what I think are 8" wide steel rims. You can see they stick out just a tiny bit.

It would really come down to what size tires you want to run and which look you prefer. If you're planning on running 8" wheels or wider, and wider than stock tires, you'd probably want flares to keep the mess off the side of your car, as others have mentioned. OTOH, if you can get a deal on that 80, maybe go for it.

BTW, neither of my 80's have a sunroof. :p
 
I feel the same way about sunroofs. I had it surgically removed from the Holy Truck.
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It seems so strange to me that for Toyota's biggest foreign market by far, they seem to have refused to allow any of the myriad options you could get in other markets. Engines for emissions reasons I could quite understand. But winches, rear tire carriers, barn doors, internal fridge, and sunroofs, why not?
 
In a nut shell, it all come down to what you want to use the truck for.

In a trail Rig you want the tires to stick out way past the body.

If you just going to the mall keeping them tucked in will help keep the side of the truck clean.
 
In a trail Rig you want the tires to stick out way past the body.
Agreed, to a point. Depends on the trails. If you're rock crawling or whatever (which is presumably what most people would use a "trail rig" for), yeah, having the tires protrude can be a bonus. In that case, flareless with wide wheels/tires can work great. But if you're just doing mild to middling dirt roads or trails to get to that great campsite or view, there's little to be gained from it.

As above, it's down to how the vehicle will be used and to some extent, what look the OP prefers.
 
But if you're just doing mild to middling dirt roads or trails to get to that great campsite or view, there's little to be gained from it.
Fair enough, but to me that's more the overland crew.

This is what I call a trail Rig.
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And my friend Rig with a 80 front axle his stick out more then mine !
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And you can see why we want them to stick out.
PS I'm a big fan of both of your 80 and trying to acquire one, if I get it it will stay mostly stock and never see trail like this!!
It's in Spain and I will probably need help getting it imported :)
Cheers
 
Why does nobody make a urethane mudflap solution for the 80s?
 
I ended up buying it! 95, triple locked, no roof rack/wing (which I like), 296k, and a poorly done but 2 y/o paint job. The fender could be added back later, but I like it both ways. All for under $10k in Southern California, which means 100% rust free, like truly rust free. Underside looks brand new. Interior well work though and it has a few quick haha.

Would I remove the fender for my intended use? No, but it also isn’t gonna stop me from getting on haha, especially where if I was as picky as I *want* to be it would double the cost and out of my budget.
 
I ended up buying it! 95, triple locked, no roof rack/wing (which I like), 296k, and a poorly done but 2 y/o paint job. The fender could be added back later, but I like it both ways. All for under $10k in Southern California, which means 100% rust free, like truly rust free. Underside looks brand new. Interior well work though and it has a few quick haha.

Would I remove the fender for my intended use? No, but it also isn’t gonna stop me from getting on haha, especially where if I was as picky as I *want* to be it would double the cost and out of my budget.
Post pics especially the undercarriage. You got me excited
 
Post pics especially the undercarriage. You got me excited
She’s far from perfect but all things considered in good shape it had a front end collision at some point so the hood doesn’t sit quite right and a small little bit of non straight-ness on the PS fender but not really too noticeable. But for $9.5k, 3x locked, 95 in SoCal I think I did pretty good!

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That thing is clean af. Nice purchase!
Yup! It’s THE advantage of living in SoCal when it comes to cars. Everything else sucks pretty much but the fact that nearly every cars underside looks almost brand new is nice.
 
  • Haha
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Flares suck. They get in the way. Make it hard to spot your quarter panels picking a line. Hide mud crud n rust. And multiply damage if you hit one
 

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