El Toro Blanco
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I bought a set of four, used, painted to match (in my case Bright White), OEM flares from a RAM 2500. I found mine on ebay. With some slight modifications, they went right on my Non-equipped RAM Bighorn.
The OEM installation uses screws around the inside lip along with plastic keepers that go into holes around the outer edge.
Your pickup ‘should’ have screws (bolts) around the fender lip that attach the fender to the wheelhouse (fender well). These will match up to the factory holes of the OEM flares. As for the rear, double check for the screws (bolts). I ordered my pickup with rear wheelwell liners, so it came with the required hardware. I have not looked for an example without liners to see if they have the same mounting points already there.
To install the flares there are a couple of preparations needed to be made to them:
Spats are held on with two screws along the fender lip and some clips you can reach from the underside. The rear spat clips need to be ‘squeezed’ closed while tugging down on the spat.
The fronts each have two slide-in clips. These just take a bit of careful finessing to get free. They will most likely stay with the pickup (3 out of 4 did on mine).
Once free, you are ready to install the flares. Simply remove the remaining bolts around the wheel opening, then install the ‘prepped’ flare using the existing hardware.
As for the spats. They can either be trimmed to fit (that’s free) but a bit time consuming…took me about 1 ½ hrs to do all four…, or you can purchase new ones made ‘for the flares’.
Drawing it too low will leave a hole between the spat and the flare bottom. Draw it ¼” higher than I did. Test fit and work it down as needed.
Spats are relatively cheap and the rears are bed-length specific if you would rather replace them vice trim your existing spats.
Once trimmed or bought reverse the process. Carefully snap/ slip the retainers back into place, the reinstall the now ‘single screw’ in each.
If you haven’t noticed by now, performing this modification has exposed an additional screw hole in the fender opening needed for the bottom of the flare. You will need an additional screw (bolt) to reinstall the spat.
The screws you will need to purchase:
P/N Nomenclature Qty
If you want to get real fancy, there is a rubber seal on Amazon that fits in where the flare meets the body:
Amazon.com: D-Lumian Fender Flare Edge Rubber Trim - Gasket Welting T-Style 30 Feet Length EPDM Trims for Car and Truck Wheel Wells, Bonds w/ 3M Automotive Grade Tape : Automotive
To get the seal to install properly I had to remove the adhesive strip due to the thickness of the flare itself. It went on nicely and fit up against the body well, I just didn’t care for the black and white contrast on mine, so I removed it. If you use it, cut it long so you can better trim the ends to match the ‘flow’ of the flares.
I hope some of you who have wanted to add flares, but were unsure find this helpful.
The OEM installation uses screws around the inside lip along with plastic keepers that go into holes around the outer edge.
Your pickup ‘should’ have screws (bolts) around the fender lip that attach the fender to the wheelhouse (fender well). These will match up to the factory holes of the OEM flares. As for the rear, double check for the screws (bolts). I ordered my pickup with rear wheelwell liners, so it came with the required hardware. I have not looked for an example without liners to see if they have the same mounting points already there.
To install the flares there are a couple of preparations needed to be made to them:
- There are alignment pins molded into the flares that need to be shaved off
- There may be also be plastic clips along the outer edge, that need to be removed (white rectangular piece between utility knife and thumb in above photo)
- You will also need to remove the ‘spats’ at the rear of each wheel opening.
Spats are held on with two screws along the fender lip and some clips you can reach from the underside. The rear spat clips need to be ‘squeezed’ closed while tugging down on the spat.
The fronts each have two slide-in clips. These just take a bit of careful finessing to get free. They will most likely stay with the pickup (3 out of 4 did on mine).
Once free, you are ready to install the flares. Simply remove the remaining bolts around the wheel opening, then install the ‘prepped’ flare using the existing hardware.
As for the spats. They can either be trimmed to fit (that’s free) but a bit time consuming…took me about 1 ½ hrs to do all four…, or you can purchase new ones made ‘for the flares’.
Drawing it too low will leave a hole between the spat and the flare bottom. Draw it ¼” higher than I did. Test fit and work it down as needed.
Spats are relatively cheap and the rears are bed-length specific if you would rather replace them vice trim your existing spats.
Once trimmed or bought reverse the process. Carefully snap/ slip the retainers back into place, the reinstall the now ‘single screw’ in each.
If you haven’t noticed by now, performing this modification has exposed an additional screw hole in the fender opening needed for the bottom of the flare. You will need an additional screw (bolt) to reinstall the spat.
The screws you will need to purchase:
P/N Nomenclature Qty
- 6510827AA Front Wheel Opening Screws 2
- 6510175AA Rear Wheel Opening Screws 2
If you want to get real fancy, there is a rubber seal on Amazon that fits in where the flare meets the body:
Amazon.com: D-Lumian Fender Flare Edge Rubber Trim - Gasket Welting T-Style 30 Feet Length EPDM Trims for Car and Truck Wheel Wells, Bonds w/ 3M Automotive Grade Tape : Automotive
To get the seal to install properly I had to remove the adhesive strip due to the thickness of the flare itself. It went on nicely and fit up against the body well, I just didn’t care for the black and white contrast on mine, so I removed it. If you use it, cut it long so you can better trim the ends to match the ‘flow’ of the flares.
I hope some of you who have wanted to add flares, but were unsure find this helpful.
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