Lexi II is starting to look real good. She's waiting for her carbon fiber wing!
Fender flares originated in the racing scene. What they allow you to do is mount wider and bigger tires than you would be able to fit in the stock wheel wells. What you would do is cut a part of the wheel well off, giving enough room for the new bigger wheels, and then mount fender flares on top to hide where the original wheel well was cut.
If you look at the above picture, you will notice that the front wheel well has been cut to fit that tire yet this car doesn't have the fender flares installed in the front yet. They're installed in the back.
I would imagine they did the back first and waited to see where they would have to cut the wheel wells for the front wheels to be able to turn before mounting the front fender flares to make sure they get the flares in the right spot. Also, the guy probably was hating me for taking pictures of his almost-finished car!
The use of these eventually transferred to the modding community. They're used for VIP cars to fit big wheels, for example. And they also just look good. In my opinion, this is one of the best things you can do to make your car look better as long as it fits the overall theme.
Installing them is not hard but it does take patience. If you don't have the patience to do it properly, maybe pay someone because you will need to make proper measurements so that the fender flares are in the right spot on both sides. You also need to make sure you get them where you want them and where it looks right.
Try to get someone to take a couple pictures of you holding it up to see. The lower you put the flares, the lower it makes the car look. In the front, make sure they don't scrape at full turn. This means you can't just put it as low as possible.
Man, they look good!
Installing the Fender Flares
They usually come in black and they're made out of a plastic that is meant to bend if needed. That means if your fender flares are a little too wide for your wheel wells, you can squeeze them together so they fit correctly. Again, they're designed to do this.
You need to decide if you're going to paint them. If you are, which is probably a good idea unless your car is black or has a black second tone, I recommend using Duplicolor 2x Paint and Primer. I used Gloss White.
This is my flares after painting.
Someone recommended that specific paint to me and I've been using it ever since. It seems to come out thicker, doesn't run as much, and the colors look great as well as bond well to plastic and metal. It's just easy to use.
Before I forget, I recommend drilling holes for your screws, rivets, or whatever first. Look in the picture above. I drilled the holes in the fenders before anything else. After painting, they're ready to go on the car.
You will need:
- a drill (a basic one is fine)
- a small drill bit; just smaller than the screws you're going to use *. Use a "hard" metal bit like iron or better because you will be drilling through sheet metal (also iron)
- a bunch of small screws. I used "wood screws" from Home Depot. I got the shortest ones they had. Make sure you get short screws
- ready-to-go fender flares
- a Phillips-head screw attachment for your drill
- a marker or something that will fit through the drill holes in your fender flares to mark locations on the body
*Though you can use rivets and other things to attach the flares, this tutorial will focus on using simple screws. This way, the holes stay small and if you ever want to change the method of attachment, you can.
To start, you will need to determine where the fender flares are gonna sit. Also keep in mind that your fender flares may have two shorter pieces for the front wheels and two longer pieces for the back. Don't get these mixed up when you do this!
To figure out where they're gonna sit, there really is no better option than holding it up to the car and doing your best to determine what looks good. Again, for the front tires, make sure you can still turn them fully without rubbing.
You may want to get someone else to hold them up so you can look from further away or you can have someone take pictures in different positions. It will be readily apparent where they should go based on the body lines anyway. For example, the curve of the flares exactly matched the curve of the door in the location I wanted it on my car in the rear.
When you go to install these, both sides must match exactly. You will need to make measurements. Start with the rear and line up your fender. Take your marker and mark where it sits on the bottom on both sides of the tire well and mark the very first drill hole aswell. There is a trick we will use to help line these up.
See the tiny black line I made with the marker? Well it just happened to be perfectly 6 and 1/2 inches from the trim that goes around the whole car. It's easier to measure from there. I made that line by holding up the flare and marking it real quick on both sides. I was alone - this job is easier with two people.
Once you got your measurement for both sides of the wheel and you mark them, you need to go to the other side of the car and mark where the flares will go according to those measurements.
Now you need to mark the first hole you're going to drill. You're going to drill one hole in the body that you will use to perfectly position the fender flare.
You're going to start with the first screw (rivet, whatever). Line up the flare to the lines you drew and now stick your marker in the first hole.
This is a simple trick. Now you have your first drill hole marked using your marker. Put the fender flares down for a second and drill a hole where you marked the spot.
Get a screw, put it in the first hole in the fender, line the fender up with the hole you just drilled in the body, and slowly use the drill to get a screw through both holes. I say go slow because otherwise the screw tends to stray and not want to go in any farther. If that happens, unscrew it, and try again slower.
Now imagine - your fender is secured on one screw. Just being mounted on that first screw, because you measured, the flare is in the perfect spot; you just lift it up or down.
Lift it up to the line you marked on the other side of the wheel well. Again, use your marker to mark the first hole on the other side of the wheel well. Lower the flare for a second, drill this other hole, and secure the flare (now on the adjacent side) using another screw. This will give you your base.
Now you have it secured in both bottom places. You can't go wrong drilling the other four holes or so. Put the drill bit directly through each hole in the fender and drill slowly - if you drill fast, it will heat up and not drill right. Just as long as you're pushing as you're drilling, that hole will form. It's really just sheet metal. Hold the fender down as well taking care not to squeeze it super hard.
Do that to the rest of the holes. I wish I would have taken a picture but to be clear, again, your fender is already kinda secured in the right place with the two bottom screws.
Right. Once you drill the other holes, now it's time to put the other screws in. Since the holes are lined up, put them in one by one.
Keep this in mind: put the screws in slowly. Don't push the drill trigger all the way. You want to go slow because I don't know what it is but the screws tend to go sideways if you go fast.
Oh yeah.
I tried to write this as simply as possible to make up for the lack of pictures. Everybody should be able to understand but if something is unclear, just leave a comment, add me on Instagram (rokask1), or email me (norgin@gmail.com). Much love - bye people.
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