Flares Retaining Trim

[Butchershop]

So, I started taking off the flares to sand and repaint them today. Broke 4-5 of the mounting bolts on the first one and stopped. PB blasted the others, hoping that will help tomorrow after an overnight soak.

 

But...if that doesn't work, is there any good fix to this issue -- rather than buying replacement parts?

 

I really want to get them off. The first one had a cup full of dirt behind it.

 

Also noticed the right rear had an additional cover over it (the only one that had it). Don't imagine those lasted too long on most trucks. Are they generally replaced or left off?

 

Thanks for the advice!

[sinkrun]

I think if the rest is good you grind and drill out the broke bolt and weld new threaded studs in place.

[Keyav8r]

I think somebody had a thread on replacing the studs for the flares. There are also some posts about just replacing the hardware with regular bolts and fender washers. I'll try a search for the stud replacement and post if I find anything.

[Keyav8r]

Couldn't get any good results searching for flare stud replacement, flare repair, flare studs, etc. When I searched for flares I got every post that had the word in it. IDK if there's a better way to search, but it seems harder after the upgrade. I'm not complaining about the upgrade because I think it's great overall. I just can't seem to retrieve info as readily as before. Probably just my old technology challenged brain.

[Butchershop]

I think somebody had a thread on replacing the studs for the flares. There are also some posts about just replacing the hardware with regular bolts and fender washers. I'll try a search for the stud replacement and post if I find anything.

 

I searched too before posting. All I found was this:

http://comancheclub.com/topic/30853-stock-fender-flare-brackets/page__hl__studs#entry316899

 

Hope the soak helped. Will know later today.

 

Free advice: don't use PB Blaster in the garage regardless of how cold and windy it may be outside. Stinks to high heaven. And permeates the house too. Would'nt be surprised if knobs start falling off the kitchen cabinets!!! LOL.

[RochesterMJ]

Just did this myself on the fronts. Drill out the broken studs, if you're not also replacing the fender liners, loose bolts should work fine. If you're replacing the fender liners, replace the broken studs with weld studs or JB Welded bolts. my experience is below:

 

Initially tried to buy new brackets from Quadratec but three of the six were on never-ending back order with Crown. Waited for 6 months like a dummy until after the weather turned cold.

 

Drilled out the old studs and tried using loose bolts but found it too frustrating because I was also installing new fender liners. The lip of the fender liner limits access to the bolt heads (inside the flare) and the liners themselves have to be manhandled to get the holes to kinda line up (some combination of poor quality and cold weather - especially on the passenger side).

 

Became obvious that fixed studs were the answer, I don't have a welder so I used JB Weld to secure the bolts, this made the install infinitely easier. Found that it was easier to install the liners first, then I snapped the brackets into the flare and brought that to the fender. Get the studs through the fender and liner holes throw on some washers/nuts and you're done. Preheating the liners helps if its cold out. I had to rework the bottom rear of the liner (relocated 2 holes and remolded with a heat gun) to get the lip to fit in the flare. Again, if you're not replacing the liners this shouldn't be a problem for you.

 

Hope this helps. Also, if you have trouble getting the flares off its because some of the studs have two fasteners on them: the nuts that you broke off and then some of the studs also have a pushnut that hold the flare directly to the fender. I had to grind those push nuts off.

 

I don't remember where I got the liners but it was on E-Bay and they were $20-25 ea? Made in Taiwan. They're pretty thin and I wasn't happy with the fit but they did take a lot of abuse and didn't crack or tear during installation. TeamCherokee has original replacement liners for more $

[ParadiseMJ]

Drill out the broken studs, replace the broken studs with weld studs or JB Welded bolts.

 

This what worked for me. I had to start from scratch on this as the PO just ripped the flares off and almost all the studs/bolts were broken off as well. Once the flares are on there is minimal pressure, no heat, on them so they just sit there...the JB has held up fine for 3+ years. I used stainless steel bolts/nuts. I'm probably never going to remove the flares and everything is tight.

 

Just one caveat. Make sure you grind off the old studs/bolts and drill from the stud head side...use a center punch to orient the holes and a good sharp bit to drill, some of the holes are slightly off center because the drill drifted off just a hair. It just makes it 10 times easier in the long run as you won't have to try to line everything up, they should just pop on like they were stock.

[Butchershop]

Thanks guys. This info is very helpful.

 

Did you use a drill press or hand tool to drill out the broken studs? I used a hand drill to drill out the rivets on my bench seat for the conversion to buckets and that was a pain. A press would have been super.

[Eagle]

I used a drill press. It's much easier to locate the holes accurately, and to get them straight. The original studs are 5mm. I replaced with 6mm, and I drilled holes that were slightly undersize so I could tap the holes and have the new ones screw in. That's why it was important for the holes to be straight. If you're just going to tack weld or J-B Weld maybe that's not as critical.