Anyone remove their fender flares for cleaning? Preventing rust?

I was poking around under my truck and found a little gap I wasn’t successfully washing out after off-roading. It is basically on the backside of the OEM fender flares between the plastic and the body, mostly on the rear flares. When I jetted my hose in there I was amazed at the amount of silt that washed out. The water ran dirty for several minutes which told me there was a trove of dirt in there.

This got me thinking I should remove the flares every so often to properly clean out underneath them to prevent rust and abrasion, but I’m not sure if removing them multiple times with ruin the mounting system or crack the flares or the retainers.

Anyone out there removing their fender flares for deep cleaning? Is it a problem?

 

I wouldn't dare, they can come off super easy, or break every clip and distort the flare while removing.

I've never seen rust on an inner fender yet. Just keep up the good washes and you'll be alright.

 

Don't unless you want to replace clips and adhesive every time. Plus every surface is painted under there. Sure, it sucks because no matter what, unless it is completely sealed then dirt and water and salt and crap is going to get up in there. Only real solution is go with the SR look. You have to remember that there are countless hidden pockets that have this problem on every vehicle. Check in the bottom of your doors after a few years haha.

 

I removed mine (along with the bed caps) for this reason. The flares are a salt trap. One winter, and there was salt dust. I took pics of the process and will do a write up for TW. It's summer and will take me time to do, but it will get done.

With ring pliers, every clip came off without breaking. It's patient work tho. The fenders are also taped on, but 3M has a great trim tape to reinstall.

I've been dealing with rusty cars for decades... the flares will eventually cause the quarter panels to rust.

HiPSI is right.. A ton of nooks and crannies. You have to remove stuff to access them. The bottom of the doors and rocker panel area will be a problem.

It may not be worth the effort. It really depends on how insane you want to get trying to prevent rust. For me it's a bit of a game. Lol

 

Nah, it's really not difficult at all. Preventing rust is easy.

Step 1 - live in state where we don't pour salt all over the roads.

Step 2 - drink beer instead of de-salting truck

Step 3 - profit

 

What 3M tape should I get for the flares? My passenger side front flare is beginning to "fall off" the truck. I can see the tape that is on(OEM) there is separated from the fender in a few places.

 

@plode682
I used 38582. If you aren't removing the entire flare, You may be able to pry it out enough, and just replace what's needed with the 3m. But if removing entirety, use a hobby knife for cutting the oem tape,while pulling the flare off. Do a few inches at a time, while also removing the clips. Using a heat gun or hair dryer really helps loosen the oem tape. Be careful to not let the paint get too hot.