Fender Flares with Raptor Liner

Hi everyone!! Finally got around to doing my fender flares in Raptor Liner. Removing the fenders wasn't a huge issue. None of the bolts are hidden/hard to get to. If you have mud flaps just make sure to take those off too. The entire process took me about half a day or so. In no way shape or form do I have painting experience so Google, Youtube and TW were definitely my best friends during this entire process. I think my own inexperience caused me to spray in a way that 2 of my fender flares have some patchy spots on them but overall I am very very happy with the result!

So I used a 10mm socket wrench, about 1.5 cans of the Raptor truck bed coating which I found on Amazon and Dupli-Color Plastic Adhesion Promotor. This is what I used because I saw a video on Youtube where this is what the person used when he sprayed Raptor Truck Bed Coating. The beer is just A MUST at this point (had it at 9am!)

The 3M double sided strip I used is NOT like the factory foam one. I originally had the foam one from Amazon from I thought I wanted to replace my factory fender flares with aftermarket ones and when I stuck them back on I had a really hard time with it not folding on the curved parts and I ended up with more gap in between the truck body and fender flare than I wanted. The one pictured is on the thinner side but it's been a week since I've stuck them on and they seem like they are holding up just fine.



Other items not pictured: drop sheets from Home Depot, 100 and 150 grit sandpaper and the orange and blue clips which I also found on Amazon. Thank you TW!! Luckily, I only used maybe 2 or 3 of the clips.


Like I mentioned if you have mud flaps be sure to take these off also. They use the same 10mm bolts. Mine are factory and I have them both in the front and back.


You'll have something like this when you're able to take the fender flare off. Removing the adhesive is the actual hard part of this whole project. LOL. My fingertips were sore afterwards! Some of it will be stuck on the fender flare and some will still be stuck on the truck body itself.


I cleaned each flare with some dish soap and water and dried them before sanding each one with 100 grit then followed it with 150 grit. Wipe clean then done.


I worked out of the other side of my garage. I laid down some drop sheets from Home Depot and improvised with some red cups to prop up the fender flares. I don't have a workhorse table or anything and I saw this similar set up on another post. Worked great actually! Definitely kept the fender flares off the ground and didn't interfere with the spraying process.


Here are all four sprayed with the Dupli-Color. I ended up having to 'prime' each one separately. I did about 2-3 coats on each fender flare. I went between spraying a coat then sanding another flare outside on my table. The can says to wait about 2-3 mins between coats and I probably did about 5 mins in between each one.


Raptor liner sprayed!! The spray comes out pretty good. I got kinda worried about my flares being white and actually turning them black. As you can see the first two flares are a little patchy.


This is after a 2nd coat. The can said to wait about 20 mins between each coat. It was pretty dry to touch after 30mins. When I did this project the weather was on the warmer side and there was a bit of humidity and I think that probably contributed to a longer drying time.


The can says to wait about 3 hours before actually handling the flares so after a few errands the flares felt ready to put back on. Before doing this I looked at each one out in the actual sun to see parts I might have missed and ended up spraying the other 2 a little more to make the 4 of them look a little more uniform.

Finally put them back on in the afternoon!







Some white showing through. You can't really see it since it's the top part of the flare and it's already close to the body. You'd have to get this close to actually see it.


This side is patchier IDK why it ended up this way but I am still super happy about it since it's a DIY anyway.





Overall not a bad project to do for one person. It would've been nice to have an extra pair of hands to help remove all the adhesive LOL. I also cleaned the part under the fender flare itself. This isn't something you have to do but since they were already off I just decided to do it.

Take your time putting the adhesive back on before you replace your fender flares. I think there's such a small space to actually stick it on and putting it too close to the edge will definitely result in the adhesive sticking out above your flare when it's placed back on.

If you end up breaking any of the blue or orange clips you can use a vise grip to turn then a little bit and they should pop right out.

Remember to be patient when you take the flares off and put them back on. When I put them back on I started with one clip on either end and the rest usually follow. AND DON'T FORGET TO PUT YOUR MUD FLAPS BACK ON! So you're not driving around with just 3 or something like that.

After everything, all I can say is I really love the look first of all. I've been looking forever for black factory fender flares with no luck. I could not justify getting the TRD Pro ones when they're literally $200 each and besides I actually dig the texture from the Raptor liner. I went with Raptor liner instead of Plasti Dip (which could've been easier to apply) because I was concerned that if any gas dripped onto the fender flare then it would 'eat' away at it.

Anyway thanks for reading!! Would love any input for future reference!!

 

The black on white looks so much better!!

 

Great post OP!

Lots of detail to help those that are interested in completing the same project

 

Great write up OP! I did the same thing with my flares about 2 years ago and it’s help up extremely well. Just like you a have some sports that show through but I’ve also picked up some rock chips, trail marks, etc so it doesn’t bother me in the slightest.

 

Cool thanks for the feedback everyone!

UPDATE: Had my carwash guy come by today and wash the Taco, so far it looks fine LOL. Kind of wish the adhesive was more like the factory one. I've tried looking for it but so far it looks like all I can do it get it from a dealership near me and it's basically $80

 

Looks great OP

 

It's no wonder that you don't have a workhorse - they eat so dang much. You should get a saw horse instead...

 

9am beers and SOLO cups for the DIY win.

Well done sir.

 

Great job @Vjustinc! Very well done! I'm hoping to find some fender flares for my SR5 in any color and do a similar process!