Fender flairs

I really like the looks of the flairs, but are they just for appearance or do they really keep stuff contained within the wheel wells?

 

IMO flairs look good for some and provide some protection. I still have my mud flaps on (for now). There is a stretch of of Alaskan/Canada highway that turns to gravel at the AK/CA border a goes for miles into the Yukon Territory. (Apparently Yukon tax revenues are not enough to at least oil the road.) Even with the mud flaps my brand newly purchased 17 ft trailer took a beating from all the rocks thrown at it and my two SKi Doo's. Not to mention how badly chipped the trucks paint would have been without flaps.. There were totally bare spots, bare metal, on the trailers' fenders so bad I had the trailer repainted when I got back. Weather tech does make removable mud flaps for those occasional trips like that for those that prefer the no mud flaps/flair look. I plan on keeping my truck and don't want to open up potential rust issues. That fact that I was in a hurry to get back to CO and driving like a bat out of Hell probably had nothing to do with it at all. (sarc)

 

i think they look good on some trucks. i feel like it makes some trucks look fat. i also feel like they are too expensive for what they are.

 

If I lived out in the sticks and had to drive mostly on gravel, I would definitely use them with wider than stock tires to protect the sheet metal. If you tow anything decent then they are a must have unless you never leave the pavement. I agree they look good on some rigs and goofy on others.

 

I think the color matching does the trick.

 

I have a bonus coming soon. Not soon enough. I'm getting a lot ideas here. Too many.

 

I'm on the fence about my flares. I have the Extend-A-Fender- smooth without the simulated rivets. Mine are color matched to the white truck. They lessened the road splash up the sides but didn't totally eliminate it. I put them on mainly hoping to prevent getting pulled over for the tires sticking out. My tread is about an inch and a half out past the fenders, plus the bulge of the sidewalls. I think the truck looks "tuffer" without them but since we travel a lot across quite a few states I don't feel like getting stopped by a trooper with a hard-on because my tires poke out too far. To me, color matched makes them blend into the lines of the truck a little better.

 

I think the front fender on the truck you posted looks funky because of the way it meets the white plastic bumper piece.

I personally prefer color-matched, but I do think some black flares look sweet like the one in the picture below.

 

Just know that if you ever go to take them off your paint may be different underneath. The flares are a 3M adhesive and so from that point on the part of the fender they are covering will not get the same UV exposure as the rest. My Tacoma came stock with them and I rhino lined them and they looked great. Problem is after 190k they have rubbed against the front fender where it meets the bumper all the way to primer. Have to constantly touch that area up. No one notices but me. Just something to think about. I do like the way they look though. Wish our Tundra's had the flare built into the metal.