Stock fender flare removal

[ILROB]

I want to remove the stock fender flares on my ‘06. I am planning on putting them back on. I’ve watched a few videos on YouTube. I have learned that either the fender flare will be damaged or the fender will be damaged. If the fender is damaged, is there an aftermarket fender flare that would still be able to be installed? If the flare is damaged is there an alternative option to reinstall?

Thanks for any help.

 

[Chris]

Nothing will be damaged at all if you do it right.

 

[bobthetj03]

Fronts are easy. A 8mm Gear Wrench works well. You'll need to grab the capture nut on the back side. Most of the time you can stop them from spinning with your fingers, but a pair of pliers or a flat blade screw driver helps. The rears will require the removal of the inner splash shields.

 

[Axeman]

Damaged? you may run into some issues with rusted bolts/nutserts that just spin, but shouldn't really damage the plastic.

 

[ILROB]

Fronts are easy. A 8mm Gear Wrench works well. You'll need to grab the capture nut on the back side. Most of the time you can stop them from spinning with your fingers, but a pair of pliers or a flat blade screw driver helps. The rears will require the removal of the inner splash shields.

Thanks. I have some work this weekend.

 

[ILROB]

Damaged? you may run into some issues with rusted bolts/nutserts that just spin, but shouldn't really damage the plastic.

I am planning on reinstalling the flares if I can get them off. I’d rather not damage the genders to much.

 

[ILROB]

Nothing will be damaged at all if you do it right.

No kidding. Since I’ve never done this before that is why I was asking for advice.

 

[Chris]

No kidding. Since I’ve never done this before that is why I was asking for advice.

Oh, my mistake. They are very easy to remove as long as you’re patient. Removing the rears is the most difficult, but only because you have to either remove the inner fenders or tuck them out of the way near the edges so you can reach the bolts. I always do the latter.

 

[TrueTexas]

On the fronts you can see the 3 bolts that are threaded into nursery's from inside (under the vehicle and from engine bay). Soak the threads with PB Blaster or equivalent before trying to remove them. Especially considering that you are in the North. For the screws that have plastic clips, an open end wrench (forget what size) is perfect to hold them. A ratcheting 10mm will be your best friend for this project.

For the rears, you can to the same on the most rearward bolt but the ones in the front of the rear fender are tricky. Also, for the rears, I pulled the inner fender liners completely out. This gave me the opportunity to clean them and the inner fender wells before reinstalling. Leave them in the sun and they become super flexible. Also bought a pack of 100 Christmas tree clips from Amazon. Have about 85 left over for other things.

The small pieces behind the front fender are tricky, you cannot get to the back of one or two of the bolts so be careful

Worst case, you will be cutting some bolts and buying a nursert tool to put new threaded fittings in