junkman
12-10-2008, 12:52 PM
I just got done putting these on and have mixed feelings about them. If you are not too picky, and don't care about rust protection, these are for you. If you try to protect your tj, and care about details, you might want to find another flare. I bought them because of the price. Out of the box, they appear flimsy and brittle, but get fairly strong when mounted. No drilling required, but the holes could have been located a little better-you have to really manipulate the flare to line up, and it puts a heck of a bind on the screws. My biggest complaint is that they expose all of the rub marks of the stock flare and they do not protect the quarter and fender inside the flare from stone chips like the factory flares do. I hate rust and stone chips lead to rust! The other complaint is that they come too close to the holes in the body.. If you don't put tons of pressure on them when you tighten them down, these factory holes are partially exposed. After they are installed, they do look good and seem like they will hold up to some abuse. They also come short 14 rubber spacers that smittybilt knows about, but you have to call and they will send them. Overall, they are very good for the price, but if small details bother you, you might want to go with another brand. I would recomend them for the price. If you are looking into a set of these, I can email you some pictures that might sway you one way or the other. In the picture, you can see the white dotted line that is now exposed from the stock flare rubbing. The black is where I stone guarded for the exposed area beneath the flare.