2-2.5in Front Fender Flares?

[Ike]

Got a PM, so I figured I'd update.

This is my '11 V6, finished. It is faster than my '06 GT by a fair amount. Its vinyl wrapped.
Not too concerned with power for this build, but in handles as good as anything.
These flares were needed for my spindle mod, but they should work on any 05+ car for wider tires, or any reason.

Found and bought ZG flares from http://www.zgfenderflares.com/
they are for a 240z
these are the rear flares +3"
I know i should lower the rear a bit.

I am not looking for pretty, but i think they turned out nice anyways.

Using Vorshlag's pictures of their fender-modding process I cut the OG fender starting at the axle-line smoothly in a radius up to the top part of the flat area on the fender around the wheel.
I used a fine-blade sawzall while the car was on the ground, being careful not to hit the tire, and it was easy. No fender liners.
The flare was a couple inches smaller in radius than it should be for the wheel opening, but it stretched easy enough.
Used zip ties for the bumper, because rivets wouldn't hold in the plastic.

I have eibach r2s, and would probably go with whatever vorshlag is selling/recommends if you have an extra couple thousand.
Whiteline watts/bmr controls/ every bushing swapped, brembo 14 fronts, etc.
I have replaced basically 100% of the suspension components on the car and have just a tune and new ford $250 diff for drive train.

It is impossible for the car to under steer now.

I run square 275/35/18 zii w/ increased cas for mech trail on pf01 (et41?) with a spindle mod from Derrick Rogers in Texas, removed rack spacers, 2.5" custom spacers from motor sport tech (instead of et+0 wheels), and this gives me 65 degrees steering angle from 45 and significantly faster rack speed which is great for drift... competitive road racing was over when they made cars that could corner with enough G force for drivers to black out (1978) jk

Don't need any more tire in back than I could fit stock, but these flares would be great for anyone who want an awesome look.

Suspension in "before" picture is unchanged. -2.2cam 8cas 0toe. steeda bump w/ x11.

PM me if I don't reply to a question you have within a few days.

 

[Whiskey11]

Got a PM, so I figured I'd update.

This is my '11 V6, finished. It is faster than my '06 GT by a fair amount. Its vinyl wrapped.
Not too concerned with power for this build, but in handles as good as anything.
These flares were needed for my spindle mod, but they should work on any 05+ car for wider tires, or any reason.

Found and bought ZG flares from http://www.zgfenderflares.com/
they are for a 240z
these are the rear flares +3"
I know i should lower the rear a bit.

I am not looking for pretty, but i think they turned out nice anyways.

Using Vorshlag's pictures of their fender-modding process I cut the OG fender starting at the axle-line smoothly in a radius up to the top part of the flat area on the fender around the wheel.
I used a fine-blade sawzall while the car was on the ground, being careful not to hit the tire, and it was easy. No fender liners.
The flare was a couple inches smaller in radius than it should be for the wheel opening, but it stretched easy enough.
Used zip ties for the bumper, because rivets wouldn't hold in the plastic.

I have eibach r2s, and would probably go with whatever vorshlag is selling/recommends if you have an extra couple thousand.
Whiteline watts/bmr controls/ every bushing swapped, brembo 14 fronts, etc.
I have replaced basically 100% of the suspension components on the car and have just a tune and new ford $250 diff for drive train.

It is impossible for the car to under steer now.

I run square 275/35/18 zii w/ increased cas for mech trail on pf01 (et41?) with a spindle mod from Derrick Rogers in Texas, removed rack spacers, 2.5" custom spacers from motor sport tech (instead of et+0 wheels), and this gives me 65 degrees steering angle from 45 and significantly faster rack speed which is great for drift... competitive road racing was over when they made cars that could corner with enough G force for drivers to black out (1978) jk

Don't need any more tire in back than I could fit stock, but these flares would be great for anyone who want an awesome look.

Suspension in "before" picture is unchanged. -2.2cam 8cas 0toe. steeda bump w/ x11.

PM me if I don't reply to a question you have within a few days.

Interesting, did you order the complete kit front and rear from them? If so, do you have/could you take a picture of the "front" 240Z flares on the rear of the car to see if they fit? Would be interesting to add a lot more flare in the front and have the rears kind of evened out for more tire! For the $160 for a complete kit, it's pretty cheap and it looks pretty good on your car.

 

[Ike]

Thanks!

No, I only ordered the rears for the front. To get rid of understeer, not achieve ultimate cornering.

I think you can fit 3-somethings stock in the rear, and I'm stuck at 275 max in front with the spindle mod. Without the spindle mod, you could probably match the 3-something all around, but with rear flares you'd need spacers or staggered tires if ultimate corner grip is the goal.

 

[mavisky]

Found and bought ZG flares from http://www.zgfenderflares.com/
they are for a 240z
these are the rear flares +3"
I know i should lower the rear a bit.


I run square 275/35/18 zii w/ increased cas for mech trail on pf01 (et41?) with a spindle mod from Derrick Rogers in Texas, removed rack spacers, 2.5" custom spacers from motor sport tech (instead of et+0 wheels), and this gives me 65 degrees steering angle from 45 and significantly faster rack speed which is great for drift... competitive road racing was over when they made cars that could corner with enough G force for drivers to black out (1978) jk

Funny, I used the same flares on my old Eagle Talon to fit 275/40-17's on 17x9" +24mm FR-500's.

 

[Vorshlag-Fair]

Ahh, the $200 bolt-on 240SX flares are back. That's a blast from the past for me! Cannot count how many cars we've put those on (and later removed them from)



The BMW E36 above was one of the nicest looking set-ups we ever saw with these 240 flares. This car came with 7.5" wide front wheels but was using 18x10's with 285/30/18s in this picture. These flares have to be cut and reshaped and reworked to fit most cars.



The two additional E36s above both had them as well, but the LS1 powered white E36 on the left had more suspension travel. This car had 17x10/275 tires up front and 17x11/315 tires out back (and made 490 whp and weighed 2550 pounds).



The image above is the same white LS1 powered E36 after I added steel fender flares and had a buddy bodywork then paint the work. Same wheels/tires but now with welded, bodyworked and painted flares in the same body color.



When we used to do these metal flares we started with a specific pair of OEM steel front fenders (above) and cut off the stamped "flare" section...



Those are fitted and trimmed and the wheel openings enlarged to fit, matching the wheel opening radius to the flare...



Then the paint is removed, the flare is clamped in place, and hundreds of tack welds are added to join the flare to the stock fender... don't want to warp the thin fender sheet metal.



Once a continuous weld is done it is ground flat (again, watching for heat!) and then bodyworked and painted. We usually have to do some fender rolling/lip reshaping before paint begins, too.



I've used this same steel flare on lots of cars, like the Subaru with 18x10s shown above, lots of BMWs, etc.



The front is actually pretty easy (maybe 15 hours of labor) but the REAR fenders on a unibody car are ALWAYS harder to flare properly, to have real suspension travel for wider wheels. Not "hellaflush/VIP" style, where the tire touches fender, but "take it to the bump stops and clear the tires" kind of room. You always end up cutting the hell out of the rear wheel structure. The car above had 2 layers of steel but most cars have 3 back here, and when you cut it up enough for proper travel you have to "rejoin" these sheets to have any structure.



That's the part that gobbles up the time - making patches and welding it all together. There's no way to get all of the undercoating off so we usually pull all the rear interior parts, and while someone welds another person is inside the car putting out fires with a water bottle - constantly.

The work for clearancing the rears often take me 25-30 hours to cut, patch together, seam seal, THEN add the rear flare. That's the same amount of work whether you do bolt on flares like the 240 stuff or weld on steel flares. This rear unibody rework was so significant it DWARFS the cost of the actual composite flares (often $200).



Sometimes you add SO much tire width that a little bolt on or weld on flare won't cover it...



Which was the case on our $2010 GRM Challenge BMW E30 V8 build.



We started in cardboard, transferred to sheet steel, then started fabricating BOX FLARES.



It looks easy but we easily spent 120 hours in metal and body work.



But an 18x11" wheel at all 4 corners really worked well on this 2500 pound beastie.



It looked kinda nasty in steel...



And looked even meaner in flat black...



And when we did the BMW Art Car look it really came alive. It took 2 years, but we won that magazine shootout in 2011.



My point is this - when done properly, nothing looks as good a seamlessly welded, steel flares that have been bodyworked and painted by a pro. The car above was the same one at the very top of this post, but now in steel. It looked factory, yet everyone that saw this car KNEW it was running huge tires. That's what $4000 in bodywork and fabrication will get ya.

I have finally learned that there are folks better at this stuff than me, and now I always take our cars to a proper body shop to have flare work done by real professionals. It always looks better than the home-built hack job flares I've done.

Good luck,

 

[mavisky]

I agree wholeheartedly, but when it comes to getting dirty for the fewest dollars possible, the 240z flares are hard to argue with. I actually sold mine off after parting the car out to another DSM owner at the time.