There may be another way to obtain these items if someone is willing to loan genuine copies of the desired flaps to a manufacturer. (They'll be returned!) In exchange, the lender will receive a set of the flaps. I first proposed this in a thread a few years ago. I'm trying again, and this time I've exchanged emails with that manufacturer and he's agreed to look into it.
Here's a link to that company.
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In particular, note the mud flaps he makes for the Honda CB77 and CB92.
This is an edited version of the email I sent to Clauss Studios. The owner's name is Greg.
The 96-02 4Runner came with 3 different moldings around the wheel wells, depending on the trim level (Base, SR5, or Limited)
1. No trim at all. (Base models, maybe a few SR5s)
2. Thin. Click here for a photo. Many, but not all, SR5 models had this. It was likely an option on Base models.
3. The full monty. These came in two styles. Black, click here for a photo. Or body color, click here. All Limited models have these. Many SR5 models do as well.
Let's call these type 1, type 2, and type 3.
The front mudguards to fit Type 1 or Type 2 are readily available. ... These mudguards don't have to blend in to the fender molding.
The issue comes when you remove the running boards on a Type 3. You need a mudguard to blend into the wheel well molding. At one time these were available from Toyota. They no longer are, and are the Holy Grail for Gen3 owners. ...There's always some guy looking, and claiming to have found them at a Toyota dealer, and then he's crushed when somebody tells him he's found the front mudguards to fit a Type 1 or 2.
By my crude estimation, over half of those 750,000 Gen3s sold in the US (and about 10% that many sold in Canada) have Type 3 moldings.
And here is Greg's reply:
,,,,,, so do you have a set of type 3 i can copy ? i need a good example to make a mold
thx Greg clauss
Sadly I don't have them: all the Gen3s I've owned have used what I call the type 1 or type 2 mudguards. Greg sent another reply:
ok thanks i would be happy to give out a free set or two for the loan
And there it is. Somebody could run with this. Look at Greg's products. It's quality stuff.
If I have made a mistake in my description of the vehicles needing these NLA mud guards, I apologize and invite correction.[/QUOTE [MENTION=105044]davidch[/MENTION] has anyone volunteered their new set of mud flaps for molding? It would much rather buy a set of molded ones... This seems like a great idea to me