I saw a 4Runner in Charlotte, NC last week that was lifted, lit up, and tinted...man it was nice. Had a really nice roof rack and some cool stickers on the back windows....then I saw where he took off the running boards and just left the flares flapping in the wind....
Moral of the story is, if you're gonna take you running boards off make sure you have the mud flaps to finish the flares...otherwise it looks really goofy. That, of course, is my very humble opinion.