So, I got the drivers side fender flares installed this weekend. I wanted to take a bunch of pictures and do a full write-up, but like with everything I do, I got about halfway through and stopped taking any pictures. I do still need to take them all off again to put the new rubber trim in, so maybe Ill get some more pictures then.
Old flares removed.
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I decided to gut the flares to allow for tire clearance and ease of flare installation. I just used nuts and bolts in place of the factory clips.
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Since I had no idea where to drill the holes I had to make my own template from masking tape. this was by far the hardest part and its what makes installing sport flares so difficult.
- I taped off the whole fender
- Lined up the flare how i wanted it to fit
- Marked a line on the tape for the edge of the flare
- Tape the flare to the template
-CAREFULLY remove both the template and flare together while not changing the position of the flare on the template.
-Mark the holes on the tape template from the back side.
-Remove the template from the flare.
-Align the template on the fender.
-Mark and drill holes.
You can also see my new Sport Edition badges. I pulled them off an 02 Sport. So now I have completed the 01-02 sport conversion. A keen eye will know that the sport badges would never have been on an imperial jade sport, because it wasn't available in 2002, but they still look cool.
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Theres also a plastic bracket that I had to install using the same method. I had to cut the square holes for the clips, so that was a challenge. I also used some epoxy to help hold it.
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TA DA!!!
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Theres a little plastic bracket on the bottom and front of the fender that I just chose to epoxy to the fender, I may put some screws through when I pull the flares again.
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While at the local B&R getting parts for [MENTION=167662]Echo_Spartan[/MENTION] 's new 4runner, I found a new upgrade for mine:
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:bounce::bounce::bounce:
I've been looking for manual hubs for a while to alleviate the CV boots and get rid of all the rotating mass in the front end.
I've driven around for a while with the front ABS sensors disconnected to see if it would have any effect on the Speedometer, and so far there has been no difference, so for now I'm just going to bolt everything in with the non-ABS spindles. Later on I'll weld some spindle gussets on my ABS spindles and swap everything over with a press.
More pictures to come of the manual hub swap. I need to get them cleaned up and get the motivation to install them in the hot weather this week. That may or may not happen...