My rear arches have the typical rust perforation problem - it's not terrible right now, so I want to take some aggressive remediation action on it to halt it's progress. My thinking is to cut out all the rusted area, treat it with POR15 or similar, and then leave it open so that water, salt, debris, etc can flow through and I'll be able to power wash the area on a regular basis.

Of course, it would look like hell this way, so I'll want to cover up the arches with removable "flares" - the Bushwacker 20501-02 "Street Flares" would seem to be the ideal solution since I'm running stock size wheels/tires. But do I really want to spend ~$300 on these? Side question... Do they even fit a '87 - '91 truck properly? All the ads say that they're for the '92 - '96 vehicles. Here's a pic for reference...


Regardless, just wondering if anyone has found an alternative solution? Anyone tried the stock arch trim from a more modern F150? I see these available for short money as "take offs".

 

The rears are the same but the fronts are different.

Hope you have enough lip on the wheel well left to screw the flare to

 

I was considering only doing the rears - would be nice if they sold them separately as a $150 solution.

I've still got plenty of metal to work with - it's only just started to perforate through at the peak. But I know I need to get after it now or it'll only be a worse problem later.

 

If you go the flare route, place the flare in the correct spot. Then trace the outside w a pencil. Remove the flare and draw another line 1/2" from the traced one. That is where you would want to remove the metal to. i did this on a bronco i was selling. Cut out all the bed and welded in new. Used the flare to cover up the work and there was no need for color matched paint

 

does any one have any pics of these actually on our year of f150 ? I like the idea but wanna see what they would look like and bought them.

 

F250 but same body style
CCSB **** for Brad... - PowerStrokeNation : Ford Powerstroke Diesel Forum

 

I found a rear-only solution - Warn 26733


WARN 26733 - WARN Rear 4X Flares for 87-97 Ford F-Series Pickup & Bronco - Savanna Jones

They seem to be similar to the Bushwacker "Street Flares", but sold in front/rear pairs rather than set of four. Also worth noting is that the Warn front set is specific for the '87 - '91 trucks (p/n 26543), where the Bushwacker set is really meant only for the '92 - '96 application.

I just wonder if it would look "wrong" to only put these on the rear.

 

They are ALOT bigger than the street flares. They probably stick out a good 2" while the street flares only stick out 3/4".

the beds are the SAME from 87-97 so it doesnt matter what year you go with

 

So much for thinking they were (more or less) the same. And if I was only going with rears, it would look all the more stupid if they stuck out more.

Right, understood. Problem is, the low-profile Street Flares are only sold as a set of four AND the fronts are not available for the '87 - '91 body style. I'm thinking this would be a completely ridiculous way to justify a '92 - '96 "nose" transplant.

 

The wheel arches are the same, so where's the issue?

Not good at visualizing things...

 

Dunno. I imagine there's some subtle difference that could probably be addressed via file, saw, grinder, etc. That is just a guess though.

 

Buy the set, ONLY use the rear. Then when you fix the rot the correct way, sell the complete set

 

For the price of the whole set you're most of the way into a cheap mig welder and some new wheel arches.

 

found these on cl about a week ago. Rear fender flairs F series p/up

 

I actually already own a MIG. I was just looking for this to be a quick and simple project - I hate bodywork.