Factory fender flare differences?
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From: Alberta Eh
Factory fender flare differences?
Hey guys, the factory flares on my FX4 are an eyesore. They are faded to a pale grey in the sun and heat like the rest of them. I noticed one fender has a slight gap between the fender and flare, like the flare is pulling away/warping a bit. I know they all do this, but the grey textured flares look exceptionally bad on a black truck.
I’ve been looking at past threads, and there’s a few that mention factory color matched flares on higher package trucks. These flares look smooth not textured. My question is, are these different flares entirely, or the same flare but painting them makes them look smooth? I’d love smooth black flares, that would really clean up the look of the truck.
My research points to the flares being the same, but they sure don’t look it. I haven’t talked to my dealer to see what they say. I suppose if they are I could just get a body shop to paint them to match.
I also haven’t been up close to another truck of this body style in town to see for sure lol
I’ve been looking at past threads, and there’s a few that mention factory color matched flares on higher package trucks. These flares look smooth not textured. My question is, are these different flares entirely, or the same flare but painting them makes them look smooth? I’d love smooth black flares, that would really clean up the look of the truck.
My research points to the flares being the same, but they sure don’t look it. I haven’t talked to my dealer to see what they say. I suppose if they are I could just get a body shop to paint them to match.
I also haven’t been up close to another truck of this body style in town to see for sure lol
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Joined: Jan 2005
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From: penn twp.
To answer your question, the painted factory flares are a smooth finish, unlike the textured non painted factory flares. But that's where the differences end. They are the same as far as dimensions and how they mount to the fenders and bedsides. Also, something to keep in mind, is that if you take a heat gun on a medium setting and wave if back and forth over your current flares you can restore the finish of the faded grey looking plastic back to the natural glossy black plastic look. Just use some care when doing this. Too high of a heat setting, too close to the flare and paint on the truck, or staying in one position too long can result in damaging the paint and the wheel flare. Start by using about a 6" distance on a medium heat setting moving back and forth over the flare to get a feel for what you're doing. You can also try your wife's hair dryer as a safer option too. It just might take a little longer to get the same result.
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Joined: Oct 2014
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From: Alberta Eh
Thanks for the reply. I’ll have to try that before I go replacing anything. I could only find one part number for the factory flares, so I assumed they were the same but not certain. The smooth color match ones look so much better than mine lol
Edit: you know what I did some more searching on a better parts site, they are different. Some are primed, I assume these are the smooth ones to be color matched. The other option is gray. The gray ones are probly the ones I have. I’m not sure how that got by me lol
Edit: you know what I did some more searching on a better parts site, they are different. Some are primed, I assume these are the smooth ones to be color matched. The other option is gray. The gray ones are probly the ones I have. I’m not sure how that got by me lol
Last edited by 90Ford73; Nov 29, 2025 at 08:33 PM.
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Joined: Jan 2005
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From: penn twp.
Yes, the primed flares would be the smooth style. However, just some food for thought. And this is only if you'd like something a little more unique, but you could also save yourself a few bucks and paint your current flares to match the color of your truck. Just if you want to do that you'd want to clean and lightly scuff the flares with a scotch brite pad (preferably a gray fine grit pad) then clean and dry the flares then spray some adhesion promoter into the flares, then sealer (primer) followed by the base color and finally the clear. Just keep in mind that the color won't appear to be an exact match because your flares are textured and that texture will still be there under the primer and base coat.
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Joined: Oct 2014
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From: Alberta Eh
Yes, the primed flares would be the smooth style. However, just some food for thought. And this is only if you'd like something a little more unique, but you could also save yourself a few bucks and paint your current flares to match the color of your truck. Just if you want to do that you'd want to clean and lightly scuff the flares with a scotch brite pad (preferably a gray fine grit pad) then clean and dry the flares then spray some adhesion promoter into the flares, then sealer (primer) followed by the base color and finally the clear. Just keep in mind that the color won't appear to be an exact match because your flares are textured and that texture will still be there under the primer and base coat.
There’s a guy local ish to me who parts out quite a few F150s, I’ll watch and see maybe I can score a used set of black ones too
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