We tried front and rear. Clearly, the problem is that the little King Ranch flat flares from Ford were not taken into consideration when Bushwacker designed their flares. All the complaints I found on the internet had KR too.

FRONT: We installed one. They don't line up well with the holes, but they are close, so I could force it over or drill a hole 1/4" off. But once mounted it's apparent that the thickness of the KR flat flares means that the Bushwackers mount too low. They stand away at the lower rear, and the front sags down halfway to the bumper. There's no way to fix this without drilling into the truck's sheet metal to pull them up. Not willing to do that to my truck.









REAR: We studied the mounting hardware and instructions closely. They want us to use elongated tinnerman clips that slide over the truck's fender lip, with a protective adhesive plastic pad to protect the fender sheet metal. But right next to the fender lip is the lip of the KR flat flares. And a 1/4" gap in between. So it's more than triple thickness! There is no way to bend that tinnerman clip to fit over both lips. No way. And even if we worked around that, the Bushwackers would hang low again.



SUMMARY:
These flares won't fit a truck with King Ranch pack. I am NOT impressed with Bushwacker, now part of Lund since 2015.

The corners of the flares arrived scratched too. See the closeup of the fender/bumper/flare fit. I didn't do that damage.

 

You have to take the factory fender flares off before you put the bushwackers on no will make one to go over the factory ones

 

I undid the fasteners, then pulled and tugged. They seem to be glued on. Not doing that to my truck.

 

You are trying to put a flare on top of a flare. Why?

 

The decorative KR flare-lets, to coin a word, extend a half inch and do nothing to catch mud. They're really only cosmetic. I need bigger flares due to 37x10.5 tires on 10" wheels.

Too bad Ford attached the flare-lets so permanently. I tried tugging on them but they seem like they'd break rather than let go.

 

I think the point here is that Bushwacker should note the issues with KR and the mini flares. If you purchase a no drill bolt on product and you are required to removed a factory part on a particular trim level then the consumer should know before the purchase. Especially if the removal of the factory part is not straight forward unbolt. I just purchased some bushwackers also and was never asked if my truck was a KR, its not so I did not have the issues listed here but I understand the frustration of the OP.

 

FYI from what I am reading the factory flares have some pretty stout double sided tape on them, but people have been able to remove them.

OEM Fender Flare Removal - Ford Powerstroke Diesel Forum

 

Were it 2 months ago and TX heat a factor, I might have tried it. But now we have only moderate temps, and in my life I've already broken or white-lined enough plastic trim trying to remove it. I don't want to have to yank perfectly good parts of my truck because Bushwacker is too incompetent or lazy (or worse) to mention the interference with KR trucks. Most trucks that Ford sells now are a high-line trim and KR is by far the most popular. So imho Bushwacker is deliberately staying mum on the issue to allow more sales.

I can't be the first person to complain. They know. And believe me, Monday morning right after coffee they are going to hear from me.

 

I have a 2 tone (which comes with the same factory flares as yo have). You have to remove them first. I had a body shop paint them & install them, so they remove the factory ones, but I do know that you have to take them off before installing the new ones.

 

I don't know the numbers but i'm gonna go out on a limb and say the King Ranch is not the most popular trim. I'm sure Bushwacker isn't deliberately staying mum for sales...maybe there should be a disclaimer to remove OEM flares but I would consider it a no brainer

 

I only know what the dealer tells me. Maybe it's just Texas. KR outsells the others due to the sturdy leather.

 

I paid an outfit to install my bushwacker flares and a second company to redo it as the first didn't remove the factory flares. I spoke to the ford dealer after the fact and they said they install over the top of the front factory flares. I know both companies that worked on my bushwackers had a lot of trouble getting the factory flares off. I called bushwacker and they said to remove the factory flares but the documentation only states that for the platinum models, to which the first installer referenced which lead to the second shop redoing the flares.

 

I'd say it's probably most popular in Texas. I'm in the northeast and Lariat is the most popular high trim, I only occasionally see a King Ranch.

 

The doc in my box says nothing about trim levels at all. Bushwacker's website doesn't even list flares for any 2017 Ford (Ford | Bushwacker), and the Installation Guides section also is missing any information on 2017s. Where did you get that doc? Or was it a 2016 model?

 

I'm sure it came from the box with the flares. I called Bushwacker to get a part # because no 2017 parts are listed on their website and was told their website has not updated properly. I installed a set on my 2017 platinum this past weekend and was not impressed. Both front flare brackets had to be re-drilled in order to fit. Pretty poor IMO for such a premium priced product.