Hey guys, figured I'd share this with everybody. I installed a set of rugged ridge flatties last christmas and after about 7 months of driving I noticed that the driver's side fender had developed cracks and was starting to flap a bit (see the pic).

I contacted the shop where I bought them and rugged ridge agreed to send out a replacement fender and it should arrive in a week or so...but in the meantime, I was on the highway yesterday and the whole thing tore off, lol.

The passengers side fender is undamaged and the cracks that occurred on the drivers side were fatigue cracks in the plastic that initiated at the point of highest stress (I don't design fenders for a living but I am an engineer with an unreasonable amount of experience in materials and I'll bet a nickel I'm not totally wrong here, lol)...if I had to guess I'd say that somebody screwed up the design and designed them for the maximum frontal wind load the jk gets when driving down the road by itself instead of the max wind load caused by the jk driving down the road and the wind effects of oncoming traffic...which is why the passenger side is fine but the drivers side ripped off....

TLDR: First run RR front driver's side flatties cracked and then tore off....RR replaced damaged fender without issue.

 

interesting...

 

So a short term/long term fix would be the use of a larger washer to spread the load?

 

Yea, the crack started at the bottom edge of the fender below the first bolt so if you use a larger washer it should clamp it down over a larger area and potentially slow the effects of the fatigue....no guarantee on that though, I'd still check it periodically and if I noticed cracks I'd contact RR or the vendor.

When I install the new replacement fender I'll be using larger washers AND trimming the fenders down...less fender means less wind load means less chance of it cracking again.

 

Heres your solution go aluminum

 

I wouldn't buy these, you can get the Bushwacker flat flares and I haven't heard of any problems with them.

 

What brand are the Alum?

 

Poison spyder

 

I second on the cracking... Happening on mine also.. Sucks because I painted mine to match the jeep. Now ill have to start over...

Under warranty though; just found out at 4wheel parts with an inspection. I pick up the new tomorrow. They say that I could either pay for another set and they'll reimburse when I give them the damaged ones or swap on the spot..

These new ones I plan to reinforce the bottoms. I was thinking a sectional square tube framing 1/8" thick or a little smaller with the bends of the fender..tack weld style... Then fiberglass it to the fender - finish and paint like my others.. I'm going to use not only bigger washers but more of bolt to bolt washer.... The problem is the cracks (both front sides of my fenders) are in the bend location where the plastic comes out from the body not the bolt area... Though it'll still mount/reinforce better.

 

I posted this on another thread but... What do you all think about under coating with a rhino liner or something similar... Or a Couple coats of flex seal to help with the cracking.. Think it'll be enough? Help with the flapping and the cracking without making them too stiff if they rub a wall