i had part of my rear fender pop off today. there are three long banana looking clips attached to the body. how do i get them to mate back up with the fender? or how can i pop them off the body so i can install them onto the flare and then pop them back to the body?

 

Apparently the best solution is to remove the fender, pull all the old clips, and re-install the whole thing using new clips. It's hard to remove the old clips without breaking them. Trying to "slide" the fender onto the clips (ie - if only 1 or 2 clips break) is tough, and will almost certainly scratch the paint.

It's for those reasons why I've not fixed my semi-broken flares, waiting to buy the Narrow Xenons and avoid the issue alltogether.

I haven't tried fixing mine, just going by what I've heard... as always correct me if I'm wrong.

 

anyone else?

 

I pretty much agree with him.

1. It's nearly impossible to get the fender back onto the clips while they're in the body.
2. It's nearly impossible to remove the fender without breaking a few clips.
3. It is hard, but not impossible to remove unbroken clips from the body. You just have to be very careful not to scrath the paint. I used a small putty knife and a pair of needle nose pliers. Slide the knife under the clip and pull it outward while reaching behind it with the pliers and squeezing the "Christmas tree" tabs to pop it out. Now put the clip back on the fender (or replace it with a new one if broken) then snap the fender back on.

 

The clips are more than $6 a PIECE here...
Another reason I haven't fixed mine.

 

I tore a front fender almost completely off the other day wheeling, it only held on by the very front clip. I was able to reattach it using the clips that were still on it. It can be done, but I am at a loss as far as explaining it. I do know it is easier with two people.

 

I recently had to replace just one clip on one of my fenders. I was able to pull it away enough to slide the old clip out...it was sheared so the part that goes into the body was just gone. It was a huge PITA and took me a while but I got it. I bought the clips months ago from the dealer, the set of 11 or whatever it is was only a few bucks...40 something cents each. I didn't get a lot help when asking about it and not sure I can help even now that I have done it since it was just an end clip I replaced and not one in the middle that required the whole thing to be pulled off. It kind sounds like people are saying just pull the thing off and go all new clips...it will take some force unless the guy swapping his can tell us the trick.

 

if he doesnt reply to this thread, ill pm.

 

Did you ever hear about how Lnufnu gets the fender flares off without breaking the clips? And how to put em back on without removing them?

 

X2

Id like to see how its done too