Rugged Ridge Fender Flares (97-06 Jeep Wrangler TJ)

Video Review & Installation

I'm Ryan from extremeterrain.com, and this is my review and installation of the Rugged Ridge All-Terrain 6-Inch Fender Flare Kit, fitting all 1997 to 2006 TJs. Now, it's important to remember that this is a four-piece kit. There are some other pocket-style 6-inch flares on the market that include all six pieces, including the small mini flare behind the front tire, but this is going to be just a four-piece kit. Today, we're gonna talk through the installation of this kit, which is a very simple one-out-of-three wrench installation that you should be able to get done in right around two hours, but we'll talk more about the installation in just a second. We're also gonna talk about the construction and a few of the features of these flares.There are a few different reasons to wanna change out the factory flares on your TJ. Oftentimes, they can become chalky and faded in the sun, or you might have cracked one the last time you hit the trail. Another reason is to get some wider flares, which will give you additional tire coverage, either because it helps to keep you legal or because it helps to keep the tires from throwing junk up on the side of your Jeep. Another reason is just because you wanna upgrade to a flare that has some additional style, a pocket-style, rivet-style flare like this one. And regardless of which one of those reasons you are deciding to upgrade, these flares are going to give you all of that, wider flare with additional style from the pocket and the rivet styling, and these are going to be made of a material that isn't going to fade in the sun like those factory flares did.These flares are also going to be a little bit less expensive than some of the other ones on the market, mostly because these are a four-piece kit instead of a six-piece kit, but also because these flares are a little bit more of a plastically type of material than some of the others that are a little bit more rubbery. Those ones are, of course, going to bend and flex a little bit better if you do rub them on an obstacle off-road, where these ones, in my opinion, are going to be a little bit more prone to cracking. These flares are made of a UV-treated ABS thermoplastic material, but as you can see, these do have a little bit more of a shine to them than your factory flares will or even some of the other aftermarket options that are of a similar design. If you like that shine, this is gonna be a good option. If not, there is a RedRock version of these flares that isn't quite as shiny that's going to be around the same price, a little bit more because it does have all six pieces.Now, this is going to be a 6-inch-wide flare, so, again, it is going to give you that additional tire coverage that some of you are after. It is also a pocket and a rivet-style flare, and the rivets that you are going to see from the outside of these flares are the functional socket head cap screws that actually hold the flare onto the body of your Jeep. Some of the cheaper flares on the market will actually have a plastic cover that goes over a regular Phillips-head screw. This is going to be the actual metal, the actual steel, that's gonna give you that rugged look that a lot of you are after. The front flare will accept your factory turn signal, which is a nice feature. You don't have to worry about getting a different aftermarket turn signal and mounting it somewhere. It's gonna go right into your new flare. And these do come with a piece of weather-stripping that will go between your flare and the body of your Jeep, ensuring that the flare isn't going to chafe your factory paint.As I said before, this is a simple one-out-of-three wrench installation that most of you will be able to do in about two hours. The first step is, of course, removing your factory flares, up front, you'll wanna give your turn signal socket a quarter turn, remove it from the housing, and then go ahead and unbolt all of the bolts holding your factory flares in place from the front working to the back. Then you can just give the flare tug. You're going to get rid of that factory flare and get rid of your factory hardware. However, you will want to transfer your turn signal over into your new flare. After that, it's just a matter of using the new socket head cap screws, spacers and bolt hardware to get your new flare attached to the Jeep. In the back, it's a very similar process. However, you may wanna remove that inner fender liner before you get started. That'll give you access to those factory nut and bolts that hold your factory flares in place. Now, as I said before, this does come with some weather-stripping that should be installed before you put the flare on the Jeep. That'll just go right over this back edge of the flare, again, going between the fender flare and the paint.Now, the only thing that can make this install a little bit more difficult is the fact that, with some of the nut and bolts that hold the factory flares in place, you can get to the back of them and the front. So you can hold the back with a wrench and very easily disconnect that hardware. In some areas, you cannot get to the back side, so from the factory, Jeep installed a rivnut. And if you have some rust on your Jeep, the bolt could be rusted into the rivnut, and when you go to break it loose, it can spin the rivnut in the body, making it very difficult to remove that hardware. In fact, oftentimes, you'll just have to cut that hardware off, and then you don't have a good way of securing your new fender flare onto your Jeep. So I would definitely recommend spraying especially those rivnuts well ahead of time multiple times, with a good penetrating oil to give you the best chance of breaking that bolt loose and being able to reuse the rivnut when attaching your new fender flares. Now, as I said, about two hours' time, just some traditional hand tools, but this is a job that pretty much anybody can do in your driveway.At around $230, this set of fender flares is going to be less expensive than the RedRock and the Barricade versions of the same thing. Now, those ones are going to be, in my opinion, a little bit of a nicer material, they're going to include those two additional mini flares, so there are a couple of reasons that they are going to be more expensive. But if you're not worried about having all six pieces...you're just looking for the four flares. Maybe you have some rocker guards, so you wouldn't be able to use those two mini flares anyway...and you like this more glossy look, then this is going to be a good option for you. These are going to fit well, they're going to look good, and they are going to save you some money over some of those other brands.So if you're looking for some replacement fender flares for your TJ, you want ones that are wider than factory, have that pocket and rivet-style look, and are going to a nice job of resisting UV rays so they're not going to fade, this is going to be a nice option to take a look at. If you definitely want a sixth flare, then there are some other options that are going to be a little bit more expensive, but if you can do without it, this is going to be a good option. So that's my review of the Rugged Ridge All-Terrain 6-Inch Fender Flare Kit, fitting all 1997 to 2006 TJs, that you can find it right here at extremeterrain.com.