GEN 2 What happened to my fender flare?

[daytona1783]

Do you happen to have pictures of the finished product?

See the below pics. The front one I polished. The rear one I did not. The light tricks the eye a little bit, but I can assure you it is nice and even. It is coated with a 2 year ceramic coating.

 

[Kyle@Apollo-Optics]

Just watch your pressure and RPM when polishing plastic. Heat build up is the enemy Did mine awhile back. Not from staining. Getting rid of small scratches from a tree branch that kept jumping out at me.

 

[sofloraptor]

See the below pics. The front one I polished. The rear one I did not. The light tricks the eye a little bit, but I can assure you it is nice and even. It is coated with a 2 year ceramic coating. View attachment 428361

Thanks! I'm getting ready to try the same on mine, yours turned out great!

 

[Don S]

I may be wrong, but I think the only color in 2019 that came with matching paint flares was the Magnetic grey. Mine streaked and are annoying. I'm older with bad knees and when I first bought my Raptor, I changed the running boards to AMP electric. That was a mistake, I soon found the OEM running boards protected the leading edge of the bed and rear flares from rocks. It wasn't long before the bed looked like it was hit with a shotgun.

It was time for an update as several things aggravated me with the truck, now four years old. I dropped it off at the paint shop yesterday. They're painting the four flares the same gloss finish as the truck. They'll be repainting the bed sides where the rock damage occurred. There is also a small panel on the bed side, just behind the rear wheels that is satin finished.

When done, ALL paint will be glossy Magnetic grey. I was going to have the hood scoop painted too, as I'm tired of getting on a ladder to clean the black plastic. However, they wanted $375 to paint the scoop, so I bought the carbon fiber scoop instead for $600.00. I also bought the front fender vents in carbon fiber. My Raptor has the carbon fiber optional interior appointments.

The front seat cushion always had a triangular sunspot in the center of the seat cushion from when the truck sat on the lot when new. Ford refused to replace the cover. It also had a cut in the door side edge from my fat butt climbing in and out. Fortunately, that cover is pretty reasonably priced in the big scheme of things from Ford.

I was a mechanic in my earlier days and do a lot of fab and mechanical work to this day. That dang seat took me over two hours to change just that lower cover. Dozens of clip points and about 8 electrical connections. However, it came out great. I added a piece of black plastic "U" shaped door trim to the plastic on the side of the seat where the controls are located. It looks good and rounds off the edge of the plastic and will be less likely to cut the seat when I climb in and out.

I added some rubber to my front mudflaps (not thrilled about the look) but needed something to protect the paint. I will also have 3M film added to the lower leading edge of the bed and fender flare. I have learned that when I take it off road (not very often) I use Road Wrap, a plastic film that just sticks onto the paint. Once done, you peel it off and toss it. I wrap the bed edge and flare.

I should get the truck back Friday. It will renew my interest in keeping it. It's just toooo comfortable of a truck to sell. We tow it behind our motorhome and is already setup with towing gear and brakes. I only have 28K miles on it....so the money I'm spending is less than the sales tax on a new truck here in the Republic of California.