RN M OVR

Warrior Products is selling their steel tube fender flares for $299.99 ($600 total for front and rear).

River Raider is selling their steel tube fender flares for $999.99 (4 set), and they have different sizes.


Questions:

1.) Which brand do you prefer? Why?

2.) Doesn't $999 for tube fender flares seem kind of steep, or am I the only one who thinks that?

3.) Does anyone have a picture/link of the Warrior Products tube fender flares on the JK? I've seen the TJ pictures, but no JK ones.

4.) Are there any other makers currently producing steel tube fender flares that are available? No offense to anyone, but I'm not into the whole Xenon plastic ones.

I'm asking these questions because I really want some steel tube fender flares for my JK because my factory plastic ones, although do their job, seem to come undone sometimes from their prongs after/while offroading. I have plenty of clearance from the tires to the fenders, but some AZ trails aren't that nice. If I'm going to get rid of them, I'm going steel.

Anyway, I'd really like to hear everyone's opinions and knowledge about these two products.

Thanks!

HarryHood1

River raider all the way.

wayoflife

i have seen both up close and can tell you that if i had to choose between the two, i'd pick neither. but, if neither weren't an option, i'd have to go with the river raiders. the warrior flares are too wide for my taste, the diamond plate is over the top, handling them, they seemed pretty flmisy and last but not least, they have a terrible fit. as you can see in the pics below, there are big gap where the fenders come together with the body....





having said that, you will notice that the river raiders come with a thick cottage cheese like finish and from what i understand, it is used to hide imperfections in their metal work. i have seen one person get his bare metal but it came with huge amount of bondo on it to smooth out its flaws and imperfections. needless to say, i would prefer my metal work to be finished with metal and not bondo especially if i were paying $1k for it.

another thing you should be aware of, while the factory flares are flimsy, when hit by rocks, they will not damage the body of your jeep the way steel tube fenders or even xenons will. trust me, i have seen this happen for myself. but, if you're still determined to get steel tube fenders, your choices are limited at this time and you pretty much have to go with what you've listed or wait for MORE, shrockworks or PJ to come out with theirs. but, who knows when that will be.

BTW, here are a set of MORE tube fenders. these are probably the best fitting, best looking and best quality fenders i have seen to date. this is metal work at it's finest and no bondo or cottage cheese needed to hide anything....

Piginajeep

neither, I would never pay $1000 for RR that they use bondo to make them look clean.



I dont like the warriors either..


I would wait for the M.O.R.E fenders or the Purejeeps, atleast they wont have bondo as filler

dyolfknip

As far as I know they only used bondo on their flares for a customer who specifically asked for it to completely hide seams. I have seen the RR ones up close and (last year they were a sponsor here and came to Rausch Creek and donated some of their gear to East Coast JK Jam) I can tell you that they are SOLID as a rock. The coating (Gatorhyde, I think it is called) is actually pretty cool, but it is textured as Eddie said. Although I would compare it to a bedliner with big chucks of stuff in it as opposed to cottage cheese. That makes me think of fat ladies legs you can also do a search for it to see what it looks like.

If you are concerned about bondo (and I would be) give RR a call and see what they say. They look a lot better than the Warrior ones, thats for sure.

wayoflife

actually, the guy with these fenders specifically said that the bondo was used to hide the "prep they did underneath" and that you would never otherwise see it as they typically come covered with the cottage cheese finish. however you want to look at it, i find it troubling that a manufacturer would want to hide their workmanship or would actually consider bondo to be a good alternative to good metal work. but hey, that's just me.

while i'm sure they are solid, that is inherently the problem with them or any steel tube fender - the body of your jk is unfortunately not anywhere near as solid. and, if you hit these fenders hard, your body will give - trust me, i have seen it happen with xenon plastic flares. just something to consider.

BTW - here's a shot of the kind of damage custom thin aluminum fenders will do to your body. as you'll see, the aluminum bends but so does the body....



this is a shot of what a plastic xenon flare can do to your body...

greenamphibious

for looks the MORE are the only decent ones. Personally I wouldn't run any of the steel fenders because if you take a good whack it is gonna fudge your JKs body. I like plastic flatties or oem flare chops for that very reason... fender takes the pain

skeptic

would there be a way to connect a fender to something more solid like the frame in the back or maybe something int he engine compartment up front? Then they would be closer to sliders.

Robar

EVO body armor with or without flares.

roketman

I messaged Warrior today and asked them when they were going to release these. Man said 4 more weeks. They come in a smooth finish also and I need rears to go with my PSC fronts. I plan on painting them with bedliner like my fronts.