My two Samurais: Note the stock and Bushwacker flares.

One can always tell when a 4x4 has been on a fun trail: the truck comes back completely splattered with mud. Usually, the driver and passengers will be covered in mud too, especially if the truck's doors were removed prior to entering the mud pit. Usually, the drivers don't mind wearing all that mud, but oftentimes the passengers aren't too thrilled. 4x4s shouldn't be responsible for causing marital problems.

While it may look cool to have the tires stick far outside the body, the police in most areas frown upon it. Not only do uncovered tires throw water and snow onto other cars, they can also fling gravel and other road debris, causing damage and a potentially dangerous situation. Laws vary from one region to the next, but generally speaking, driving on public roads with exposed tires is just asking for a ticket.

Testing the flares in a variety of terrain.

Unfortunately for the Samurai owner, aftermarket solutions to the fender flare dilemma have been poor to non-existent, until now. Previously, the only fender flare solutions have been brittle plastic replacement flares, or add-on rubber flare extensions. The expensive plastic flares shatter upon contact with rocks and other trail obstacles, so in the past I used some 3-inch rubber extensions to the existing flares. Other people have made their own extensions using rubber lawn edging material, but none of these give the tough, professional look of these new Bushwacker fender flares.

Muddy everywhere but the sides.

Rocky Road Outfitters found that the rear fender flares off of a Jeep Wrangler fit the Samurai body quite well, requiring only some minor trimming to length. Bushwacker's Jeep flares provide several inches more coverage than the stock flares, give the Samurai a tough new look, and are made from thick, nearly indestructible proprietary material called Dura-Flex, a stiff yet flexible plastic. Unfortunately, one has had to buy two complete sets of Jeep flares in order to make just one set to fit a Samurai.

Adam's Samurai, background. My Samurai, foreground.
Note the different look of the fender flares.

That is, until now. Rocky Road Outfitters convinced Bushwacker to offer a Samurai kit consisting of two sets of rear Wrangler flares, which in turn saves the customer hundreds of dollars. The flares are left the full Jeep length, allowing the Samurai owner to trim them to the proper length to match perfectly whatever bumper and rocker panel modifications have been made to the truck.

The flares are made of nearly indestructible black polyurethane and are shipped unpainted with a light texturing. Rather than the smooth round curve of the Suzuki flares, these have the Jeep's squared-off arch that goes very well with the Samurai's angular bodylines. The mounting points are molded into the flare, giving them an appealing mechanical look. Overall, the flares are approximately 6 inches wide, so they provide a full 3 inches more tire coverage than stock.

Drill out the spot welds and grind off any remaining metal.

Mounting the new flares is straightforward. The hardest part of the installation is removing the stock flares' metal mount bracket that is spot-welded to the fenders. Tedious use of a drill or spot-weld drill bit leaves the body sides flat and ready for the new flares to mount. You'll most likely discover major rust problems, as I did, and this would be the ideal time to resolve it once and for all.

These tires really need flares!

Finding the best location to mount the flares is important, and it is crucial to note that there are separate left- and right-side flares. Start with the passenger-side rear fender and tape the Jeep flares to the body. Position the flare in the right spot to allow unrestricted access to the gas filler, and then stand back to sight the flares to make sure they are at the right height and positioned correctly before you start drilling the mounting holes into the body. With the flares mounted, trim the bottom edges to match the bumper and rocker panels.

Trim off the excess for a clean install.

Even with my wide 33x14.5-inch Super Swampers on 2-inch-backspaced 15x10-inch wheels, these flares provide ample coverage. Driving on rain-soaked roads, my tires no longer throw 20-foot-high plumes of water into the air and all over the cars behind me. In the snow, I'm able to have my windows down without getting hit in the face with snowballs launched by the front tires. And in the mud, I can keep my doors off without getting splattered head to toe.

Kissing the boulders with the flares.

Originally, I was not too impressed by the mounting system, which is no more complex than several sheetmetal screws through the flares and into the body. However, after mounting them and feeling how secure they were to the body, I decided to test them out in real-world trail situations. One of the first things I did was head to Hollister Hills SVRA to really test the integrity of the flares. Pressing them up against 5-foot-tall boulders in the Obstacle Course and leaning the truck's body against the walls of the Tank Trap proved that tearing these flares off the body would take a great deal of force and determination. I gave up before completely tearing the side off my truck because I was satisfied that they would stay on unless I really got myself into a predicament. A future modification I might make would be a quick-release solution utilizing some plastic “Christmas tree” clips in place of the sheetmetal screws.

Sliding the flares along the walls of Tank Trap.

What good would a test of fender flares be without a romp in the mud? Diving into Hollister's deep mudholes with no doors on and my right foot planted to the floor left me with only a couple small splatters of mud after a whole day of fun. Following me through the same mudholes was my friend and fellow ORC Suzuki Tech Editor, Adam Leach. His 3-inch rubber flare extensions - the same kind I used prior to these Bushwacker flares - stopped some of the mud, but he still wound up wearing most of what the tires flung up at him.

Hollister's mudholes were no match for the flares!

As a result of my testing, the flares now have some minor scratches in the soft plastic, but they're only visible up close and they still look like new from afar. Looks are purely subjective and opinions can vary greatly from one person to another, but most people who have seen my truck really like these flares. Personally, I happen to love the tough new look they've given my Samurai. Although the plastic can be painted to match the body, the unpainted black textured finish matches my black-on-green color scheme perfectly. I have already received many compliments from people in the last 6 months who have seen the flares and asked where they can get a set.

Adam had fun despite wearing all this mud.
My flares kept me clean and dry.

Now that Bushwacker is offering these flares in a set specifically for the Samurai, they only cost half as much as they used to. Although they cost more than the old lawn-edging solution, you truly get what you pay for. Not only do they enhance the vehicle's looks and help prevent unwanted police attention, these Bushwacker fender flares are a functional upgrade designed for serious abuse on real trails. Available from Rocky Road Outfitters, the flares can be shipped (in a very large box!) anywhere by U.P.S.