OEM Wheel Moldings (Flare) - Getting them to fit flush after removal?

Hey everyone,

I hit a coyote and had to have my bumper and driver's side front wheel well molding replaced. The body shop couldn't seem to get the molding to marry-up to the body completely and it left a gap. They say that it's super-hard to get it to fit flush against the body after removal.

Is there a trick to getting it to fit flush and tight against the body? Picture attached.

 

It' hard to tell from the pic but did they use the seal. It's a double sided tape deal that helps hold it on and seals it. My last 5th gen was a limited and I replaced ALL the painted flares with the pre facelift matt black ones from a Trail Edition and had no problems with gaps . Is it a OEM flare or a knock off do you know?

Here's the seal I am talking about.

 

Fender might be buckled behind the molding.
Have the body shop check the inside of the fender, a few inches above where the bumper cover mounts, and look for any outward bends.
Quite possible that when the bumper was pushed in from the accident, it pushed up against the fender.

 

I don't see that exact part listed on the invoice - but there is an R&R charge for: "Clip. Fender Mldg LT" - Part # 7539535070 (last 5 numbers are the same as the schematic you shared) - there is a sticky tape under the molding, but it doesn't hold the flare/molding in place completely, the flare lifts away from the fender. It's not a huge gap - but just enough to be a problem (car washes, etc.) - and it's on the leading edge (ie facing into the wind). I'm uploading another video showing it a little better than the image I uploaded above. Sorry, the forum rules made me put it in a zip file (it's actually an MP4). Understood if you're not comfortable downloading it.

 

I don't think the fender was bent from the coyote strike - here's another pic that shows where the coyote hit my truck (front left). It was chasing a deer - the deer went in front of me and the coyote ran square into the side of my truck, I was running at about 40mp. FWIW, some of the coyote's hair is still stuck in the bead of my tire.

You can see from this image that the problematic top wheel well molding/flare is fitting correctly after the coyote hit - but the body shop replaced it. The new one doesn't fit flush like the old one did - even after the accident.

 

I had a similar run in with a deer a few months back and bent the fender in a bit. After pulling the fender out I had the same issue with the molding. In my case, the first clip was broken (IIRC it was orange). Once replaced, the issue was resolved.

Best price I could find on clips without buying a 100 pack. https://www.ebay.com/itm/253660070554

Are you sure the shop replaced and painted a new molding? Or did they just clean up the existing one? I can see the gasket in your picture so if they did replaced the molding they would have had to replace the gasket as well after painting. Either way, my money is on the first clip. Almost impossible to remove them without breaking and they may not even noticed an ear of the clip was cracked or broken when they put the molding back on.

 

You would be surprised at how much damage there is under all that. My little love tap broke the headlight housing where it supports the fender, bent the metal fender support bracket and cracked the black plastic piece that attaches your bumper to fender. Not to mention the fender shell itself is paper thin.

On a side note, does anyone know what this plug is for? It was hanging there but not attached to anything when I removed the bumper..

 

I'll take this thread to the body shop (they're good folks and I know they want to get it right) and definitely invest the $11 bucks to get a bag of those clips from eBay. With my two 4Runners in the stable, those clips sure seem like something to keep on hand.

 

Good luck. Report back. I'm curious to see what the fix was.

 

Will do.

 

Maybe try taking off the flare and reinstall it starting at the front & work rearward. Worth a shot. I have had mine off a few times for this and that and they don’t always go back on perfectly, sometimes they do. All it takes is to break off one side of one of those little blue/orange/pink clips to bugger up the whole thing.