While at the dealer today, they has a truck outfitted with a slew of GM aftermarket accessories to show all the available items GM is offering, including the fender flares. These flares had a rubber seal between the flare itself & the side of the truck so there were absolutely no exposed gaps/openings where the flare meets the side of the truck. My stock flares have no seal & have many gaps where stuff can get in & under the flares . . .


Are you all's trucks the same as mine, or are they now putting this seal around the flares . . . or is this only for the aftermarket ones?? Not that I'd change what I've got on mine now, but if I ever did buy another truck in the near future, I'd be inclined to order it without the flares & put the aftermarkets on, as they look like they fit MUCH better than the stock ones that came with my truck.

I bought a set of Bushwacker Extenda fender flares. They are just slightly wider (a couple of inches at the bottom, maybe 1 or so at the top) and come with the rubber seal for the edge. The reason for this is the factory flares have a flat plastic contact area on the back with double sided tape to adhere to the quarter panel and the Bushwackers do not, thus the rubber seal to keep from eating through because the edges are quite aggressive and would gnaw right through paint. The fit was perfect and required no trimming. Just waiting to paint them before putting them on. They are plastic and come in black. They don't look bad in black, but since my truck is white, it would look like a fleet truck if I left them black. I will say that when I removed the stockers for test fitting of the Bushwackers, there was a ton of dirt underneath them.

do u know if the bushwacker fender flares will allow for bigger tire size than the factory flares without altering the suspension?

I believe you can fit 33's if you crank on your torsion bars or replace the keys, but nothing to my knowledge is gonna let you put big tires in the wheelwells without altering the stock the suspension. The flares just help cover things up again.

when you say replace the keys, what are you referring to? craig mcelfresh of mac's performance had a set od 325/60 r18 roughly a 33 X 13.50 on an Xcab dmax. he said they didnt rub after a little trimming. just wondering if anyone has heard of this? i think his torsions were cranked some

What I meant was replace the torsion bar keys. I think there are a couple of threads on the site here where people have done it. You may wish to poke around under D.I.Y. When you replace the keys, you basically install a set that allows for more adjustability. In other words, you can crank 'em more and get more lift. You will have to trim some. I have a 6 inch lift with 315/75/R16s and still had to trim the front cowling/air dam off to clear the tires during turning. Looks like you'll have to trim no matter what you do.