I'm sure this question has been brought up before, but I'll ask it again-why do my black flares look chalky grey? I've bathed them in Armor-All, but they still look like crap. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/barf.gif" alt="" /> I really wanna replace them with some wider ones, but it's not in the budget right now. Anyone have a solution to the grey-flare syndrome?
Corona

Ok. Stop with the armorall. It will allow the plastic to dry out even worse. Armorall will do that to plastic. Also if someone waxed it and got the wax on the flares it would look like that and it is very difficult to get off, especially after a long time. Use a very mild degreaser and a fairly soft nylon scrub brush and scrub 'till your arm falls off. Then use a good leather conditioner and see if that helps. Never put Armorall or wax on them. Sorry to say it but they may be ruined. At that point you will prolly want to paint them with trim paint, just be sure to prepare the surface per the instructions. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

Yep clean em real good then putcha some good paint that is made for plastic on there. Pink would be one of the choices. But a good deep black would prolly look best.
Big Jim <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/pfft.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/pfft.gif" alt="" />

quadratec has a thing called "forever black" that i got and its amazing - basically it's black shoe polish but for plastics and vinyls.

make sure you clean your flares really well and let them dry before you put it on. a good technique that i use when i put forever black on my jeep (i did it two summers ago and JUST had to do another coat) is you dab a lot of it on the end of the applicator pad so its foamy and then spread it like you're painting the flares -- forever black is good stuff

once you've got a coat of it on there, let it dry for a while and then go back over the spots that are uneven - basically if you build up the coats it will look more black and black each time you do it - you'll be pleased with the results

Thanks greetman I will look into that stuff too. We all have some black crap on our vehucles.
Big Jim <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/pfft.gif" alt="" />

I've worked for several dealers and body shops in the past and have found that a heat gun works real well to bring any plastic trim back to the original color. Don't melt the plastic, just get it warm. I've done this on countless Jeeps that went up for sale. XJs TJs YJs, ZJs. As long as somone did not put paint on them because that gets to looking like crap again in less than a year. A heat gun for removing paint works best and the fastest.

<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> I restored mine with a propane torch! I wasn't going to recommend it even though I got good results. The heat gun is a great idea! If I cared what my flares looked like that's what I would do. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

depending what you want yours to look like I have seen flares with a bedliner or rockergaurd material on them. I actually like the look of it, rough but it looks different which is what I like. I would think you'd want a more rubberized rockergaurd coating, as opposed to the stiffer bedliner stuff.

Ya know those Chevy Avalanches? Those things are covered with the same kind of plastic as the fender flares on your Jeep. GM has had all kinds of problems with that plastic getting all chalky looking. After extensive study, they endorsed Armor-Dillo. It's really expensive, but it works and stays looking good for quite a while.

Linky

I've used it and can tell you from my own personal experience that it works well. I've tried lots of other stuff and nothing works like this does. The only down side as I see it is that you aren't supposed to use it on your interior. That's a shame too.

Oh, yeah. I guess it's sort of combustable if the pads are left in the sun after they've been opened so they tell you to rinse them out.

Also, we only get the full pads. I see on the site I linked to above that they have a half pad available. 1 full pad will restore the plastic on almost an entire Avalanche. Buy the half pad for your fender flares and try to line up a buddy or two to use the rest on their fender flares too. Otherwise your throwing away a lot of perfectly good product and it can't be saved once you open it. I've tried.

The directions will tell you to use it sparingly. They mean it. It really doesn't take much to bring back the original luster of the plastic.

Sorry if I sound like an ad for Armor-Dillo. Wyleone knows me and can stand up for me if you guys start thinking this is spam.

Hey, if you believe in a product, let the world know. Good post IMO. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />