My 95 dakota's paint is pealing on the passenger's side and there are beginnings of severe rust in several locations around the exterior of the truck. So, I have saved all my pennies and am planning a full paintjob this summer. I guess I have 2 questions..what colours would look good? And can I take off the wheel flares forever? I have attempted to upload a small picture of my truck, it is 2 tone, dark green and beachwood?! I might have made that colour up, dunno. At this point I think I would like to keep the dark green because the topper I got for it is freshly painted and it would suck to paint it again. I am a fan of metal flake, but dont know if I can afford it or not. Any ideas are appreciated, just don't tell me to put purple flames around the wheels!

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As long as teh flares are only mounted by screws in the lip of the wheel well, you can leave them off for good. If there are mounting holes (ala 88-99 Full size chevy/GMC flares) in teh sides of teh fender you'll either need to patch them or just reinstall teh flares.

I'd stick with the same emerald green, but solid color and not two toned.

 

Good call. Yeah, the flares are mounted inside the lip of the fender, so it won't be a problem leaving them off. I guess I was curios about how people think it looks because in all the pictures I see everyone usually leaves them on. My biggest peeve with them (besides the fact that they are faded) is that they are salt trappers in the winter time..the salt from the roads accumulates and has rusted my front fenders badly..I think they did more harm than good.

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Oh, one last thing. I also want to remove all the decals and the moulding/trim as well. The only concerns I have with solid green is having it turn out boring looking once I remove all the Dodge advertisments..not that I don't like Dodge, I just want a cleaner look. What if I rock a white stripe up the side similar to the one in the picture.

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I would keep the flares as they help keep road dirt off the side of the body. The emerald metal flake looks good and if you want more interest just have some pinstriping done on the doors(not the dodge stuff, handpainted or adhesive)

 

I agree keep the flares on, it will keep the truck from looking too boring, plus they will help guard your new paint. If your molding is really faded you could always try to get them painted as well.

I am also thinking about painting at least part of my truck (under the black trim), but my roof and hood are also starting to chip and peel off, so I was wondering whether I should just get them touched up, or repaint the entire body?

 

I understand what you are saying about the wheel flares. Does anyone know where I could find chrome flares? I don't know what shape your truck is in, mine is a 95 and has never been repainted so it is getting rusty and needs an entire paint job.

 

i have a 92 dakota that has strated to chip(the paint). i caught the rust before it got real bad, and spray painted it to hold it over the winter. im looking to paint mine the Atlantic Blue they put on the new rams.i recommend keeping the flars, im going to but im going to paint mine to match the truck. also my body molding is coming off so im going to remove it and leave it off. if you want to break up the paint, try running a stripe of a different color along the side, right below the window. you could also throw on some Shelby stripes. good luck with the paint