Quote:
Originally Posted by JSH
Short answer - they are a cheap way to offer a vehicle with different track widths.
Then somewhere along the line black matte black plastic fender flares that used to be the sign that someone that couldn't afford to get their truck painted became fashionable. They were a sign of a vehicle's "rugged" off-road status and now we have them on $80,000 Mercedes wagons.
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Perfectly answers my question.
... still though, if the wheels extend out a certain amount, seems like a no-brainer to extend the body out to encompass it and provide the interior volume increases everyone apparently cares about.
Manufacturers already make aerodynamically inefficient design choices by squaring off the backend of a vehicle to increase volume. Why not increase frontal area too?
Your answer that a 2wd platform with skinny wheels on the same platform with wide wheels pretty much answers that though. Stamp the hard parts with the same tool, and throw plastic at the modification.