What are the legal requirements for fender flares?
The legal requirements for fender flares are entirely dependent on your state. While enforcement wildly varies, most states have a legal requirement that the fender flare covers at least the tread or full tire.
If you have stock tires, you shouldn’t have to worry – this is more geared to those who have decided to replace their tires with larger-than-stock or oversized tire sizes. If your truck was purchased second hand, you may want to double check as the prior owner could have replaced the tires.
Even if your state has no law or you think you can get away without having fender flares, we highly recommend going the safe route and installing a set that covers your full tire, whether it's Bushwacker, EGR or another brand. If your tire isn’t fully covered, your truck or SUV can easily kick mud, debris or rocks up at other cars on the road. That’s not fair to the other vehicles on the road – and can be dangerous! No one likes a dinged up hood or cracked windshield. Safety first!
When ordering your new set of fender flares, be sure to measure the minimum coverage that you’ll need (measure how many inches your tires protrude from your fender flares). Our product guides have tire coverage measurements so you can be sure the flares you are ordering will cover your tires.
For the most up to date information, we highly recommend contacting your state’s DMV directly. Laws do change so be aware that a resource other than your state’s DMV may be citing an outdated law.
See below for links to each state’s DMV:
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- Washington, D.C.
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
If you have any questions, feel free to contact us.