Hole in fender behind flare ext?

[OldDocDoyle]

Folks!
I just went to take off the fender flare extensions on my '06 LJ today before installing a new set of Body Armour Rock Rails to find a two factory holes behind it(at least on the passenger side). One was about 3/8" dia. and the other was about 1 1/4" dia.
They were covered over with thick tape seemingly from the factory. Any idea what they were designed for?
Seems like now the only way I can remove the factory flare extensions is to spring for a set of Rubicon LJ rocker guards-which are kinda pricey if not useless now that I now that I have installed the Rock Rails!
BB

[Schmo]

My Jeep had the same holes with tape . . . mine is a Rubi so I thought they were for those flare extensions, but I guess not. You might be able to find a set of the Rubi Rockers pretty cheap as they don't give you much protection (which wouldn't matter to you seeing that you've got the others) and most of us end up changing them out to something else. I actually had the body armor rockers like you have now under my stock Rubi rockers, but ditched them both and went with Rokmen's when I tracked the clunk I'd been chasing for months down to the Body Armor rocker banging against the stock rocker . . . it was driving me bonkers.

P.S. - who makes the front bumper in that pic?

[Commandoman]

If can't leave them on or you're set on removing them and don't want to spend more money on a different set of rock sliders you could get creative. You could go to your local metal fab shop and ask them to cut narrow pieces of diamond plate to cover the entire length. Or you can spend even less money and buy a roll of black stairwell tread tape and do the same thing. Or try doing nothing for a while and see if it's even bothers you. When I took mine off to install my sliders it looked strange, but once I washed the area and rubbed out paint to get rid of the grime that formed an outline of the old extensions it didn't look that bad. My sliders did cover mine so I never had to get used to it. But I think I could have.

[calkid]

I believe those holes are to access the backing nuts for the Sahara package. Make sure to re-seal the holes as they lead to a non draining area that is prone to rust!