Fender trimming

[FMExplorer]

Hey guys,
I need to trim 3-4" off the back of my front fenders. I am fairly decent with my hands but have never done any body work. I have only a grinder to accomplish this. Should I just pay a body shop to do it? My guess is <70 buck to do the job, but I really like to do things myself. Any thoughts?

Jon

 

[Dannyboy]

Jon,
This is good to know since I wish to run 35's on my lift which is the same height as yours, Is this on the body or inner wells and how much and often does it rub?

 

[FMExplorer]

Dannyboy,
They rub at full lock on the back of the fenders. Worse when flexing. Certainly drivable though...

Perry - any thoughts on this?

Jon

 

[tiessen]

I'm in the midst of doing my own. It's not that hard. I'm trimming for 35's with 6" of lift.

 

[Perry]

Originally posted by FMExplorer
Dannyboy,
They rub at full lock on the back of the fenders. Worse when flexing. Certainly drivable though...

Perry - any thoughts on this?

Jon

We had to trim back my fenders since I run a 10" rim with who knows what back spacing. I just liked the rims and knew I could make them work.

http://bigfordtoys.homestead.com/lift.html

There is a picture on that page my web site you can look at.
What we did is just take a disc grinder and cut where we wanted the fender to be. (DO NOT CUT IT ALL THE WAY OFF AT THE TOP) Then we just pushed that part back behind the other. I think we trimmed some of it off I don't remember. That way you just weld up the edge and you still have your factory edge to go by.

I thought it worked out pretty good. You want it to look good so you might want a body shop to do it for you. At the bottom were it the fender hooks to the body we only have one bolt left, but with the rock sliders now pinch it the hold well.

If I remember we did have to cut part of the Explorer also so the fender could go back far enough.

Good luck.

 

[Dannyboy]

hey guys, my buddy and I were looking at the outside, but we are not too sure about the inside of that front fender. Is it gonna be loose, and flap around or what?
Perry, your pic looks good but did you grind behind the in the fender as well? I guess I am nervous and confused but still want 35's. SOB still want 34's but no one has one for the street.

 

[BUCHVILLEMAN]

sounds lik perry knows the deal. i would use erasable maker or a grease pen or something to mark your template line and be steady as possible. if you want to borrow my saber saw or sawz all we can arrange that. i recall an article in peterson's 4x4 mag when they trimmed the fenders on that Turtle IV ultimate off road it was an F-450 or somethign crazy. the used the compass and some other things make a template and then used a sawzall. the grinder would work too. i have a stick welder but i dont think that i feel confident enough to do body work. i also remember that buddy had his bronco cut for $50 at the local shop that installed his lift. the didnt do anythign more than what we are talking about.

 

[FMExplorer]

Hey guys,
I already did the trimming - I decided to go ahead and use the grinder to cut about a 4"x6" piece from each fender. The cuts are straight, but they will be covered with fender flares in the near future. One thing I noticed though... Behind the fender is some thicker metal - I believe it is the front of the cab - that needs to be trimmed. It will be very sharp. I pounded it down with a hammer then smoothed over it with bondo (it is all hidden inside the wheel-well) and painted black. No more worries about cutting tires. In case you are wondering, I did cut one of the new tires, but not too badly

J

 

[Dannyboy]

PICS Jon, I am getting my 35" MTR's tomorrow baby. Also I took a take measure into Goodyear and they measure just a lil over 34" so I am happy about that.
I am curious of how you cut it, I think I want to take perry's route to trim and run no flares(dont wanna spend any more damn money)