what is the best way to go about trimming to fit 33's?

[LONO100]

hey all,

my new 33" duratracs should be in by this friday and i was wondering if anyone had any pictures of how they trimmed their wheel wells to fit bigger tires. what is the best way to go about doing this? i dont have a sawzall, so i will probably be using some sort of hand saw or something like that. what is the best method to go about trimming without completely butchering those wheel well covers? i want to get my tires to fit cleanly, but i still want to keep the at least soem of the functionality of those wheel well covers and keep water and mud out of my engine bay.

if anyone has any good tips on this (pictures would be awesome!) i would really appreciate it!

 

[interscope8]

subbing

 

[LONO100]

oh yeah, my ride is a 2003 sport trac XLT 2WD on 15" wheels. im hoping all i will need to trim is the inside plastic wheel well covers, because if i have to trim any of the fender im pretty much screwed being that i dont have the tools to do that! right now without my TT or shackles in yet these are my ride heights in inches from level ground to the center top of each fender with my stock 16" wheels with 255/70 R16 tires:

front left: 34"
rear left: 36"

front right: 34 1/4"
rear right: 36 1/2"

im guessing the slight lean on the driver's side is due to the gas tank. i recently put rancho RS 5000 shocks on and it helped balance the stance out a ton. with a WAR 153 shackles on the way and doing a 3" TT (2wd) i thinking i can raise the current measurments at least 1.75 to 2 inches. please let me know how much trimming you think i will need to do when i put my duratrac 33" x 12.5" R15 wheel/tire combo on.

 

[sjr033]

When I put my 285/75/16 (33"x11.22") on, I removed a small piece of the fender liner. It was at the top/back. It was just held in by "christmas tree" push pins.

 

[LONO100]

was that in the rear or the front? thanks for the advice, greatly appreciated!

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Ok, here's some pictures. Not the greatest but it's raining out. The first is the rear wheelwel, I cut straight up the crease and zip tied the whole thing back as cloe to the frame as I could.

The front, I cut straight across the flat section all the way to the cladding and cut out the front bottom section of the cladding. You can't tell did it unless ou look in the wheels well and know what your looking for. The front bottom corner of the front bumper cover and back foglight splash shield at a 45 degree angle.

Hopefully this helps. Remember, I have a 3" bl and 1.75" TT and lift shackles. So I would do the full 3" TT on your 2wd to gain as much clearance as possible. Once you get the wheels and tires on there you'll see exactly where you need to cut and trim. Mainly for the front is when your wheels are turned and flexing over bumps and the rear just need to take out the back section that's angled.

 

[LONO100]

thanks rebel, the pictures are great! thanks so much. what did you use to make your cuts?

 

[MidnightRebel07]

I used a combo of a sawzall and a 4.5" grinder with cutting wheels. You can pick up a good sawzall at Harbor Freight for around $16-50 depending on sale and brand. I have a cordless Craftsman 19.2v sawzall nad a Chicago power sawzall from H.F. I picked up the Chicago for $25 and it's been an awesome investment for everything I've used it on.

 

[LONO100]

i think ill be trolling craigslist tonight for a sawzall. i think i can get my hands on an axle grinder if that might work.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Yeah, you can use the grinder on the plastic but it's gonna spit hot plastic all over, it kinda hurts when it melts into your skin, LOL.

 

[LONO100]

ok maybe ill skip on the grinder! im gonna troll craigslist tonight for a recip/sawzall.

 

[OffTrac]

Everybody's trimming needs are going to be different based on the lift and tires. Jerry got away easy because of the body lift. I think his pictures are where you'll need to start, but if I had to bet, I'd say you're in for a bit more trimming.

And definitely get a sawzall. You don't have to spend much and you will use it a ton. I never knew how much I needed one until AFTER I bought it. By now, I've spent more on blades than the original purchase of the sawzall.

Keep in mind, your experience and documentation can go a long way toward helping answer these questions for future ST owners. Ok, I'm just selfish and really just like seeing ST builds, lol.

 

[LONO100]

you are totally right offtrac, i will be taking pictures and documenting this install for the forum, just like i do every time i get into something i think might help somebody out. im pretty sure ill be doing a lot more trimming than jerry, his pics give me a good idea of where i need to start and how much. i just found out that my tires are supposed to be in on friday which is great because it would give me the weekend to get this project done, but ive been tracking my shackle order and they wont be in until monday! weak! well, ill at least get the tires on the wheels, and then spend monday or tuesday afternoon getting the shackles on, trimming and mounting the wheels. thanks everyone!

 

[TmacTrac]

So Jerry, you think I'll need to do about equal trimming to mine when i put on the BL and the BFGs? (i think mine arent as wide as the 12.50s)
and with your trimming, is there any more rubbing? or did you work all of the rubbing out?

 

[MidnightRebel07]

I still get some rubbing on the toeboards of the cab on the backside of the front inner wheel well. That's only when I have the wheels turned and going over bumps. I think I might need to shift the body back about 3/4-1", I think it might've shifted forward over time, I need to put it on my neighbor/ landlords frame rack and take some measurements one of these days. it's probably just that my torsion bars are so worn out that the frontend lost about an inch of lift, I've been holding off on messing with it because I plan on doing a SAS, SOA to my Trac eventually and don't wanna spend a ton on this IFS setup.

 

[CityBoyAtl]

yea, don't be shy with the trimming... I cut through a LOT of plastic forward and back of the front wells, then used a grinder to cut the angle off the metal tab on the rear (just behind the plastic) no more rubbing at all.. but i have the 4" suspension lift vs. the body lift most have.. good peice of advise someone gave me is to use spray foam to fill up any holes exposed by the trimming.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Holy hell, Matt, you're still alive. Haven't heard from you in awhile. LOL

Yep, I second the foam trick. I have it, just haven't gotten around to doing it yet.

I cut out the first bolt on the pinch weld of the toeboard, sliced up the plastic and ziptied it all back by drilling holes in the pinch weld and other places to put the zipties through.

 

[Elessar65]

If you end up trimming any metal (and you will eventually, wheeling and building rigs is an incurable disease ) put masking tape down over the paint. It comes off easy and you can draw lines on it to help "visualize" the cut. It will help keep the edge a little cleaner too when you cut. Although I still suggest going back and cleaning it up right (unless your rig is like mine, I use a sledgehammer to "finesse" body panels back into shape/place).

 

[CityBoyAtl]

heh hehe
yea, i got caught up in spending money on accessories for the upcoming deer season for a while, but then realized i'm getting too old to drag one out of the woods.. so i'll stick to the trails and just hope one jumps out in front of the truck

 

[Elessar65]

then realized i'm getting too old to drag one out of the woods.. so i'll stick to the trails and just hope one jumps out in front of the truck

Sounds like a good excuse to buy a winch, lol.