how to trim fenders AKA pinch weld mod (1 Viewer)

[Brandon Ryder]

I haven't seen a step by step for this on Mud but considering how many people are afraid to cut even the plastic on their fenders, i thought i'd show you what I did today to prepare for putting on some metric 35s next week. (285/75/18) i planed to hammer the pinch weld down, trim a little and heat gun the plastic to retain some splash protection for the body panels.
first step is to get an idea of what you're dealing with. after removing the plastic liner here is what the pinch weld area looks like.

the back side

and from below

 

[Brandon Ryder]

there's several ways to do this depending on the amount of tools you have. to make it easier to pound the pinch weld over, i start with a cut about 6 inches up. you can use a grinder as well for this.

then hammer the pinch weld over as far as you can. undercoating will come off and the weld will seperate in ares but by hammering it over it will maintain integrity

next i made another cut to maximize the clearance. i retained the fender liner bolt location.

i hammered again to soften edges. you could file the rough edges too. i also flaked off all the loose undercoating. those areas will harbor moisture and rust.

be sure to paint the exposed metal. get behind it as best you can

 

[Brandon Ryder]

these shots show how much difference you are making in the critical area.

next comes heat gunning the plastic. many just cut the plastic part that sticks out off. i wanted to save this area from moisture and road salt as best i could.
heat the plastic and with a gloved hand or some tool, shape it against the metal while it's pliable.

here's the passenger side after. its pretty much hugging the metal.

 

[Brandon Ryder]

here's a shot from the DS showing the profile of what you're doing.

if you are indeed going with 35 inch tires, you may need to trim the windshield washer fluid shield as well. its on the DS and there's many ways to tackle this as well.

some heat gun and shape it, but it's pretty thick and I didn't want to do that.some trim just the area that's rubbing. you could remove the shield entirely but i chose to retain half of it to protect the pumps, indicated by the marker.

the white line was a preliminary plan as to where i could trim but retain the mounting points.
here's a shot from the front of the vehicle so you can see the excess space taken up by the shield.

 

[Brandon Ryder]

here is the shield removed. note the 3 mounting locations hold the tank in position. only 2 of them are used to also hold the shield on. (plus a little hook on the end).

once removed i found the inner moulded ribs gave a good guide for the saw.

i used the sawsall but you could do this with shears probably. whatever you got. utility knife maybe. hand saw definately.

the outer side discarded, and remainder mounted.

i can trim more of i need too but this should prevent me from having issues at the tire shop when mounting.
as a bonus i can now easily check my fluid level for the washer fluid

time will tell if this will cause degradation to the tank in terms of rock or road damage, or UV light degradation. but it's not a critical system.

 

[vman07]

Nice write up, I just took an angle grinder to my pinch weld today to run 34's. Are you going to add anything in the void/space behind the plastic fender well? Some guys weld a plate in that space, I was thinking of fashioning something because my trimmed plastic fender does not entirely cover the open space.

 

[Brandon Ryder]

Nice write up, I just took an angle grinder to my pinch weld today to run 34's. Are you going to add anything in the void/space behind the plastic fender well? Some guys weld a plate in that space, I was thinking of fashioning something because my trimmed plastic fender does not entirely cover the open space.

I've only seen people weld in that area if they cut deeper into the cavity behind the pinch weld. i think that actually starts getting into the cab so they have to seal it off. i don't plan to go that deep or to fill in the space since my liner basically does that.

 

[highkick05]

Does the wheel go that close to the windscreen wiper fluid tank in 100 series? It's so far away on my 105 series

 

[Brandon Ryder]

Does the wheel go that close to the windscreen wiper fluid tank in 100 series? It's so far away on my 105 series

it's pretty far. but with 35s and turning while under compression it will rub. i might have got carried away but i recently looked over two other 100s with 285/75/18 and 295/70/18s and they both had rubbing in that area despite trimming. its possible to relocate the washer fluid tank all together. its a simple system.

 

[highkick05]

it's pretty far. but with 35s and turning while under compression it will rub. i might have got carried away but i recently looked over two other 100s with 285/75/18 and 295/70/18s and they both had rubbing in that area despite trimming. its possible to relocate the washer fluid tank all together. its a simple system.

no lift in this rig ? could be a good reason mine is pretty far away too. that and 105 . nearly cried when u cut the wiper tank lol

 

[Brandon Ryder]

no lift in this rig ? could be a good reason mine is pretty far away too. that and 105 . nearly cried when u cut the wiper tank lol

2" lift. with IFS its best to keep as close to stock height as possible and i suppose compared to the 105, the wheel articulates differently.

 

[dafun1]

If you crank the t-bars, you still terminate at the same end point with the IFS suspension. I removed the washer bottle. Will eventually relocate.

 

[Brandon Ryder]

I got the new tires mounted and hit some trails and tried to flex it up. I disconnected the sway bars to help. I couldn't make it rub though I didn't quite hit the bump stop though (could go about another inch to compress the bump). Glad I trimmed the washer cover. It came very close .

In case I didn't mention, these are cooper discoverer AT3 XLT 285/75R18 on tundra wheels, no spacers and stock UCA. 2" ironman lift. Sitting at 21" hub to fender. I'm trying to keep it as low as possible.

 

[suprarx7nut]

Nice job on the writeup and follow up with the after pics.

 

[Quone]

Excellent write up and sweet rig!

 

[Brandon Ryder]

One more minor follow up. I was getting a buzzing or humming at highway speeds but I knew it wasn't the tires because It happened before I replaced them. I finally tracked down the source today. After I heat gunned the plastic fender, the part at the bottom was sticking down at 45 degrees. I drilled a hole in it and the bottom of the body and inserted a trim fastener. This seems to have eliminated the noise and cruiser is as quiet as it was stock. It was barely noticeable before but now it's perfect. The new cooper tires are also as quiet as the Michellins. I cannot discern any different noise in the ride now.

 

[Sykoslug]

Excellent write up! I'm debating on switching from 275/70/R18 to 285/75/R18. Having 4.88's installed on my 2003, and want to match tires with gears.

It's been a year, how do like those specific tires? And how are things settling in with the larger tire size?

 

[Brandon Ryder]

Excellent write up! I'm debating on switching from 275/70/R18 to 285/75/R18. Having 4.88's installed on my 2003, and want to match tires with gears.

It's been a year, how do like those specific tires? And how are things settling in with the larger tire size?

The tires are great. No road noise. I've rotated them at least 3 times. I've done several trips between California and Colorado. They are fantastic aired down on dirt roads. Great traction on snowy roads, and wet roads. I got stuck a few times off road in deep snow that was deeper than the frame rails. Mud tires would be best for extreme snow or rock crawling, but this is an excellent tire for the 99% street driving, while still tackling the family adventures a few times a year.

As for gearing, you definately feel it, especially towing. But to be fair, it's towed some heavy loads even over the mountain passes on these 35s without regearing. It made it, but a very slowly. I do like the way it lowers the rpm when cruising at highway speeds. I will regear one day when i can afford it.

 

[Sykoslug]

I ended up with the Maxxis Razr AT in 285/75/R18.
With the 4.88 gears, the truck really feels great. No more constant shifting when climbing slight hills, it does better around town as well.

I'm going to add spacers, as the front tires rub the frame and sway bar on full lock.

 

[hoser]

This is 35x11.5R18 NTG with 1.25" front spacer... AHC in LO and semi-flexed. Another inch or so of up travel. Rubs the plastic liner a bit on higher speed "whoops" but has never damaged the fender.