35s Inner wheel arch Spot weld knock back+mould cutout

[highkick05]

My own thread about experiences with this + pics. Background on car FZJ105R RHD Australia 1998 Cruiser.

OME 2.5 inch lift

So this is after I left the tyre place with 315/75/16 Cooper Discoverer SST Pro's. The front inner wheel arch's rubbed a few mm on the mud gaurd so we needed to take that off, plus cut the plastic. To allow for the tyre to miss the corner of the wheel arch by about 2mm. It was very close but tyre place was happy with it. I did say I would chop it when I got home.

Anyway this is straight after the tyres were put on.

Now I have taken the plastic inlay/moulding out, taken off the tyre then hammered back the spot weld on the RH. This is the result.

It is still quite close in the above, and if I stand back there is really only about 2cm room for the tyre to turn now.
More than before ,however if we look further back it looks that if I am travelling in the sand and hit a bump on a turn, it may still hit that gaurd.

So this is the stage I am atm. Thinking of getting a grinding disc and taking out a diagonal chunk out of the corner, up until the top 2 spot welds. Will post more later today.

Actually perhaps that is just not an option because it will cause seperation of the metal ? Anyone confirm that?

 

[ikarus]

Might cause some separation but you could weld it after you're done cutting. I'm not sure how much room you have though. You can see one approach here:

MTKID's IFS UZJ100 on 37's Build Thread

Where to start? In the early 2000's my wife and I were interested in some sort of SUV. We both liked what we saw of the appearance of Land Rovers and Land Cruisers. I can admit, I wouldn't have been able to tell you which one was a Toyota and which one wasn't at first, but thankfully we made...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[highkick05]

Might cause some separation but you could weld it after you're done cutting. I'm not sure how much room you have though. You can see one approach here:

MTKID's IFS UZJ100 on 37's Build Thread

Where to start? In the early 2000's my wife and I were interested in some sort of SUV. We both liked what we saw of the appearance of Land Rovers and Land Cruisers. I can admit, I wouldn't have been able to tell you which one was a Toyota and which one wasn't at first, but thankfully we made...

forum.ih8mud.com

Cheers, wow if I only had a welder. Plenty of welder friends though (hmmm)

Thinking the metal will hold in place , it will jsut be a hole as big as I make it. i.e. seperation but will hold in place not flap around.

Think I will cut it , just to be sure the wheels have sufficient clearance and don't get damaged

 

[nukegoat]

I would just bash it with a sledge

 

[I Lean]

I would just bash it with a sledge

This, but fold the pinch seam sideways instead of only bashing backward on it. That will be quicker, easier, and give more room also.

 

[highkick05]

Thanks for the replies , I did both kinda. Bashed the spot weld seem until it made a complete fold backwards. This seemed to make it more tidier when I got the grinder onto it. To be honest, the exact diagonal angle I went didn't seem to get into the seperation part of the metal.

With the added angle grind, it seemed to go from about 1 inch to 1 1/2 inches of clearance for the wheel going on a full turn.
Just drove it up my incline driveway, turned in on the angle I needed and stopped it on the curb. (which sort of raised it into the angle I needed to check)

Still plenty of room their nearly an inch of room. Pretty happy I took the grinder to it, now it just needs some paint after missus gets home I'll grab some metal rust proof primer then hit it with a top coat. OR is rubber seal stuff better. Cheers, happy with that, now I can go drivin' !!

This angle went from the first clip for the inner moulding straight up to about the second top spot weld. A bit messy but you wont even see it with moulding on.

Will add more photos after paint then moulding later. Cheers

 

[dafun1]

I just left mine open for now and painted the bare metal. Running a 315/75R16. Also removed the plastic inner fender liner and trimmed the fenders. Pics are before prep/paint:

 

[dafun1]

Wait, you were talking the pinch weld. Sorry. I had already cut and hammered that, then decided to trim even more down at the very front of the where the rockers/firewall meet. If you have enough clearance, with what you did, then great!

 

[highkick05]

I just left mine open for now and painted the bare metal. Running a 315/75R16. Also removed the plastic inner fender liner and trimmed the fenders. Pics are before prep/paint:

View attachment 2300403

View attachment 2300406

Wacked my paint on tonight, went for a spin, no rubbing as expected. Need to get it in the dunes for a full test. I could even take more off.

Admire how you didn't mess around with it. What have you chosen to cover this?

I know the mould will go back in over the top ok, but worried the tyre guys chopped too much plastic on mine which may ruin that idea.

Another option is to chop the bottom off the OEM mud flap/gaurd. Universal mud flaps could easily be screwed on to cover it up.

 

[highkick05]

Wait, you were talking the pinch weld. Sorry. I had already cut and hammered that, then decided to trim even more down at the very front of the where the rockers/firewall meet. If you have enough clearance, with what you did, then great!

Yeah I may need to take more off, not liking the idea of jacking it up and ripping it all off again but I _can not_ damage those tyres lol

Trying to find a middle ground because I have no way to join metal to metal atm

 

[dafun1]

Fender trim, then paint:

 

[dafun1]

Painted and uncapped

 

[dafun1]

Man, I wish we had the 105’s in the states

 

[highkick05]

Man, I wish we had the 105’s in the states

Yeah I can imagine the nightmare bigger tyres would pose on 100s . Don't worry we got plenty of 100s

 

[highkick05]

Just adding the finish photo's

Close ups

The hole in the plastic is result of the tyre place cutting the mould not me, but I'm happy with the end product aint to bad at all.

Just a hint on those plastic plugs that hold the moulding in, use 2 x flat head screw drivers from each side of the inner clip and work them both into and pluck the inner plug out, works a treat and you dont break the plug. I still broke a few though, cos they are quite fiddly / old.
Cheers.