Let's see how you modded for tire clearance your pinch weld and/or fender and liner.
Pinch Weld + Fender/Liner Mods
- Thread starter YardPig
- Start date
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I promised a bit of a writeup in another post, so this info. may as well go here. It's not much, but at the time I really wasn't planning on doing a tutorial. If anyone has better advice or methods, feel free to share!
1. Removing the fender liners is the first step. Very straightforward. Once the screws are out, you'll have to pry out the little retainer plugs:
2. The offending culprit. I also took the time to clean out all the junk and mud that had accumulated behind the fender liner, as seen in the second pic:
3. Didn't get any shots before paint, but the next step was going to town on the pinch weld flange with my trusty 2.5lb sledge. Hammered the flange inwards, as it seemed the best way to go at the time. Gave it a quick shot of prime and then a little seam sealer to prevent water from getting past any of the factory seal that may have been compromised:
1. Removing the fender liners is the first step. Very straightforward. Once the screws are out, you'll have to pry out the little retainer plugs:
2. The offending culprit. I also took the time to clean out all the junk and mud that had accumulated behind the fender liner, as seen in the second pic:
3. Didn't get any shots before paint, but the next step was going to town on the pinch weld flange with my trusty 2.5lb sledge. Hammered the flange inwards, as it seemed the best way to go at the time. Gave it a quick shot of prime and then a little seam sealer to prevent water from getting past any of the factory seal that may have been compromised:
4. View from the side (LX470 so it has the cladding on the fender). Nothing should be sticking past the wheel arch:
5. A little undercoating to help protect everything:
6. Reinstalled the fender liner, and then using a heat gun, carefully shaped the liner as tight as I could to the back of the fender well/flattened pinch weld. Just make sure not to overheat the plastic and melt through it. If you're careful, you can feel when it starts to give way and become workable. Take your time:
7. Finished shot. Nothing as this point sticks forward of the factory cladding on the fender:
Keep in mind I'm running 295/75/16's on SCS wheels, factory AHC suspension. Under normal driving in "N" suspension height, I haven't encountered any rubbing unless I hit a pothole or aggressive dip in the road. I may just need to flatten the fender liner a bit more. It happens rarely enough that I haven't bothered to go back and redo anything. High setting on AHC and I've never had any problems rubbing (yet).
5. A little undercoating to help protect everything:
6. Reinstalled the fender liner, and then using a heat gun, carefully shaped the liner as tight as I could to the back of the fender well/flattened pinch weld. Just make sure not to overheat the plastic and melt through it. If you're careful, you can feel when it starts to give way and become workable. Take your time:
7. Finished shot. Nothing as this point sticks forward of the factory cladding on the fender:
Keep in mind I'm running 295/75/16's on SCS wheels, factory AHC suspension. Under normal driving in "N" suspension height, I haven't encountered any rubbing unless I hit a pothole or aggressive dip in the road. I may just need to flatten the fender liner a bit more. It happens rarely enough that I haven't bothered to go back and redo anything. High setting on AHC and I've never had any problems rubbing (yet).
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #5
Thanks for sharing. Are you running SPC upper arms to adjust caster to pull the wheel forward?
No, upper arms are still stock.
I'm also on 315's, and cut the snot out of the pinch weld until it stopped rubbing. Not running SPC upper's, and caster is JUST barely out of spec. I couldn't do the remold the liner trick though. I had to cut it, and the pinch weld down to where it was flat for about 4 inches, then curved a line up on the pinch weld, and hit it with spray paint.
I’m running 35s too and I had to cut some of the fender and heat and form the rest. I reformed it from being convex to concave. I used a heat gun and a towel and pressed it into the freshly bashed pinch weld.
I did the same as @4WDarren to lay mine over. Just keep working the pinch weld over a little at a time along the whole length. I hit mine with some 3M rubberized undercoating I’ve used over the years with long lasting results.
I did the same as @4WDarren to lay mine over. Just keep working the pinch weld over a little at a time along the whole length. I hit mine with some 3M rubberized undercoating I’ve used over the years with long lasting results.
Same
There's not much to see that's not pictured. Just whack the s*** out of that protruding weld line and trim or shape the plastic to match. Takes about an hour.
