OEM looking fendertriming for 37" tires

[obijuan]

4" and 39s. scoot the axle forward.



alot forward

[K20chevy]

Originally Posted by obijuan

4" and 39s. scoot the axle forward.



alot forward

You are talking about moving the axle forward because the leafs will move it backwards during full compression, right? On my "new" setup, the opposite will be the case, the 4-link moves the axle forward, away from the cab during compression. So I think I should be fine with the axle in the stock position. I jsut hope I won´t hit the radiator support in the front during full compression and full lock....

[obijuan]

my springs are flat so they dont move rearward much if any. at full lock stuff they hit the firewall. currently at full lock stuff, they rub the front under the core support.

[K20chevy]

Originally Posted by obijuan

my springs are flat so they dont move rearward much if any. at full lock stuff they hit the firewall. currently at full lock stuff, they rub the front under the core support.

That is on 39´s, right? Well I guess it might be a little better on 37´s but with the four link still close. Maybe custom core support and massaging the firewall!? we´ll see in May!
thanks for the info!

[K20chevy]

Let´s see how much "room" I have when the fenders are done. Going right up to the inner lip, where the inner fender mounts. Hope that is enough to stuff 37´s in there without contact...

[K20chevy]

Originally Posted by johnnypop

Pie cut the body line at the curves and pinch it back, be sure you coat the inside of the fenders well once all the welding and bodywork is done or else you'll end up with a rotted mess after a few years of wheeling. The brown truck's fenders were done years ago, will fit 37's on a 4" lift with no rubbing, white truck has received the same treatment, both trucks awaiting sets of 37's right now cause money is tight. Looks super factory, basically you push the rear of the fender back to follow right along the inner fender, then the front I did about 2 inches to make it look clean

Hi Jonnypop,

did you just pie cut the rear part of the fender, or also the front, close to the side maker? Or just the lower few inches, not the entire front part?

thanks....

[K20chevy]

Any news? Has anyone else attempted this? I will start this in the spring. But thought of slicing the fenders and moving the opening back and foward and then adding a filler piece, but still pie cutting them like described above.

Trying to fulls stuff 37" tried in with only 3 to 4" of lift. But they need to clear lock to lock at full articulation. So I need tons of room!

[K20chevy]

Any more info or pictures for this topic? Will takle this in the spring and would love to get a bit more info.

will a 37" tire completely stuff inside the rear fender without modifying it?

I know one guy here in the 67-72 forum has offered or is building fiberglass fenders with different size openings but with the stock look. Has anybody heard of anyone doing this for the 73-87 chevys? I´m not talking about the Desert race bulged fiberglass fenders. I´m more talking about a stock look with just 2" or 4" larger opening.

[79Betty]

I have 7" of lift turning 38's with no rubbing. Beforenitnwas 35's n. 4". They never rubbed i just had a narrow (15x7) wheel and 0 offset so therefo the tire was in the middle not sticking out. When i get tires that actually have tread lol i'm gonna trim my front off but toe my bumper to wrap around like newer pickups

[K20chevy]

I think I might move the side marker forward a little bit and cut the wheel arc right in the middle, move the front part forward by the amount theside marker gt moved and move the rearpart back, then weld in a filler piece in the middle from another fender and create my own inner fenders. I Hope I can get the 37"´s flexed all out and turned lock to lock that way with only 3-4" of lift. I might do the same in the rear. Maybe that gives me around 4" more room for the tires...

We´ll see how it turns out... Might try it with an aftermarket fender first... before cutting up nice OEM steel!

[1985-GMC]

I've been thinking about it for a while and that's pretty much what I plan on doing now. You'll probably beat me to it so post up pictures when you get a little work done on them.

[K20chevy]

Originally Posted by 1985-GMC

I've been thinking about it for a while and that's pretty much what I plan on doing now. You'll probably beat me to it so post up pictures when you get a little work done on them.

Not sure if I beat you on this. I need to find some OEM steel first, to put onto the truck and keep it drivable while I hack into the aftermarket fenders adn try it out. Only if that works, I might cut up the OEM steel. Maybe I´ll save it though and just run the cut and welded aftermarket fenders... we´ll see!

[TheBlueBomber]

I say cut up the aftermarket ones... No one will miss them.

[1985-GMC]

I'll be using my stock fenders but they have some dents in them and if I can't get them out I'll find some more oem ones to do it on. They're cheap enough around here that I can usually find a complete rust free front clip for under 200 bucks. I probably won't get to that point until summer time but I really want to finish the truck this year so I plan on busting my butt on it to get it done.

[K20chevy]

Originally Posted by 1985-GMC

I'll be using my stock fenders but they have some dents in them and if I can't get them out I'll find some more oem ones to do it on. They're cheap enough around here that I can usually find a complete rust free front clip for under 200 bucks. I probably won't get to that point until summer time but I really want to finish the truck this year so I plan on busting my butt on it to get it done.

Wow, $200 for a rust free front clip, that is cheap! For me it is very hard, if not impossible to find good OEM sheet metal in new england. I need to go to Arizona or California, to actuelly find some nice stuff.... I´ll try it on the POS aftermarket fenders first though, making sure I know exactly how and where to cut, before transfering it over to the OEM nice metal!

[K20chevy]

At the end of May I´ll have some time to tackle the front feder mods. It looks like I might cut the wheel arc in half and move the rear part (toward the cab) back 2-3" but retain the full original lip. On the front, I might move the side marker forward 1" and then pie cut a section between the side marker and the original lip. That way I can lean the lip forward, matching the angle of the rear lip. Last I´d insert a piece from another fender on the top, to bridge the gap. Not sure if and how I could retain the inner fender, as I really want to keep that. We´ll see. Should look pretty decent and factory. It should clear 37" tires on the 3-4" of lift then. Not sure if the rear fender arc will work with 37`s without mods or if I have to move the sections forward and back 1-2" too.

Maybe someone knows if 37`s stuff all the way in with the OEM rear fender opening!?

[K20chevy]

Ok, so the 37"´s are on. I´m really surprised how little trimming it need with only 4" of lift. I will work on the "good" fenders later this year but for now, the trimmed ones have to do....

[1985-GMC]

Any progress on your fenders? I'll be doing a set or two pretty soon.

[K20chevy]

Originally Posted by 1985-GMC

Any progress on your fenders? I'll be doing a set or two pretty soon.

Not yet, I just trimmed enough off of the aftermarket fenders to make it drivable.

I have two OEM fenders now and will try to get two more now, so I can make 4 OEM ones into two with a larger opening. I´m nut sure yet as to pie cut them and leave it at that or whether I´m going to section them and add in a few sections of the other fenders to keep the angle on the opening the same but just enlarge the opening by about 4-5".

Currently I´m not in the states, so the mods will have to wait til May when I´m back with the truck.

Are you going to do the pie cut version?

[1985-GMC]

The more I think about it the more I think I'm just going to do it like some of the other pictures posted and cut from the center of the fender up above the body line then straight back and then back down behind the fender and take out about 2" there. Then maybe move the bottom of the front fender up a couple of inches. I need to get a set of 37"s so I can start mocking it up and see how much I'll really need to open it up.

[K20chevy]

Originally Posted by 1985-GMC

The more I think about it the more I think I'm just going to do it like some of the other pictures posted and cut from the center of the fender up above the body line then straight back and then back down behind the fender and take out about 2" there. Then maybe move the bottom of the front fender up a couple of inches. I need to get a set of 37"s so I can start mocking it up and see how much I'll really need to open it up.

You will be surprised on how much room they need. It is not bad when they are straight. but turn them to lock and then go up and you are in trouble. With the 4" lift and 37s on mine, at full lock and bump, I might have to remove part of the lower radiator support and move the floor on the cab up to clear the tires! Never thought they´d take up this much room, but they do! Unless you limit bump quite a bit, you´ll have to remove more than 2"...

[1985-GMC]

Hmm I was afraid of that, I'll have to get a set of tires to see what I'm up against. I had 40s and a 4" lift on my blazer and once I trimmed the fenders I didn't have any problems with rubbing, though I never did any serious offroading with it so I don't know how close it would have gotten to the cab floor and core support.

[K20chevy]

No real updates, haven´t tackled this project yet, however, I did make new plans to take the fender modes a step further.

The way my 4 link (and possible rear 4-link) will be setup, the tires will not only need a larger wheel opening for the 37" tires, more so they will need a wider fender, so the tire can tug into the fender without contact. Sure there are fiberglass prerunner fenders out there, but they are too "in your face" for my sleeper project. So I have two ideas on how to make this work, but not sure yet how it will come out at the end.

I will try it with a couple of aftermarket fenders first and once I am happy with the outcome transfer it to the OEM sheetmetal.

option 1: just pulling the fenders and bedsides to hoepfully gain 2-3" of width, after sectioning and enlarging the wheel opening. On the bedside I´m sure it´ll work, but unsure if I can pull the "short" front fender this much.

option 2: making a relief cut right at the upper trim line, then pulling the fender/bedisde out after of course sectioning/enlarging the wheelwell. Then adopting the conture above the trim line and add a filler piece. On the bedsides it should work fine and on the rear of the front fenders as well. But in the front, to keep the side marker, this will not work. So the idea is to extend the entire piece inside of the trim line out 2-3" in the front and just change the radius on the shape to the top and front of the fender.

So I hope one of these will actually work and even more important look half way decent and stealthy. We´ll see.

Plan is to also modify the trim to still go around the two tone paint.

[mckustomfab]

I agree that the fiberglass fenders are a little much, I want something that people will look at and say "there is something different about those fenders, but I can't figure out what it is".

I really like what was done on this truck, looks good but not over the top! He moved the fender well up 2" back 1" and forwad 2" and also moved it out 2"

[K20chevy]

Originally Posted by mckustomfab

I agree that the fiberglass fenders are a little much, I want something that people will look at and say "there is something different about those fenders, but I can't figure out what it is".

I really like what was done on this truck, looks good but not over the top! He moved the fender well up 2" back 1" and forwad 2" and also moved it out 2"

That does look really good! And it seems to be all metal! On the 81-87 (91) fenders it is easier to do than on the 73-80 because of the trim line going around the sidemarker. But something like this is what I wat to do, only on my 78 fenders. I agree, I want it to look like it came from the factory as an option that way!