Help with Fender postioning/placement

[drewh1]

IMG_2745.JPG (85.86 KiB) Viewed 560 times

so I bought these fenders for my td - They seem way to big and out of proportion. My wheels are 14" and I have to drop them way down and there is still too much space between the fender and tire. Am I missing something? Do I cut them down? or did I just buy the wrong fenders.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[KCStudly]

A simple trick that might make a difference is to paint the aluminum skin inside the fender with undercoat or flat black to camouflage the background with a non-contrasting color. It does look like they need to be lower, but if you go too far they will look like they are hanging off of the bottom of your wall; which could also be considered "stink bug".

I have a similar problem that I will have to address with my jeep style fenders on AT tires; they are too short length wise, kind of tall, and barely wide enough to cover the tread. When they are centered on the tread I have big gap between them and the wall. In my future I see either custom fenders or buying another pair to do lots of cutting and splicing (they are aluminum and nowhere near the organic shape of yours).

I like your wheel/tire combo, so for your fiberglass fenders (which I assume cost a bit and it would be a shame to wreck 'em), you may want to start from scratch and either sell or return those (maybe?). Maybe someone else will have a better solution.

It is very important, IMO, to get the fenders right. They can make or break the graceful lines in a big way, either way.

I see you got the FJ you were talking about!

[jgrote]

I think you could probably make these work. In the pic it's a little hard to tell, but it looks like you should rotate them so the rear is a little lower, and then mover them straight forward by maybe 1". I also agree that you should paint everything inside the wheel well flat black. That will make a huge difference. I want fenders like yours for mine, but I can't find any small enough to look right on a 12" wheel.

[drewh1]

thanks guys - I like the idea of painting black behind the tire. I can't move them forward because of the door placement.

JC - I agree, I want the fenders to look good. May have to sell them and start over I'll post some pictures of the new TV and my camping mission to Ocean Cove!

drew.

[48Rob]

Drew,

Those fenders would look very good/much better if you had a short skirt (6" or so) around the bottom of the trailer to in effect lengthen the walls.
In your mock up photo, the rear of the fender needs to go down a few inches as well.
Probably way too much work, but if the axle were moved back, it would all balance much better.

Rob

[drewh1]

Hey Rob - I thought about the option of moving the axle. I can also flip the axle on top of the axle to raise the wheel up. I don't think I am going to do either, just bought the wrong damn fenders. I should have drawn a template and really checked before I bought them. Ah well, another life learning lesson. Problem is, I have no idea what fenders to get now!

Any suggestions?

[DMcCam]

Hi Drew,

I have those same fenders on mine. According to Grant, they are meant to have their back end lower than the front. This places the arc of the opening lower too. I couldn't move mine any further forward either with my door placement. The opening on mine is not centered over the tire; it is closer to the front by the doors. I hope mounting them with this orientation will help they look great on your trailer.

All the Best,

Dave

[drewh1]

Hi dave. I thought u had the fenders! Ill play with them more. Any chance you have a side photo of fender and wheel. Might help me see hoiw you positioned them. I also wonder if your axle is flipped. I can go through ur build again later. Appreciatew your input

[Chuckaz]

If you end up needing to get rid of them I may be a buyer for them.

[DMcCam]

Hi dave. I thought u had the fenders! Ill play with them more. Any chance you have a side photo of fender and wheel. Might help me see hoiw you positioned them. I also wonder if your axle is flipped. I can go through ur build again later. Appreciatew your input

Hi Drew,

I'm going to tow her home Friday and I'll take some pictures for you. I have a Flexiride torsion axle on mine.

Cheers,

Dave

[drewh1]

Hey Dave, -

I just went through your build thread and found your photos so no need to take more. Looks like part of my issue is having 14" wheels. Everything is just a bit too small for the fenders. I may try flipping my axle to see if that helps but I think the least expensive solution might be another set of wheels and tires I'll play around with more and black out the background to see if that helps out.

drew.

[drewh1]

Ok - I have a plan, please check my reasoning and tell me if there is something I am missing.

1. I really like the shape of these fenders and they go well with my TD and wheels. They are just too BIG!
2. I could sell them but would lose money and haven't found an alternative I like nearly as much.
3. I could swap my axle around and buy 15" wheels and tires, but seems like a lot of work and extra money. Also, if I start off-roading I might get a totally different axle/shock setup anyways.
4. So I am going to cut them down. I don't see a downside. It might weaken the structure a bit but I think I can actually epoxy the flat piece back on if I need too. With all the curves, I doubt it will be noticeably weakened.

My idea is to place them ideally over the wheel and leave an extra inch or two for larger wheels/tires. I'll position the back where I want it and cut the front off about 6 to 8 inches.

what do you guys think?

drew.

[DMcCam]

Hey Drew, my tires are 205/75 R14's. I think because you're fender is a bit too high and tilting forward it makes it look too big. Could also be that you're looking at it from a low angle. If you look at mine at tire top level, you see my aluminum sidewall. I'm planning on hitting the underside and sidewall with black bed liner this year. Also, my axle is just below the deck height and yours looks to be much lower. This would mean you would need to drop the whole fender down over the tire for a good fit. This may not be possible with your axle set up and sidewall. I hope this helps.

All the Best,

Dave

[Wolfgang92025]

I know it's not the same fender.....
But if you look close, both front and back of the fender hang about 2 inches below the trailer.



Later I added a running board.



If you need, I can take a close up in the morning. Let me know.....