Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass
 

Hey, I'm not a 4x4 guy, so don't really know what you guys want in regards for tire clearance.
I know some people cut their fenders for more clearance.
I was wondering if anybody would be interested in Fiberglass fenders with a larger wheel opening that other wise appears stock.
I'm thinking of modifying some front fenders(67-72) and making fiberglass parts. I would make them with Fiberglass and a Kevlar option, so they are strong and resistant to rock dings and dents.

I'm thinking of making the opening 3" higher and 6" longer front to back.
Not sure if I would flare them out or keep them stock width.
Of course, they would use all stock mounting points.
I'm estimating that finished fenders would be anywhere from $250-400 per fender depending on opening and flare.
Add $100 roughly for Kevlar reinforcement

Please reply with what you would like to see made for your truck.

Re: Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass
 

Cool proposition...

The 67-72 fenders will be tough to duplicate having that lip but I hope you can oull it off.

Of course, there goes the inner fenders...

Re: Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass
 

I'd buy a pair, especially if they were around $300 per fender. I've always liked the prerunner look & would rather go the fender route than buying a lift kit so the tires would fit!

Re: Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass
 

I think I can pull it off, I'm a moldmaker by trade and have made much more complicated molds than the fender(see avatar). I just am not familiar with 4x4's with bigger tires, or how much articulation they have. I'm trying to find out if vertical clearance or horizontal clearance is more important. I know when I'm looking for obscure or hard to find items I always think if I could just get ___________ ...
I'm trying to find what people who do a lot of offroading would like.

Once I know what size to make, I can fab the part and molds.

vtblazer- do you mean the lip around the headlight/grill, or the lip around the wheel. I think the lip around the wheel is easier, I can just section it with an extra fender. The thing with the lip around the grill is that it changed over the years...
I'm going to design the mold so that front part can be made for the different 'lips'.

Oh, once I have a set of fenders finished, I will be looking for a 4x4 in the area I can 'borrow' to mock up some inner fenders to match. The inner would most likely be made of a flexible plastic,like urethane, ABS, or PE/HDPE

Re: Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass
 

Wheel was what I was referring to but I also see what you mean about the changing years.

Don't know if these pics will help but on mine I trimmed 4.5"s all around.
That translates into a total of 9"s wider front/back but only 4.5"s higher.
Doing it that way, it mimics the original shape, granted without the lip but the shape stayed exactly the same.

This amount of clearance barely clears my 42's.

Not many are running 42's or larger on these old trucks and a fender that works for me, isn't going to look 'right' for those on 33's, guess you'll be making different sizes?

Re: Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass
 

thanks for those pics that helps alot with clearance questions. it looks like you had to cut of the lower front of the fender too, just below that body line. I'm guessing from the pic of the truck on the concrete, that there's maybe an inch of clearance in that front corner? maybe just a bit more?
Also, roughly how much do the tires sit outside the body?

Sounds like 33's are more common.
Are there even many issues with the stock fenders and 33's with stock suspension parts?
Reason I ask is my tires are 265/60r16 and they are 29". I wouldn't think that 33's would have much clearance problem, maybe they do under full articulation?
Anyone?


Oh guys, please vote in the poll, this thread has had a lot of views and only a few people have put their $o.o2 in the poll.
Thanks
|M|

Re: Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass
 

arrggh the most common i see is people like me who had to cut to fit 38's and such, they "clear" the inner fenderwell, but the outer well i .... i was not so nice to the outer ha ha ha
so the articulation i have right now will not carth the fender well as much as i thought it would origionally, but i have 6in skyjacker with add a leafs etc, , did you think abou tmaking a year range specific measurign chart or somethign so people can send you their input on their different builds?
im nto a mold maker so i have no clue what you need, what i did before i cut was place my truck "fully articulated" on a cement ramp (loading dock) and see how much of the fender i had to cut off..
oh well ther's my 4 cents have a good night

Re: Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass
 

I am Running 35's on a 3 inch body lift with 6 inch suspension lift on my 71 K5. Doing some good wheeling and turning sharp at the same time, my tires will rub the front and back sharp points on the inside of the fender. That being said I would only need about 2inch on each side = 4inch but I have plenty of clearance at the top. This is great that your looking into doing this, I've always thought of doing something with my fenders but didnt want to lose the clean GM factory line and flare.(you have to admit, the factory look is clean or we probably wouldnt be on this forum) not taking anything away from trucks like vtblazer's. that Blazer looks KILLER/BAD A**, thats just not the look I'm going for on my K5.

Re: Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass
 

Rule of thumb...generally here:
33's w/stock suspension - road set up
33's w/4" lift - wheeling
35's w/4" lift - road set up
35's w/6" lift - wheeling

Tow other varying factors are the wheel back spacing and no trimming, these fenders have what's known as a 'fang' and yes, it'll catch.



Given the option, I would have liked to keep the factory lines also but it simply wasn't possible.
...and hindsight being 20/20 and all, I'm glad I didn't seeing what theses fenders have been put through.

I did make a decent attempt at fab'ing up some but it was impossible to keep the stock geometry of the fender lip and achieve the necessary wheel opening.

Re: Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass
 

I dont think those look to bad and some thing like that cleaned up would look to have enough clearance for my 35's. You can see what little clearance I have now, now imagine while wheelin.

Re: Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass
 

i would be interested in some fenders, however i was wondering if you cna add something on the inside of the fender so i can put my own version of wheel wells in

Re: Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass
 

Thanks for the replies guys.

I like your idea about making a reference chart. It would help me figure out what sizes would be most popular. It would also benefit the forum, for anybody looking to jack their trucks and put bigger tires, it would serve as great reference.


Yeah, VTBlazers ride is awesome. makes me wish florida wasn't flat(but we do get plenty of mud)

I can see that there's really not much space.
Those are stock fenders I'm guessing?


Thanks for the general info, that fender doesn't look too bad at all.
Yeah, I know about the 'fang's as you called them on the inside of the wheel arch. I would make the lip smooth on the inside, I don't think it would be a problem, and that lip adds a good amount of strength to the whole fender.


Yeah the inner lip of the fender would be smooth, but there, allowing plenty of space to mount a modified inner fender.
I'll go grab a pic for an example.

Re: Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass
 

I can see that there's really not much space.
Those are stock fenders I'm guessing?


Yes they are stock fenders. I'm really looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

Re: Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass
 

here's some pics. Yeah it's super dirty, been sitting on the ground for about 10 months with no washing.

These are from my front end. Same arch though, just a factory size
you can see I retained the 'beauty line' on the lower edge of the wheel well lip. Alot of repop parts don't have that line...
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b6...s/IMG_1851.jpg

here's a pic of the passenger side, looking back.
you can see the lip I made that goes in, with none of the 'fangs'.
That lip was trimmed about 1/4" off in this picture. It is about 1/2" deep from the inside of the beauty line.
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b6...s/IMG_1842.jpg

the bigger that inside lip is, the more strength the panel will have.
I think I will make that lip about 1" deep, and if needed it could be trimmed back to suit the specific install.
Having a 1" lip there would be a great place to install inner wells.
I'm thinking inners like on modern trucks, a strong flexible plastic.
But Fenders first, inners down the road if there's enough interest in fenders

Re: Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass
 

I think a large wheel arch without the bulge is a good idea. It would make for a much cleaner look but give the clearance needed. I think perhaps 2 levels might be needed. Perhaps a wheel arch that is 2" or 3" bigger for the stock (or small lifted) guys only running 33" and wanting 35". And then a fender with a 5-6" larger arch for the guys wanting 40"s. I believe the small arch would be preferred.

I am not a 67-72 guy, mainly 73-87... a 73-87 2wd (no lift) with a fiberglass flared fender (3" bulge and 2-3" larger wheel arch) could fit 35" tires.

Without the bulge I believe only 33"s may have been possible. Just my $0.02.

Re: Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass
 

Cool thread, hope it works out because I'm interested in a set for 35's. In the future would ya be addressing the rear fenders

I didn't vote because I don't know what size I need

Nice idea on the front lip,lets ya run '67-'72. I'll wait to buy new fenders till I hear whatcha doin'

Re: Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass
 

Anything larger than a 4.5" enlargement will take out the side-markers.
I agree with the two size ranges though for sure.

So when do the low profile/cowl induction hoods come out? :devil:

Re: Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass
 

hmmm.
im pretty down for a fiberglass hood to

Re: Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass
 

since we are getting off the subject can you make the half doors for a 72 blazer

Re: Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass
 

I've gotten some great feedback so far. Thanks everyone.

It looks like I'll be making two sizes, one for 33"-35" range, and another for 38"-44" range. I'm sure there will be some overlap with size and Backspacing of tires and the lift set up your truck has.
I will make the smaller size first, as it seems it would be the more popular size, and I think chevy's outnumber GMC's too.


I should be able to make them for all year ranges of the 67-72, but the differences are a little confusing. the 67-68 chevy and 67-72 GMC style being the same , and then 69-72 chevy are the same. That is if I have the design differences for the years right, but I'm not sure. Only thing I know for sure is the 67 had no marker light...


As for hoods, well there's already a number of companies making them, and until the fenders start to pay back the investment for the molds, I'll only be thinking of fenders! lol.
Although I do have a mainly rust free, but straight 71 hood in the barn already...

And for doors, or blazer half doors rather, there are also companies making glass doors, both half doors and full doors which could be cut down. Door molds are even more complex than fender or hoods, so also, those will sit on the back burner in the side house in the back of the property so to speak.
While off topic, first thing I would prolly try to make for a blazer is a top, and probably the half cab with bulkhead style top.

Back on topic, I will wait another week or so for some more feedback, but I'm already getting a good idea. Then I'll start to open the fenders I have, and make molds. Once they molds are made they will take 7-10 days to fully cure (to minimize shrink and warp) then they can be pulled and cleaned/prepped for parts. Roughly 3 weeks after the molds are complete, I should be able to pull parts out as needed for years to come. I plan to have them available mid to late September. I'm already looking into how to ship these suckers too.

I've spent the last 3 days making a base to raise the old 50's Chicago windmill we have here(getting too old for that kind of work), and then I have a full load of large rocks being delivered to my house(for landscaping),all while I'm fixing/finishing a major garage repair/clean-up. I'm going to have an awesome project to break in our partially new garage!

I have a few members that are going to be my testers for the first parts, to help me in knowing if there's any tweaks needing to be made for mounting or fit.
Looks like I'm going to become a board vendor too! Woot Woot!

Re: Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass
 

If you could duplicate these, but for a '72 style, I would be all over it. The guy building these for the '67-'68 charges $350 for the pair (fiberglass), but I want the '72 style. I think these have a 3.5" flare, not sure about the opening. Of corse, I am only refering to the front, not the rear.

http://www.race-dezert.com/skunkz/68chevy/1.jpg

http://www.race-dezert.com/skunkz/68chevy/38.jpg

http://www.race-dezert.com/skunkz/68chevy/39.jpg

http://www.race-dezert.com/skunkz/68chevy/2.jpg

Re: Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass
 

That's another avenue you may want to explore....bedsides...Personaly, I LOVE the hourglass figure of a truck with a flaired bed and fenders, just my $.02

Re: Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass
 

Sandking, thanks for the pics of those, I've never seen them before.
It looks like they are maybe bolted on top of some cut out factory fenders, I'm guessing because of the bolt holes you can see in the fenders. Either that or they fabbed a mounting structure underneath.
Also those body lines on the front kind of match, but the profile of the lip does not.
It doesn't have the inner/reverse curve on top of the lip, nor does it have the beauty line towards the bottom of the lip.

I do like the transition from the lip to the grill, I've already thought about doing something like that for anyone running super-swampers etc.

I'm not knocking that fender design, molding composite materials isn't easy.
But I want my parts to be as close to factory as possible, including every little detail.

|M|

Re: Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass
 

They are mounted with dzues fasteners. They have a welded on backing plate to a tube structure. I agree about the fine details, but for something that is probably going to get messed up, I would be ok with it. I do like your idea of detail, but unless the truck is a street/trailer queen, you might be spending more time then its worth to fine tune these. I know you said you do this for a living, but time cost money. I am just speculating here, no harm intended. I say go for it!!

Re: Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass
 

I definitely agree with you Mordachi. Thats exactly what I'm looking for on my K5. Just have to remember fellas, that Mordachai is doing the hard part of designing and manufacturing the fenders. Once hes done that, bolt some on and lets go out wheelin hard! Why not? its only fiberglass to repair, (most auto parts stores will have what it takes to repair) repair today and repaint tomorrow worst case.... and your still looking good with all that clean GM detail. IM IN !

Re: Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass
 

ah, dzus fasteners are great! I don't know why I didn't think of it when I saw that, as it's a pretty standard way to mount GRP panels.

If I'm going to take the time and effort to make a mold, I feel it's worth it getting the model/plug as well done as possible. if I half ass the model, the molds will reflect that, and every part from the molds will too. And it's not that much work to retain the curve on top of the lip and the beauty line on the lower part of the lip.

This weekend I'm just pulling my fenders out of the barn, and finish up re-organizing my garage so I have some nice space to work on these fenders.

When I start cutting and welding I'll be posting pics.

I've been experimenting with reinforcing the fender front to back, as the fender holds up the Rad support. On my tilt front, I fabbed some bars to hold the rad. support, but I'd like to make these fenders include something so additional supports aren't necessary

Re: Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass
 

Is it possible to make just the fender skin, I could attach it to my exsisting fender framework. I could flange the fender the thickness of your fiberglas all the way around

Re: Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass
 

do you mean that you would cut off the fender skin, leaving an inch or two around the perimeter to mount the new skin to?
That's def possible, but it's hard to get a good true bond with metal and fiberglass. You would pretty much have to rivet or thread set it to the metal frame, and then go over the seam with some fiberglass or similar material.
And it will crack as it flexes. Metal and Fiberglass have different expansion rates in different temps, and they flex differently.
It can def be done, prolly a little cheaper than a fully molded fender with all the mounting points.

I'll send you some pics to clarify that we're talking about the same thing.

Re: Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass
 

I would be interested in this also. Any thought on bedsides? The skin would be ideal here.

Re: Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass
 

A fender skin might a good compromise, only thing if you want it to look pretty painted up and all, it will flex and bend, and eventually crack the paint.
Some people might not care, some would.
I could do the fender skin thing for anyone who's interested. It would come off the same mold as the full fender, just not fully cast around the mounting points etc.


As for bedsides, I am planning on making molds of my fleetside bedsides. Actually I'm going to make a full glass bed, it's straight and in really good shape, but I'm going to do the front fenders first. Once there is some good feedback and hopefully some satisfied customers, I'll work on the bed.

To give a quick idea, It'll prolly cost me around 400-600 in materials alone for each front fender mold. That does not include my time to make the plug, or my time to make and clean and polish the mold. Molds are expensive as all hell, but worth it if making a decent number of parts.

But eventually(hopefully sooner than later) I will wet sand and smooth my bedsides and make molds of them. Heck maybe someone will help me with my mold costs in return for the first set of bedsides, as bedside molds are gonna be costly!

Re: Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass
 

If you can make the fenderskins in white gelcoat, I won't have to paint them. I was thinking of bonding them to the fender skeletin, once I cut the fender away. How thick would the fibreglas be?

Re: Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass
 

Great Idea! Would definitely like a 2" higher, 4" longer, stock width set
:metal:

Re: Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass
 

<couldnt you cut or match the fender mounting holes with like a metla inlay or say i dunno how to describe it, but like a metal "rib" for the bolt on and mounting areas?
and issue ive had with alot of the newer cars and definatley with the newer body kit rage is that when you install them everything sags or the holes for mounting are just weak and unsupported, if there was a "rib" or a inlaid piece of metal to bolt through for added support said fenders would last much longer wouldnt they? or at least be more rigid at the mounting so they dont "tear off" under normal flex or maby mud weight?
does that make sense?
I think an internal reinforcement would be much sturdier then "modling" a big fiberglass mold to a cut steel fender, and BTW some of us here cant fiberglass.... so how would we make it look descent?

Re: Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass
 

Hey that's great coincidence, as I generally use black(sometimes orange) tooling gelcoat for the mold and white gelcoat for the parts. The white over black helps to give a visual to when I've got the gelcoat thick enough. I do use a wet film gauge too, but the color is a great starting point.

How were you thinking of bonding them? An adhesive bond alone is probably not enough to really make it strong. I'd suggest a good adhesive and Rivets or threaded inserts or something like that. I'd like to know what you have in mind.


I can add any kind of reinforcement to the fender you'd like, but it's probably not necessary. I will place large fender washers in the mounting areas to help spread the force of the bolts.As for internal ribs to make it stronger, if the part is laminated correctly, there is no need for any other support. The only way I can see it tearing off is in an accident. There's little to no chance it will break under normal flex, or even if covered with 50# of mud.

For instance, I can sit on the tilt forward front end I made, it's def strong enough. It weighs roughly 150#, and that's with the 20# hinge I made out of angle iron grafted to it. As long as the parts are made well, there should be no problem, as pound for pound, composites are much much stronger than steel! I can't wait to have some finished parts to show the quality that I am aiming for.

I agree with you, it will be difficult at best to graft a fender skin to a cut steel fender. And over time, the seam will crack just the nature of two different materials. That's why I'm curious to know what jaros44sr has in mind.

I agree with the whole thing with the body kits you are talking about, but it's the brand of kit that the problems arise. A good well made kit will run anywhere from 10 grand and up, and there's only a few companies that make them, and they don't produce them in high numbers. That's for the real deal kit from the people who originally designed it. Those parts are very high quality and don't sag at all, and line up perfectly.
What happens is some rip-off company buys one kit, and makes cheap molds off the parts without them mounted on a car. Since they are molded off the car, their molds are twisted, wavy and generally lousy.
Then the parts that they pull off are even worse, and very thin and fragile.
Unfortunately that gives all body kits a bad rep, as 90% or more of them are the cheap ones, not the well made kits by well known companies. Unfortunately, the rip off companies market their junk as the real deal, and that causes big problems throughout the industry.

An example: I still have a pair of fenders I got for my Rx-7, that I just couldn't bring myself to bolt on because of shoddy workmanship. A friend bought them and sold his Rex before he put them on, so I got them. These are fenders that sell for $350 or so, but should sell for 100 if that. There's maybe $40 of materials in them, they are so thin it's not even right, that what is supposed to be used as a core material is soaked in resin and slapped on the back to give it some form of strength, with no glass sealing up the 'core'. Basically, the tupperware in your kitchen is probably stronger than those fenders!

So anyways, fiberglass parts have gotten a bad name because of all the rip off companies out there, but composites(fiberglass, Carbon fiber, Kevlar glass etc) if done properly are super strong.

Just for kicks, here's a pic of me sitting on my front end. I know if I can make that front end strong enough to support me, ans weigh in around 150#, that I can surely make a fender as strong(probably stronger) than it's steel counterpart.
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b6...l/IMG_1939.jpg

Re: Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass
 

Alot of the new panels are just bonded(BMW), but I was planning on using countersunk rivets to hold the two pcs. together...How thick is the fibreglas, I have to make a crimping tool that thickness?

Re: Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass
 

oh well hell.. u know alot more then i do, i recently installed a stalker II body kit on a 01 mustang, looks great till you hit 100, had to go through and "reinforce" with angles sheetmetal to keep the body sucked up, it had the holes and the pictures in the instructions just non of the hardware .. and this is directly from the guys who made it ugggghhh..
ok well we also had baja fenders on a prerunner style ranger a while back and after a few good whacks in muddign trails the fenders were splitting up like old currogated (sp?) fiberglass panels (like a crappy greenhouse)
so... im sorry im bitter..
but your stuff looks alot better

Re: Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass
 

Just for a little more info on the "skin", here is a picture of my last truck I had. It was a full fiberglass body made by a place called Trailer Products. It was full tube chassis, it had tubes with tabs and the glass was thru-bolted and all bolted together. The thickness was no more then 3/16". The truck has seen the worse of the worse and at 100+ mph, and not one crack. I had since painted the whole thing black, and still no stress cracks. I am just saying, those of you that think you need to beef up the glass, you would be suprised how strong it really is if you have it mounted in a decent application.
Mordachai, if you make the front and rear skins, I would be interested, as my Blazer will see the same terrain that my old truck did. Weight is also a concern for me. Thanks.

Re: Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass
 

I would soooo love to do that some day!

No intent to hi-jack but how's your build coming along?

Re: Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass
 

Sssslllloooowwww. I got stuck on the front axle. I will update my build thread soon.

Re: Interest for High rise(pre-runner style?) Fenders Fiberglass
 

I'm pretty sure the panels you are talking about are all ABS, PU, or HDPE plastics.
They are usually thermoset(melted) through holes in the metal frame.
BMW, Mercedes, of course Saturn all have some plastic body panels.
Bodymen have a special tool that melts the plastic stub into a liquid rivet on the backside of the mounting areas. It's pretty cool.

As for placing them in your fender, find some one that has a jenny or swage roller. It'll make the l shaped flange for you. You could also use a bead roller and then flatten the inside half of the bead.

I used to be able to get a line of specialty hot glues that bonded or temp bonded different or similar materials together depending on application.
I'll see if I can get something for steel to fiberglass. If so, I could supply a few sticks with every skin. :thumbs:

For the thickness around 1/4", but depends on the resin. PE or VE resin would be more like 5/16", and epoxy would be closer to 3/16".