Sagging Rear Stepside Fenders

[BC10]

I have a rear fender that will need to be repaired. I noticed that a lot of the OEM fenders have a little sagging/bend on the top of the fender. What is a good way to fix this?

Maybe hammering it out, and then welding a metal brace or support on the inner side of the fender to hold it up? Anyone ever try this?

[BC10]

Ttt

[Taibo]

Originally Posted by BC10

I have a rear fender that will need to be repaired. I noticed that a lot of the OEM fenders have a little sagging/bend on the top of the fender. What is a good way to fix this?

Maybe hammering it out, and then welding a metal brace or support on the inner side of the fender to hold it up? Anyone ever try this?

Stepside fenders bolt through the flange around the perimeter of the fender directly to the bedside with 12 bolts spaced roughly 6 inches apart around the mounting flange. They can't sag unless the bedside is bent and it has stiffeners rolled into the flat side to prevent 'oilcanning'.

[67ChevyRedneck]

Will need to see a pic??? Maybe circle the "sagging" area?

[mike16]

there are also some re-enforcing rods that extend from several fasteners on the side of the bed to the outer edges of the fender one in the front. one over the wheel arch and on at the rear of the wheel opening. three per side and maybe a forth one at the rear corner.

I believe they are the same for at least all 60-66 step side fendered trucks. If they are bent they can give your fender a saggy look. if they are missing....ditto. I believe the 60 and later ones interchange and are reproduced. it does not hurt to go through with new hardware and on the inside of the fender where it does not show.... add some large area washers.

Those fenders should not sag and should be sturdy enough to handle the weight of a full size adult.

I replaced my bars and added the fresh hardware and the bed becomes much sturdier all around and much less rattle and sweak. Add new wood, hardware and a bit of rubber between the bed and the frame and it gets stronger and even more quiet.

linseed oil also keeps a squeaky bed quiet

[michael bustamante]

not to hijack but my rear fenders have oil canning on top. any of you guys know a fix for this?

[BC10]

I believe oil canning is the correct term. The sagging is right on the top part of the fender. It is a little hard to see in the pics. They are subtle, but would look really look bad if I were to paint it, because of the uneven waves on top.

[Taibo]

Originally Posted by BC10

I believe oil canning is the correct term. The sagging is right on the top part of the fender. It is a little hard to see in the pics. They are subtle, but would look really look bad if I were to paint it, because of the uneven waves on top.

I call that a "DENT", not sagging, oil canning or whatever. Looks like someone leaned really hard on that fender to do that. Look at how close that dent is to the stiffest part of the fender...right next to the mounting flange.

[swamp rat]

Looks like a dent to me too, it should be able to be popped back into place using a hammer off method, thats where a hammer and dolley are used and the hammer hits adjacent to the dolly and not right where the dolly is, if ya hammer right where the dolly is that can expand the metal, that expansion will lead to oil canning. there has been threads posted in the body section about "hammer on" and "hammer off" technique, its a good trick to learn if ya do body work, might give the search feature a shot with tho's terms and see if any threads pop up.

If its bad enough to oil can then you need to shrink the metal, there are different ways to do this, one is with a stud gun using a special tip, another is a shrinking disk on a right angle grinder, another possible way is with a tourch with a smaller welding tip. heat a small area at a time and it shrinks the metal. these are also a bit of an art forum, go slow.

If the dents arn't that bad, less that 1/8" you can always use some bondo, the purest body guy would not accept that tho.

All this said i'm no body man, just a guy thats trying to learning this stuff as he go's and getting lots of advice from people with way more experiance that me.

[ryanv70c10]

if your looking to upgrade those fenders and want to sell them, I would buy them from you. My 70 has 73-87 fenders on it and im just looking to put something correct on it. Im not worried about the dents. Thx