47-55.1 Another "How does this go?" question

[Jemezcrusher]

Attached is a photo of two support rods. 1950 3100. I assumed the sandblasted ones were for the rear. No way I can get them to fit. The rusty ones may well be the right ones but I took one of these pair off my old truck (original fender that was smashed) and am now working with repop fenders and my originals are long gone.

I have tried both pair every way from Sunday to line up in any hole in the frame that is close (assembly manual shows they fit on the inside of the fender lip in the hole, then to the bottom of the frame though a conveniently placed hole there.

The problem is neither of them come close to lining up due to length or angle of the bend. I really don't have a problem bending to fit, but the rods in the assembly manual show to be inline bends. I mean 20 degrees to the left at one end, and 20 to the right (or up and down however you look at it)

The sandblasted ones have one end more severely bent that the other, and also have a bit of a twist to them. The rusty ones seem right, but the bends are toward one another rather than in line so makes me wonder if over the rears they were moved to other holes.

My gut is that the rusty ones are correct and may need some adjustment to mate up to my repop fenders and the other pair may go to the front fenders somewhere. Like a dope, I did not properly mark them. Center to center the holes are about 11" on the clean ones, and 11.5" on the rusty ones. I included a tape measure so you can see overall length.

Which are the right ones for the rear? Wish there was a truck in my neighborhood I could look at. No luck there so will have to pluck the info out of this capable group

Any dart throwing will be understood. All help appreciated

[MiraclePieCo]

You sure those aren't for the front? I just held mine up to the fenders and via trial and error figured out where they went.

If you can't get any to fit you can always fabricate your own from some rod stock.

[nvrdone]

I would agree with miracle - those look like my front supports. they go from the rear of the fender opening to the frame.

[Tempest67]

the front ones do NOT attach to 'any hole in the frame'. they attach from the lower fender to a fender mounting hole on the cowl. (NOT THE FRAME)

I think the end with the greater bend (closer to 90 degrees) is the lower fender attachment, and the other end attaches to the cowl hole. (cowl hole??? that just doesn't sound right )

make sense?

[joedoh]

tempest is right, they go from the fender bottom to the fender attachment at the cowl. you can tell they are front because they are turned 90 degrees. the rears are not turned.

here is one showing the installed position on the fender this is with the fender on the ground, looking inside from where the cowl would be.

[Driver_WT]

Are these fender braces required on the front and rear? What are the consequences of not installing them?

Thanks.

Wade

[joedoh]

you wouldnt really notice if they were missing on the front, I think they were to keep the fenders stiff rolling over mud heaps in fields, a lot of trucks (and I have seen a LOT of trucks haha) they are missing bent or broken.

but the rears, they go from the fender edge to the frame and if they are missing you will hear the fenders shimmying and dancing around while you drive, they really need that rear support. on an s10 swap if the factory one is there I usually cut the frame side shorter and bend it up and weld the end to the bed side, leaving the fender side bolted. if they are missing completely I use the same part from an s10, bolted to the fender and welded to the bed side up under.

I also notice that the rear ones have a profound impact on the SHAPE of the rear fenders, so if your rear fenders are a little out of whack proportion wise, the supports usually help a lot. sometimes the front is the same way, if your fenders are bent up getting that lower support back in makes a difference.

[mr48chev]

Joedoh nailed it right on the head as he usually does. The ones on the rear keep the back lower part of the fender from flapping around. I still have my fender that cracked from that out on the wall of the shed. It wasn't until years later that I realized the actual cause of why it cracked out.

[Jemezcrusher]

Originally Posted by joedoh

tempest is right, they go from the fender bottom to the fender attachment at the cowl. you can tell they are front because they are turned 90 degrees. the rears are not turned.

here is one showing the installed position on the fender this is with the fender on the ground, looking inside from where the cowl would be.

Thanks Joedoe. I will figure out how to beat the rusty ones into submission for the rear. I believe you are right about the other ones going on the front. I also have a pair of 6” ones that go on the front somewhere too

[Driver_WT]

Originally Posted by joedoh

you wouldnt really notice if they were missing on the front, I think they were to keep the fenders stiff rolling over mud heaps in fields, a lot of trucks (and I have seen a LOT of trucks haha) they are missing bent or broken.

but the rears, they go from the fender edge to the frame and if they are missing you will hear the fenders shimmying and dancing around while you drive, they really need that rear support. on an s10 swap if the factory one is there I usually cut the frame side shorter and bend it up and weld the end to the bed side, leaving the fender side bolted. if they are missing completely I use the same part from an s10, bolted to the fender and welded to the bed side up under.

I also notice that the rear ones have a profound impact on the SHAPE of the rear fenders, so if your rear fenders are a little out of whack proportion wise, the supports usually help a lot. sometimes the front is the same way, if your fenders are bent up getting that lower support back in makes a difference.

Thank you Joedoh - great info as always. We will modify the rear braces to work and see what can be done on the front. Not sure that I have both sets (I got a large bin of stuff with the truck and am slowly figuring out what is what - some parts in that bin do not even look like they belong to a 53 Chevy truck )