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

[sandking]

Originally Posted by Mordachai

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.

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

[Mordachai]

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!

[jaros44sr]

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?

[Parkerkl]

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

[johnnywagon]

Originally Posted by Parkerkl

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

[Mordachai]

Hey a quick update.
Pulled my fenders and started to mock them up.
I'm in need of extra fender lips and some other sheet metal to make the model for the molds, so waiting for that.
In the meantime, I'm going to make the molds for the supports on the back of the fender for the people that want truly bolt on applications.

I'm making separate molds for that inner support, as I'll be offering three variations of each fender.

1. Just a fender skin with the larger opening. These would be grafted to a cut metal fender like discussed above.

2. A full fiberglass fender with stock mounting points. They would bolt in at all the stock locations, and have a fit and look just like a GM part(what I'm aiming for anyways), but with a larger opening.
This variation will require a steel support to be fabricated to run from the Cowl mounts(or the firewall) to the Radiator support. The steel will be needed to support the radiator support, the hood, and anything else that would normally mount to the fender, as a fiberglass fender, no matter how strong will probably not support a steel hood on stock hinges.
Something like this would be needed:


I made them out of 1.25" box tubing, when I reassemble the truck I will run any wiring through them with caps to hide the wires.
You could easily weld a plate on this type support to have a location to mount the stock hinges/hood, or anything else you would like to mount there.
I have noticed alot of the 4x4's have cages or some sort of added tubing to the chassis, and could be easily modified or added to in order to accommodate the hinge/hood mounts.


3. A full fiberglass fender with an inner support that has a piece of plate steel laminated in that inner support mold. There would be a jig shaped piece of steel laminated in the inner support, which in turn will be laminated to the fender.
This variation would be a true bolt on part, with more than enough strength to support the hood, the radiator support and anything else mounted on the inside of the fender.


Senator- the little nip you are talking about is not a problem at all. I can incorporate a full lower cup, or a cut cup, as much as you would like. The design of the mold and the method of layup will allow me to custom 'tailor' the fender to each individual's needs(with a trade secret!) and still have a factory finish with no sloppily cut edges.

[Senator350]

trade secret?