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Fender Trimming

Chevy350Ben

Chevy350Ben

Part time mall crawler
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I am new to the whole concept of online forums, so forgive my 'noob' question. I have a '90 K5. I just purchsed an ORD custom spring 5" lift system, and I have one ton axles (D60 and 14B FF) to put under the truck too. I also have 40" tires for the build.

My question is this; I know I am going to have to do a significant amount of modification to my fenders. But I dont want this to me a hacked up sawzall job either. I want it to look finished, and as nice as possible. Is there some kind of formula for how much to trim? So far, all the trimming videos and pictures have been rather modest mods. Can it be done? TIA
 
Years ago a member here posted these pics with cuts mapped out. Look at these carefully because these are pretty big cuts and if I recall correctly the front fenderwells cannot be used afterwards.

The member was "Yunit" (long gone) and I'm pretty sure his Blazer had a 6" lift and 38" tires.

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I really like the finished shape of the cuts in the map pics but I wanted to retain the fenderwells so I free handed very similar cuts but didn't go quite as high across the top. I really just cut the factory "flare" off of the wheel openings.

Mine has 8" lift and 43" tires.

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You're really better off bolting the tires on (after the lift) and plotting out your cuts with some masking tape first. look through this thread for trimming ideas and amounts - https://ck5.com/forums/threads/how-will-my-k5-truck-look-with-xx-tires-on-xx-of-lift.170627/ Imo, just take your time and make cuts that flow with the body and/or wheel opening, random 45° cuts towards the bottom of the openings look awkward and can detract from an otherwise nice build.

Also, pick your tool carefully. A sawsall will cut it like butter but it can also hammer on the body if you don't hold it tight against the metal plus towards the end of the cut the metal can start flopping around again causing the hammered effect. I used a cut off wheel on a die grinder to do all of mine, no hammering effect and after buffing the edges with a cookie everything is smooth.

Lastly, some people like to recreate the factory lip that's turned under after the cut is done so that's something else to decide if you want (I did not).
 
V
nvrenuf said:
Years ago a member here posted these pics with cuts mapped out. Look at these carefully because these are pretty big cuts and if I recall correctly the front fenderwells cannot be used afterwards.

The member was "Yunit" (long gone) and I'm pretty sure his Blazer had a 6" lift and 38" tires.

full


full


I really like the finished shape of the cuts in the map pics but I wanted to retain the fenderwells so I free handed very similar cuts but didn't go quite as high across the top. I really just cut the factory "flare" off of the wheel openings.

Mine has 8" lift and 43" tires.

full


You're really better off bolting the tires on (after the lift) and plotting out your cuts with some masking tape first. look through this thread for trimming ideas and amounts - https://ck5.com/forums/threads/how-will-my-k5-truck-look-with-xx-tires-on-xx-of-lift.170627/ Imo, just take your time and make cuts that flow with the body and/or wheel opening, random 45° cuts towards the bottom of the openings look awkward and can detract from an otherwise nice build.

Also, pick your tool carefully. A sawsall will cut it like butter but it can also hammer on the body if you don't hold it tight against the metal plus towards the end of the cut the metal can start flopping around again causing the hammered effect. I used a cut off wheel on a die grinder to do all of mine, no hammering effect and after buffing the edges with a cookie everything is smooth.

Lastly, some people like to recreate the factory lip that's turned under after the cut is done so that's something else to decide if you want (I did not).
Click to expand...
Very nice build man. Very similar to how mine should turn out. out of curiosity, how far forward did you move the front axle? I had ORD move the center pin on the springs 1" forward, but I'm debating getting some of the "easy inch" plates from DIY4X as well...
 
Thanks!

My front axle is pushed 2" forward and the rear is 3" rearward.
 
If you don't want the extra inch of lift from a zero-rate, (the ORD version) you could get their axle relocation plates and only go up a 1/4".
I will be curious to see how this works out for you.

I have old 37" MTR tires on 2.5" backspace wheels right now. I don't remember for sure, but I thought that ORD did 3" springs for mine since I have their 1" body lift. I have a D60 / 14B axle combo so the front axle gives a small bump up as well. I wish that I had pushed the front axle forward 2" instead of 1" , but I may change my opinion when I get new wheels and tire. These are 35.5" and new ones should be taller and I have wheels with 4.25" backspacing to go on.

I had to trim more than I thought at the rear of the front wheel well to get enough clearance. I want to weld some metal back in and close the fender up eventually, and would have liked to keep the stock edge, but I will just try to get it closed up and eliminate any sharp edges.
I had to trim more after the 2nd picture.

And welcome aboard!

20190907_104806.jpg

20180830_192201.jpg
 
I use a grinder with a skinny cut off wheel for the difficult spots in the cut. For the rest a pair of offset cut tin snips. The sheet metal is actually pretty thin and snips cut it fine. Cut 1" less than you want the finished cut and then make a bunch of slits to the final line. Fold over all the tabs to make the cut much stronger, takes care of the floppy fender left after cutting. You can tack weld the tabs together and make a really strong fender edge. Like the pic of this jeep being cut.
fold.jpg
 
Thanks for all the help and advice guys. Ill post up pictures once I get started. I still have a few days left at work out here on the ocean. But, I should have a stack of parts waiting for me when I get home. I cant wait to get this started (well, finished) and start wheelin'!
 
Does anyone have any pictures of how they finished the cut? Did you tack weld the outer fender to the inner fender or fender liner? Just leave it flapping in the wind? Got a cut off tool for Christmas so I'm getting ready to start on this but can't quite figure out how to finish it off.
 
On my crew cab I folded over 1" tabs and welded them up. After I had a nice reinforced lip I drilled a hole and put the threaded clip back in that the inner fender bolts to. Had to beat back the inner fender since I removed about 6" at the bottom of the fender. On my K5 I also folded over 1" tabs but I removed a good 8" of fender so I cut the inner fender off where it meets the body tub.
blazer wheel.jpg
I will look for a better pic but this shows the overall shape. 37/13.5r17 with 4" lift and axle moved 1.5" forward.
 
If you want it to look nice there is this approach. Pics snagged from a build thread on CK5 somewhere.

image.jpg

image (1).jpg
 
Looks like he cut out about 4" or so from the back of the front fender and then stitched it back together. If I was that talented I would do that but I'm no where near that good.
 
centexk5 said:
Looks like he cut out about 4" or so from the back of the front fender and then stitched it back together. If I was that talented I would do that but I'm no where near that good.
Click to expand...
If you have a spare fender this is a great way to learn
I cut mine in a fashion similar to the one Kenny posted (was that Colby's build @kennyw ?) and re finished the fenders.
The 73-80 fenders openings are a bit different than the later years, just fyi
 
If I'm reading everything correctly, you just trim the outer fender and the inner fender just flops around unless you find a way to secure it. That about right?
 
Basically (on the front) yes, it’s all about how much you trim. Look inside the wheel opening and you’ll see the bolts holding the liner, as long as you don’t cut those places out it’ll attach securely. The same applies to a couple of bolts on the firewall and again on the underside of the core support.

This is why I duplicated the Yunit cut shape but not the actual dimensions.

On the rear, the liner is part of the inner 1/4 panel so it remains rigid but the big cut will expose the hollow cavity between so be sure to clean it out after wheeling to avoid rust from the inside out down the road.
 
Looks like there's about an inch on the front to trim and the rear is ~4".

@nvrenuf did you weld or dress the cut on your fender? Your truck is the look I'm going for (low lift big tire) but I want to retain the wheel wells as well since I do cruise this thing around and will probably hit mud at some point.
 
I did not recreate any lip or roll on the openings. Since the truck is a dedicated wheeler I just smoothed the edges with a 3m cookie on a die grinder.

I’m at 8” and I’m still rubbing the firewall end of the front liners. I want to do something but the liners are trimmed about as high as the can be at the firewall, I feel like that big bolt there is huge for rigidity.
 
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