They say the first step is......

[Moody]

admitting you have a problem! Although not on the scale of Greg, I definitely have the "might as well....." problem! Let me explain....when I bought my truck five years ago, it was going to be a stock restoration with MAYBE 33's and a two inch lift. Here I am five years later with 6" and 7" inches of lift, 35's, SM465 swap and 4.10's and it's STILL not enough. Now I'm looking at 4.56's, 36's or 37's and heaven forbid....trimming sheetmetal Kert is working on some custom beadlocks and I have some new LTB's on order. Worst of all is I haven't even driven the truck yet! I don't have a problem trimming the front as those are easy to replace. The rear quarters however, I am a bit hesitant to cut those as goods ones are hard to find. What do you guys think? Should I cut the fronts and leave the rear alone or do you think I can trim the rear without ruining that classic look? I'm standing on a deep cliff guys......

 

[Copasetic]

I don't have any tips on the fender trimming as I don't want to even think about taking a blade to mine. I just wanted to ask you about the center caps on your H2's. How much did you have to trim to get them to fit? Thanks!

 

[Moody]

Those caps are another storyI just assumed that so many people are using them on the H2 rims they would just snap right on......wrong! After spending about an hour scratching my head and getting downright PO'd I realized you need to take about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch off the backside to allow them to fit in the hub area and for the plastic lugs to screw on. One word of advice....if you use a grinder to grind down the edge make sure you have a good respirator, they put off some nasty fumes! If I had to do it again I'd use a cutoff wheel.

 

[Copasetic]

Those caps are another storyI just assumed that so many people are using them on the H2 rims they would just snap right on......wrong! After spending about an hour scratching my head and getting downright PO'd I realized you need to take about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch off the backside to allow them to fit in the hub area and for the plastic lugs to screw on. One word of advice....if you use a grinder to grind down the edge make sure you have a good respirator, they put off some nasty fumes! If I had to do it again I'd use a cutoff wheel.

Sweet! Thanks for the tip!

 

[Yukon Jack]

Well, looks like you have great sheetmetal so I for one would hate to see it get chopped. The front portion of the front fender isn't to big of a deal, but the back of the front fender and cutting the rear fender is. I guess to me it boils down to what is the intended use of the vehicle - if it is going to be offroaded and beat on, I have little problem with trimming, if it is more of a street vehicle like my 69 K20, I don't like the idea of trimming good fenders. But in the end, it is your vehicle and it's not like your chopping a Hemi Cuda or something ultra rare.

 

[70jimmy]

C'mon everybodys doing it. You know you want to. You won't know how it feels until you try!!

 

[bigblock72]

There's no reason to trim the rear wheel openings with 37s!!!!! With some trial and error you can move the rear axle to where the tires just rub the front and back of the wheel openings at the same time. You may want to adjust the bumpstops if you don't want the paint scratched. I have mine set up this way and has been fine for 3 or 4 years.

Move your front axle forward 1 1/2 to 2 inches and you'll only need to cut the front edge of the front fender like you have marked. Don't worry it will look fine with the axle moved forward.

 

[Moody]

Thanks for the feedback guys.....Bigblock thanks for the info on moving the axle forward. I had forgotten I've got a zero rate on the front in the neutral position so I've got 1.5 inches to play with. I'll think I'll try cutting the "fang" off and moving the axle forward and then see what I've got for clearance on the back of the front fender. As for the rear, I've got a set of 7 inch shackles to replace the 6's so that will give me a little more room in the back. I'm all the way back on the zero rate in the rear and it's pretty much dead center in the wheelwheel the way it sits. Hopefully this will scratch my itch for the time being.....

 

[vtblazer]

I 'trimmed' the rears and the fronts, then eventually I totally whacked away at the fronts as needed but I have very flexy springs and 42's.

First pics are with the 39.5's I ran for one year, last ones show the front fender whack job, hitting the firewall and the current rear wheel well clearence.

 

[LVJimmy]

guy on ebay has rear patch panels. He might have the whole 1/4's.