Front fender fitment

[rvrfoot]

I will be getting inter fenders as well.

[AngryPirate]

So, I ordered another fender from Truck and Car Shop in Orange, CA, which is a counterpart branded fender and I just took the old, ill fitting Key Parts fender off and put this on.

What a difference.

There is a bit of a gap around the grill area, as there usually is, but a little seam sealer should remedy that.

Otherwise, a little loosening and tightening of bolts in the right order and it's pretty much ready to go. The front might need a little massaging to get it to sit a little lower.

Shocking how different they are. The ill fitting one doesn't actually fit in the box the new one came in.

Here are some pics of the counterparts fender. Thanks rvrfoot for chiming in about your experience with your repop fender.

[LVPhotos]

Originally Posted by rvrfoot

I will be getting inter fenders as well.

If you feel the LV trip is in order, I have the inners I am not using... too low.

[dracko]

That’s good to see, Truck and Car shop is a solid place to deal with.

[Heater63]

You might need to open up some of the holes with a die grinder to get the fender to mate with the grill support properly. I had to on mine.

[andyh1956]

Can the grill support be "Stretched" up & down to be the same height as the fender?

[rvrfoot]

The fender should go down a little more. Mine is very close.

[Heater63]

Originally Posted by andyh1956

Can the grill support be "Stretched" up & down to be the same height as the fender?

Two key points:
1. If using the stock inner fenders, you can't "stretch" anything, as the diagonal mating of the inner fender to the radiator support means there is Zero adjustment there. The top of the grill support should be even with the fenders. Don't worry about the bottom as much...that gets hidden by the bumper. Mate the inner fenders to the radiator support, then work to make fenders align...Elongate the bolt holes if needed.

2. The whole front clip is affected by the two lower radiator support to frame mounts, that determines the "angle" of the front clip to the cab... theoretically you could shim there ....but the assembly manual doesn't talk about using shims there, even though they talk about the top of fenders being perpendicular to the front edge of the doors.

My truck used the original inner fenders and grill support with repro radiator support and repro fenders. It was a bia**ch at times, but after massaging, BFH, and elongating some holes, it fits and good for a driver. A Show truck would take another 100 hrs of custom metalworking using rare and expensive survivor oem parts.

[Ken Cook]

Good info. I'm adding Counterpart Automotive to the favorites list.

[AngryPirate]

Originally Posted by Heater63

Two key points:
1. If using the stock inner fenders, you can't "stretch" anything, as the diagonal mating of the inner fender to the radiator support means there is Zero adjustment there. The top of the grill support should be even with the fenders. Don't worry about the bottom as much...that gets hidden by the bumper. Mate the inner fenders to the radiator support, then work to make fenders align...Elongate the bolt holes if needed.

2. The whole front clip is affected by the two lower radiator support to frame mounts, that determines the "angle" of the front clip to the cab... theoretically you could shim there ....but the assembly manual doesn't talk about using shims there, even though they talk about the top of fenders being perpendicular to the front edge of the doors.

My truck used the original inner fenders and grill support with repro radiator support and repro fenders. It was a bia**ch at times, but after massaging, BFH, and elongating some holes, it fits and good for a driver. A Show truck would take another 100 hrs of custom metalworking using rare and expensive survivor oem parts.

Good idea on the radiator support shimming. Might be worth a try if the fender holes that mate to the grill support aren't the impedence point.

Thanks!