Need to remove the front passenger fender on a 88 XLT Lariat. First time removing body parts. Any assistance is appreciated.

 

Fenders on these truck are fun!(not really) This is what I did on my '96, I believe it should be the same or very similar. I removed the battery and battery tray first. You can work around it, but hey, it's only a couple extra bolts, 10mm. Remove the ground wire from the fender, and remove the screws holding the starter sellenoid. You can leave it just hang there. You will need to remove the headlight trim, 2 screws on top, 2 11mm nuts on the backside down low. I also removed the grille, 4-5 screws accross the top, and one in the middle down low. Then remove all the screws on the lip of the fender, 8mm. Next, support the hood and remove the two bolt attaching the lift spring to the fender. Be careful, there may be some tension on it. Remove the bolts up in the front of the fender under the radiator support. They are 11mm I believe and a pain to get at. Then remove the bolts attaching the filler panel under the grille. There are two of them, 10mm, and to get to them you need to push the inner fender out of the way.(in front) Remove the remaining bolts, 2 by the cowl 13mm, one in the door jamb 10mm, and then the one down at the bottom, behind the front tire. Now for the tricky part. You need to scoot the plastic grille support forward about a 1/2 inch so you can slide the fender forward to clear locating pins. That should be about it. Have fun!

 

hey, appreciate the response. I've been able to identiy 70% and this will certainly help me along.

 

After doing the same on both sides of my 89 (check out my galleries), Frankens' advice is pretty close. Your 88 shouldn't have any trim around the headlight, rather the headlight, blinker and all trim surrounding it are all one unit. There will be two nuts accessible from the inside of you radiator support, behind the blinker. There will also be two nuts on the outside of the radiator support, inboard of your headlight. There will also be a single screw attaching a molded section of the headlight unit to the metal valance panel that's sits above your bumper. Before you make the final yank to remove the fender, make sure you've taken out the plastic arrow head fasteners that mount the plastic trim to the underside of the valence and the front lower section of the fender. I didn't and had to hammer and dolly the valence back into shape.

Last bit...take your time, take notes and if possible, take pictures. Good Luck