Front fender installation
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Senior User
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From: League City Texas
Front fender installation
Good morning! I was wondering if anyone has any advise on installing the front fenders on a 79 f150. I have the old fender off which was in bad shape due to a minor fender bender. It seems like the replacement fender is not lining up with the door. I did not attach any bolts as of yet to the fender. The radiator support was not removed only grille shell and bumper. Any advise on how to align the fender? I may be removing the other side as well as the fender is a bit dinged up. I found a good fender at a local junkyard that I might use on the other side. By the way, the fender I am trying to install right now came from a junkyard as well! Thanks
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From: League City Texas
Poison oil, as you can probably tell this is all new to me. It seems like the body lines and the top are off a bit but of course I have not bolted the fender up. When you say shim, do the shims stay in place when the fender is bolted down or should they be removed? Where can I find the shims? Also, my old fender did not have any shims. Are the shims placed on the top side of the fender? Thanks
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Feb 2007
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From: Middle TN
I don't know if this is this is the problem you are having, but the aftermarket replacement fenders have a wider gap between the hood and the top of the fender. It is a difference in how the fenders are made. You can adjust this gap some but I don't think you can get the gap as narrow a Ford fender.
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From: League City Texas
4x4 Bart the fender is an original fender that I bought at a local used parts place. Do you think that this could be a problem? I am not sure on the shimming but I would think that an original fender should not need shimming
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Did you check to see if the inner fender was "tweaked"? This is the reason I have not replaced my fenders. The issue is you have an old truck that the body has flexed together for 30 years, and the accident bent everything a certain way. You have a fender from another truck that was flexed for 30 odd years its own way. I would check your inner fender to be certain you do not need to replace that as well. I would widen the openings for all of the holes to try and get as much adjustment as possible. And then use washers in certain holes if necessary. Good luck, I replaced my door and that was a big enough pain, don't even want to think about the fenders yet
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Posting Guru
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From: Montgomery, IL
shims = washers. you just use what you have and do what you can do get it to fit. Zac brings up some good points too.
I put together my '76 using parts from several trucks so it took a little 'massaging' to get everything to go together
I put together my '76 using parts from several trucks so it took a little 'massaging' to get everything to go together
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From: League City Texas
How can one tell if the inner fenders are tweaked? They seem to be fine by the looks of it. The only thing that tweaked was a small part of the radiator suport. The bottom part were the fender connects with the support (bottom bolt) is bent about 2 inches but thats all I noticed. One thing that I did notice was that the impact was on the left front corner of the truck but the door on the right does not open. Maybe everything did shift a little.
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From: League City Texas
Thats what I am afraid of Ford to the Bone! Removing the inner fenders seems like is a bit complicated and probably will throw everything up front out of alignment. Do not know where to start now because the inner fenders seem fine but there is a chance that they might be slightly tweaked. Maybe the best thing is to change them both out, I would hate to waste money and find out that the originals are still good.
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From: Montgomery, IL
How can one tell if the inner fenders are tweaked? They seem to be fine by the looks of it. The only thing that tweaked was a small part of the radiator suport. The bottom part were the fender connects with the support (bottom bolt) is bent about 2 inches but thats all I noticed. One thing that I did notice was that the impact was on the left front corner of the truck but the door on the right does not open. Maybe everything did shift a little.
Now, if the core support got shifted over then you have more work to do. Check the core support for wrinkles and see if the mounts at the bottom have moved/been damaged.
You are probably talking of only 1/2 - 3/4 inches in shift (hopefully) so it can be fixed but it will still be a pain.
You are just going to have to look at every peice of sheetmetal and determine was was damaged and then come up with a plan to fix it.
Good luck.
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