hey all, im in desperate need of help w/ the fitting of my truck body.. i have front fiberglass fenders, (which have been on the truck for years but w/out running boards bed ect) also being that they were fiberglass fenders w/out holes, i drilled all the holes... and assume they are placed pretty well.. the issue starts w/ the running boards and rear fenders.. both new, fiberglass and w/ no holes.... im having a hell of a time trying to locate and clamp them all together and transfer holes from the new bed to the fenders..... being that they are fiberglass they are alittle sprung here and there... so im REALLY struggling w/ the exact place for the fender holes... and refuse to start drilling and making a mess of these fenders..
my only idea would be that if i HAD the original steel fenders i could make a pattern of the flange areas and transfer,,,, but ofcourse i dont have the original finders..... does ANYONE have a better idea? or does anyone have a set of STEEL fenders off a truck that could make a hole pattern for me? ide pay for the help and shipping of a cardboard pattern...
maybe somebody had a better idea? very fustrated.. spent most of the day doing NOTHING!!.. any ideas would be great.. i havent beed trying to do this alont today, had a helper...MANY c-clamps ect.. i just wanna drill the holes ONCE!!... thanks.. Rob

 

So if I’m reading this right, you have front fiberglass fenders installed, new running boards and rear fenders, fiberglass, no holes, not installed, and need a bolt template for rear fenders? Sorry, no help there but you did say any idea, …………so bolt the running boards to the front fender, then bolt the board to the running board bracket, then bolt the rear fender to the running board, now you are not fighting a 10 ft piece of spaghetti just a 4 foot one. Could you c-clamp and eye ball it from there?

 

hi,
thanks for the responce.. yes thats about where i ended up today, but its so damn hard to eyeball the big floppy fender... one other thing im also up against is both my front and rear fenders hang lower the the running boards do.. when i look at pictures of other trucks on here and on the net, i see that some do... some do... some dont, so i dont really even have a good "starting" point as to where to fasten the running board to the fender ect ect ect... im just concerned in getting a few holes into it, and then realizing im off by just enough to screw up the other end... or middle ect..... i REALLY whish they had holes w/in the mold of these glass parts....

 

My glass fenders all had dimples where the original holes would be. They were pretty darn accurate. They were on the smooth face of the fender flange. I picked a couple, drilled them and bolted the fender up loosely. Aligned it as best I could, checked the location of the others before drilling them with a small (3/32") drill. I left the fenders on with about 4 bolts until I had everything on loosely. Then I took the fenders off and drilled the final holes, 3/8"-dia. for 5/16" bolts. You don't want a tight radial fit.

The glass running boards didn't have dimples, so I just set them on the brackets with weights to hold them down tight against the brackets until I was ready to drill (up from beneath). Use a file to make the holes square for carriage bolts when you are in "FINAL FINAL" position, but don't count on the glass to keep the carriage bolt heads from spinning!! I grabbed the free end of the bolt with pliers to keep them from turning (should have ground them square for a wrench, but...)

Also, my glass r.b.'s had excess material where the rear of the cab crosses them, so I had to file some material away. If they are even close at rest, when you drive the cab will move around and "notch" them for you, not in a good way.

The bottom of the fenders should be even with the bottom of the running board at the outer face. (See pic) Again, fit it loosely, then check for dimples, especially near the studs on the bed extensions (in front of the rear tire and at the very rear of the bed, the panels that hang down lower). If your new bed doesn't have studs there, you have to eyeball it.

Note that going off the running boards means if your r.b. brackets are catty-wonkous, everything else will be.

 

So are there bolts or bolt holes in the old or new bed (box)?

 

hi,
im sorry for any confusion.. little fustrated after today.. ok so its a brand new box, W/ holes.. brand new fenders (glass) w/out holes.. new glass r-boards, no holes..
i took some pictures just now, gonna go home and try to upload them ( has that been made any easier since the last time i tried?) so u can see where im at. i dont see ANY possible way my running boards will ever be at the same level as the bottom of the fenders... if i do that, im well over an inch HIGHER w/ the fender, then any of the bolt holes in the bed...
pictures coming soon if possible... thanks again... R

 

Could it be that your fenders are longer than necessary, and that you'll simply need to trim them to fit, after the running boards are in place?

 

Do the fronts look like the front in this picture? While my pass. side front lined up perfectly with the r.b., the driver's side was 2.5" below it. I fiddled with it for a couple of years before I finally just put a jack under the rear of the fender, and shoved it up slowly. 'Glass bends, but less and less as it gets older. If yours have been sitting around for years, unmounted, you will undoubtedly have to use some force.

Did you find dimples?

 

So please excuse me if this sounds dumb but couldn’t you make a template off the box holes for the rear fender? Mount the rear fenders and then make the boards fit?

NOPE!

 

yes thats what all 4 fender areas look like on mine... front/rear...im gonna see if i can post some pics now.. ALB. if i jacked up on that part of the fender, where is it gonna push the excess? in the front i could see it happening, by just putting a bit more of a bow in the verticle of the fender... but in the back.. its bolted to the bed side just a few inches above the runningboard....
i COULD lift/shim the bed up,..to make the back work better BUT..then ill loose that seam between the running board and the bed side ( which i assume is supposed to be bolted together?) OLD..yes i could make the pattern from the bed itself.. but that still doesnt assure me of the exact placement of the pattern to the fender... right?
ok ill post back when i get some pictures loaded... thanks..
ok... got the pics loaded up...in my gallery under recent work... last 4-5 pics...sorry i tried to get them to show up here... aint happenin'!
p.s. Alb... no... no dimples.... found them on running boards, but holes dont match brackets... BUT nothing on fenders unfortunatly....

 

Yes, pushing up on the bottom of the fronts changes the shape of the "flat" surface somewhat, it also rotated the fender upwards at the rear, with the front bottom staying about in the same place. With fresh bumpers on the hood, you can gauge where the fender should be.

Is your new bed a flat-sided type (late-50 - 52 style)?

 

When we mounted my rear fenders I drew a line center of the flange on the fender.Then I lined up bed mounting holes to the line on the flange.Clamped fenders in place and used self drilling screws to attach fenders in place.

 

his problem is that the fenders come down below the running board, and moving the fenders up so they are even with the running board puts them out of line with the holes pre-drilled in his bedsides..

so, what should he do? looks like he can't get BOTH at the same time

Sam

 

Rob,

I'd be happy to take some up-close photos of any part of my truck if it would help. Just tell me what you'd like to see.

-Dv

 

hi,
thanks for the replies, the scribing of the centerline of the flange area is a very interesting idea!!.. that just might work for me..BUT!! like noted..i dont think ill ever come close to getting the fender/runningboard alighnment even. Again, if anything, i could shim up the bed mounts..but ill lose that seam between the running board flange and the bed side.
ive looked at some trucks online, even that beautiful Black truck featured in Classic truck w/in the past year.. it almost looks as if on some truck, the fenders do hang lower... not saying its right... but what if? its what im stuck w/? ... headed to the shop now to look closer at this scribing deal..ill do that and see where that places the fender to the runningboard ....... thanks so much!... rob..
as far as the pictures, im wondering about a side view showing the runningboard "vertical flange" in relation to the bottom of the cab?
also, i had to completly reposition the running board holes on my frame brackets in order to get the ruiing boards in to meet up w/ the bed sides... its a 49 truck, we the late model bed and fenders....so "smooth" sides....