Synergy

Has anyone taken off the plastic inside fender trim to avoid rubbing the plastic? The top of my front tires hit the top of the wheel well very often when I hit bumps.

I have Tein HA setup on the 10 setting in front and I don't want to raise the car. RMMGS4 and I were thinking of removing the plastic well trim and sledge hammering the sharp metal back so I don't cut my tire.

Has anyone experienced the same problem that I am facing? I know I have seen GS's as low or lower than me w/ 20's.

Here is the drop:

RMMGS4

iTrader: (5)

Synergy,
I take it you use the term "sledgehammer" loosely?

I took a look under the hood to see what was on the other side of these metal flanges. It looks like that's where the steel wheelwells are welded together. You can see seams from the engine compartment, on both sides of the shock tower. Definitely a place where strength could be compromised if we cut out part of the flange beneath those seams. I wouldn't do it especially if I see spot welds in that location. So as we discussed, bending these flanges over slightly is another option. I'm thinking we could kind of gradually curl them over, not just bend them straight.


In any case, we really need to take a good hard look at the wheelwell with the plastic liner removed so we know what we're really up against. (pun intended)

Anyone have any other suggestions or done any surgery to this area?

Manaray

all GS with's 20's will do this if lowered to a certain extent or if you hit a pretty decent bump. IT WILL NOT HURT ANYTHING. JUST LEAVE IT ALONE. Eventually, it will rub away just enough lining and it'll eventually just go away...

As an option, you can just take a heat gun (a REAL ONE, not a blow dryer) and use it to slightly mold out (push out) the area that is rubbing. BE VERY, VERY CAREFUL. If you do NOT know how to correctly use a heat gun, you can screw up the fender lining quite easily...and you don't need to mold it back much...just a little bit...like 1/8" to 1/4" max...

TTurboPimp

iTrader: (12)

I trimmed out the plastic slightly just where it was rubbing. After it rubs for a few days, you can see clearly where the rubbing is, I just took a razor knife and trimmed those areas out. As far as the fender itself goes, you can take a dremmel, or similar cutting tool, and CAREFULLY trim out the fender lip as needed. You can see where the spot welds are, dont go past them(keep them intact). You shouldnt have to trim too much off of the front fenders, more so on the rears with my car. There is a part of the front fender lip, towards the front of the car, that swoops out a little bit, I had to take that off. I didnt have to trim any of the lip directly at the top middle section, just plastic. If you do trim the metal lip, put some touch up paint or undercoating on it to avoid rusting of the bare metal, you dont need to put too much on it, just cover the bare metal. This got rid of MOST of my rubbing, I still have some when turning the wheel sharply, but its just the fender liner. I would rather deal with the rubbing at sharp turning, rather than dealing with the open wheel well allowing water, dirt, and debri to go wherever.

Just an FYI for ya, at first I didnt trim the drivers side fender lip out far enough on that piece that swoops out slightly. The first big dip that I hit, the tire grabbed onto that piece and actually pulled it down so that it rubbed the tire an extreme amount, while cutting the **** out of my sidewall. I was extremely lucky that it didnt catch enough to buckle my fender, theres not alot of resistance on the front fenders. Moral of the story is, take a spin and test it out after doing this before you go out and drive hard.

Good Luck!

Synergy

Great feedback, thanks Manaray! My concern is that it rubs when I am driving straight at a high rate of speed (freeway). Is it possible that I could be driving on the freeway and hit a big bump and my tire will rub so hard that it will lock up or anything else dangerous? Can this damage my tires?

The melting (heat-gun) idea is a good one and something that Glen (RMMGS4) is a pro at. Maybe we can try out your idea Manaray.

Thanks again!

Synergy

Thanks for the feedback TTurbo! I also have some severe rubbing when I enter driveways and my wheel is turned. In fact, the black metal liner almost came completley off the other day when I turned into a Subway driveway (steep).

RMMGS4 did a solid job taking a heat gun and pushing up the fender plastic in the front wells. It helped, but still rubs significantly. Is there a way to roll the fender well or is using a dremel the best way to go?

LS4fun

For my car..when i had the 20's, i had the body shop completely bend in the metal edges towards the fender.

I did not want to compromise the integrity of the fender by removing metal. This is not for the faint of heart. During the bending process, paint usually chips off and fenders and quarter panels need to be repainted.

Someone else above mentioned using a DREMEL tool...cuting away at the metal will require paint touchup....if not rust will eventually begin to develop.

TTurboPimp

iTrader: (12)

Yeah, the rolling of the fenders is definitely risky. Some shios say its ok to do, and others(mine)say its not too safe to do on the GS. If you ever watched it done on a GS, the fenders and quarter panels flex alot more than I would feel comfortable with, your just waiting for them to buckle. I say cut them, or have them cut by a shop, then have them touched up with paint, As far as the black metal strips around the wheel well that you said you bent, I took mine off the car, but you can also cut them the same amount that you do the fender lip if you wanted to keep them on.

Slammin the car looks great, but its a ***** aint it!!

Synergy

Thanks for the feedback guys. I would love to simply pull the plastic off but that metal looks really sharp. I am thinking of doing some minor heat gun work to get me a little more room and then I guess I will need to raise the front up a bit. It is really too bad

The car looks so perfect the way it sits now, but the rubbing seems extremely unsafe on the freeway. I can only imagine what will happen when I hit a big bump. I just have been driving locally and know where the bumps are - too afraid to go far.... owell, what can ya do?

jawnthen

...how's that for "CLUB" Lexus...

LS4fun

IS THAT A HAMMER!?! :eek: :eek: :eek:

I HOPE THAT'S A JOKE!

rominl

iTrader: (4)

nop, no jokes at all. there were couple of witnesses there, i am one of them

RMMGS4

iTrader: (5)

That's a 10 lb sledge hammer, but I only used it's weight to compensate for the lack of momentum. In that tight location I can only swing about 8 inches. That was better than taking a wimpy hammer and swinging harder, let alone making sure I didn't miss. With the sledge there's no issue with missing.

I'd say we gained atleast another inch of suspension travel. You have to keep in mind that Synergy was hitting the "TOP" of the wheelwell while driving straight, going 30 mph over manhole covers ! !

You can see that the wheelwells were painted white, then Synergy drove around for a week to identify exactly where he was rubbing, which turned out to be in 3 different places.

Now we are not talking rubbing the fender lip here, he's hitting the top of the wheel wells.

Synergy wanted that flange outta-the-way so he gave me permission to swing away.

I'll do a full write up one of these days.

Synergy

Yep it's true - RMMGS4 did an awesome job helping me cut away some of the plastic, melting protruding fender well lining and pushing (sledge-ing) over the sharp metal. It looks worse than it really is, the job is clean and solved my rubbing issues thus far.

This is something that will most-likely occur to any CL member w/ 20's and a significant drop. Glen - I will get you those pics, you must post a DIY on this...at least for Jawnathen's sake

Thanks again for all of the hard work!

redgs4

Hey, maybe we can charge people $25 a pop to whack Synergy's car!