Mud-club

Vehicle & Technical => Defender => Topic started by: whoami on June 10, 2006, 18:11:26

Title: Trimming Wheel Arches
Post by: whoami on June 10, 2006, 18:11:26

Mach 5's arrive - check

powder coating done - check

35" Extreme Trekkers arrive - check

wheel/tyre interface complete - check

wheel swapped onto car - check

tyres now rubbing on the ba@tard arches - check  :roll:

So what's the easiest way to trim the arches to make a nice neat job ?

Cheers  :)

Neil.

Title: Trimming Wheel Arches
Post by: Budgie on June 10, 2006, 19:07:10

Do you have any type of lift on the suspension or body?
Are they rubbing when driving on the road or just on full articulation?
Only I would have thought that a +2" lift on the suspension would have been enough for the tyres to clear the arches as they are only a couple of inches taller than 235x85's.

Title: Trimming Wheel Arches
Post by: whoami on June 10, 2006, 19:24:17

Budgie,

yes, I have a 2" lift on the truck.

Your thoughts are exactly what I was thinking, ie that they should have been OK.

They rub on articulation, hard lock,etc

I'm pretty sure they also rub on bumpy bits of road too. etc

To be honest they look like they would rip the arches right off if I took the truck off road before trimming them.

Neil.

Title: Re: Trimming Wheel Arches
Post by: mark.yellow.series.3 on June 10, 2006, 20:16:57

Quote from: "whoami"

Mach 5's arrive - check

powder coating done - check

35" Extreme Trekkers arrive - check

wheel/tyre interface complete - check

wheel swapped onto car - check

tyres now rubbing on the ba@tard arches - check  :roll:

So what's the easiest way to trim the arches to make a nice neat job ?

Cheers  :)

Neil.

credit card bill, check :(

moaning swmbo, check :(

bottle of vino, check :)

Title: Trimming Wheel Arches
Post by: SteveG on June 11, 2006, 09:21:03

Yes they do rub with this lift. It's only the last 3-4" of the plastic spats that they rub on.

I've used a fine pad saw and sanded down edge. For a neater finish some people have used a heat gun and turned the edges over then trim excess behind.

Hopefully you can see in this pic here...
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v472/sgl322/general/RRBumper019.jpg)

Running a 1.5" lift so slightly more trimmed than you'll need

Cheers

Steve

Title: Trimming Wheel Arches
Post by: whoami on June 11, 2006, 15:49:49

Steve,

thanks foer the inofr.

I'm not entirely sure that I follow you though.

When you say "I've used a fine pad saw and sanded down edge", what do you mean?

Cheers

Title: Trimming Wheel Arches
Post by: SteveG on June 11, 2006, 19:02:05

one of these, very easy to use..
(http://www.toolfinder.co.uk/catalog/images/silverline/pics/slv_SW17.jpg)

Then you can file or use sand paper to get a smooth edge. I found it to be better than using a stanley knife.

Cheers

Steve

Title: Trimming Wheel Arches
Post by: Edge on June 11, 2006, 20:20:25

Did mine with a grinder  :D .

Title: Trimming Wheel Arches
Post by: whoami on June 11, 2006, 22:19:36

Quote from: "TRUG"

Did mine with a grinder  :D .

on the car??? :?:

Title: Trimming Wheel Arches
Post by: Edge on June 17, 2006, 20:40:24

Yep, marked out a line where i wanted them trimmed to, started grinder and sunk it into plastic spat/arch and eh-presto..... grinder kept true and straight due to flatness of disc. You may be able to see my spats in the gallery "tyres" in my photo gallery.

Edit.... yeah image no.2, you can see how ive trimmed rear of front arches and front of rear arches.