LF Inner Fender Coverage Solution WIP...

[54warrior]

Although I don't do much offroading, it has come to my attention that there is an issue on the SE/LE Inner Fenders on the left side. Spinning the LF wheel while in reverse and in mud/water causes that water to get splashed up into the LF inner Fender well which is also where the intake resides. Any fool knows that water and air intakes don't mix.

I was bored and felt like getting into a small project, I decided to come up with my own solution to the problem. I felt that the "splash guard" didn't need to be very "stout" because it's tucked up in the fender well and won't be getting smashed around or used as a skid plate.

I also just moved into an apartment so I didn't have a vice or riveter or tin snips. All of that stuff I would normally use belongs to my dad and they are still at his house 250 miles away. Good excuse for me to buy more tools. Bought a riveter and tin snips. The short pieces of angle you see in the picture are what I used to bend the material using the channel-locks. I tried using my polish socket set (crescent wrench) at first but it didn't work so well. That is another reason I chose the thin aluminum sheet for ease of bending.

The angle bolts into an existing hole next to the front most body mount. The rivets join the sheet/angle and plastic inner fender together. Should be stout enough. Might have some vibration problems though. Will have to wait and see once it is installed if it vibrates on the metal inner bumper piece. Those black lines on it are where I was going to try and put a few added bends for strength, but was running out of daylight and didn't have the proper tools (bead roller) to do it so I scraped that idea.

I should also be able to get into it from the side to blast any dirt/rocks that might accumulate on it.


Materials:
1 - 15" +/-) piece of 1/2" aluminum angle
2 - thin aluminum sheet, roughly 12"x 16"
5 - 3/16" x 1/2" rivets
1 - 5/16" x 1" bolt
2 - cardboard to make a template

Tools:

Drill
3/16" bit
3/8" bit
Channel-locks
Tape Measure
Tin Snips
Hacksaw
Last but not least... a Sharpie marker


The project is not complete yet because I plan to paint it all before I put it in there.

What do you all think?

[NorCal 4x4]

Nice project. Are you going to test it out to see if it works?
It should for sure help.

[spoonman]

Yea, test it out and see how it does. how much did you end up spending? Couldnt you have just gotten XE liners since they cover the whole thing? (although it is cool that you did this little project) Good work!

[54warrior]

Originally Posted by spoonman

Yea, test it out and see how it does. how much did you end up spending? Couldnt you have just gotten XE liners since they cover the whole thing? (although it is cool that you did this little project) Good work!

12x24 Al sheet...5.25
Al angle 3' long...7.00
Box of Rivets...6.00

So thats less than $20!!! Need to paint the parts black.

I did have to buy the tin snips, the rivet tool, and a set of drill bits, which were $12, $20, & $27 respectively.

Was bored and this looked like something worth trying, thats why I didn't just buy the XE liners.

[54warrior]

Project Completed.

Used some BedLiner Spray instead of paint.

Here are the completed photos. Turned out better than I thought it would.

[hooligan]

this sounds stupid but i think if you made a few of those that were easy to bolt on with DIY instructions for some of us you'd actually sell them all. i'd buy one!