Fender Modification to run 37's with 1.5" Collars

[brettmess24]

I think the front fenders you would be good especially if your were lifting the front more and with UCA's. The rear fenders you may have to do a similar modification to the lower front and rear bedside flair. I was prepared to do this but after testing my wheel tire choice I determined I had enough clearance. It wouldn't be as hard as the front fender mod just more work. Or you could adjust the bump stops to remove some up travel. The photos below are after suspension mods but before fender mods. I was trying to decide how much and where I was cutting.


Rear at full bump straight on like landing or G out. Plenty of clearance


Full bump offset like rock crawling, pretty tight.


Full bump offset


Full droop you can see how I have my bump stops adjusted.

Nice I have icons in setting two and SVC bumps so can do the rear easily. Appreciate the info[emoji1303]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TxCOR]

Great thread, thank you for sharing! And the pictures are perfect for what I was bouncing back and forth with (35s or 37's with my Icon Rebounds)!

Excuse me if this is a noob question but I also have the Icon level kit (set at 1.75) with no rear suspension modification. If I went with the 37 KO2's like you did, do I ABSOLUTELY have to make these cuts to the truck??

My truck is also my DD and will live the majority of its life on the street.

Thanks in advance!

 

[bvita]

Great write up with detailed photos! Will need to reference this soon. lol

 

[jwpres]

Great thread, thank you for sharing! And the pictures are perfect for what I was bouncing back and forth with (35s or 37's with my Icon Rebounds)!

Excuse me if this is a noob question but I also have the Icon level kit (set at 1.75) with no rear suspension modification. If I went with the 37 KO2's like you did, do I ABSOLUTELY have to make these cuts to the truck??

My truck is also my DD and will live the majority of its life on the street.

Thanks in advance!

With my 37” KO2’s before I did the inner wheel house modification the left front tire rubbed on the inner plastic liner slightly while driving around town. Any amount of off road driving I think you would definitely cause damage to tire and or truck if you didn’t do this type of modification. If you went with higher setting with your Icon perches or A/M front springs you may get away without this type of mod for mild Offroad driving depending on your choice of wheel offset.

 

[John Rathjen]

For those wishing to do this mod but don't have the access or skills to do Tig or Mig welding, I think this would be a good option. It's what I'm gonna use. Very easy and just as strong, if not stronger, than Tig or Mig.

https://www.aluminumrepair.com/home/

JWPRES - what aluminum material did you use for your patch? 6061 is pretty easily obtainable - I think it's what they carry at Lowes and Home Depot.

Thanks

 

[BBLV]

For those wishing to do this mod but don't have the access or skills to do Tig or Mig welding, I think this would be a good option. It's what I'm gonna use. Very easy and just as strong, if not stronger, than Tig or Mig.

https://www.aluminumrepair.com/home/

JWPRES - what aluminum material did you use for your patch? 6061 is pretty easily obtainable - I think it's what they carry at Lowes and Home Depot.

Thanks

Bro.... First off, don't even THINK about performing this mod via brazing. Absolutely not "as strong or stronger". Second, this is 5 series alu not 6.

Please don't spread false info here.

 

[John Rathjen]

Not spreading false info. I’ve seen demos of this stuff. The base metal bends and breaks before this does. Ford uses 5000 AND 6000 series aluminum in their trucks.

If you haven't read and researched this stuff, don't knock it.
These guys use it and trust it:
Aamco Transmission Harley Davidson Penta
Allison Transmission Honda Peterbilt
Apollo Microwave Honeywell Porsche
Audi International Pratt & Whitney
BMW Isuzu Rolls Royce
Boeing Johnson Saab
Cadillac Kawasaki Stewart & Stevenson
Caterpillar Lochart Industries General Dynamics
Cummins Lockheed Martin Toyota
Detroit Mercedes U.S. Department Of Defense
Dupont Mercury UPS
Evinrude Mining Companies US Navy
Ferrari NASA US Army
Ford Nissan Volvo
Freightliner Northrop Grumman Yamaha
General Motors Nuclear Plants VW

Finally - I am just listing a source as a potential option to complicated welding. Just as any other recommendation is these forums, whether it be tires, suspension motor work, etc, we are all adults and should be doing our own research. Just because one guy says that BFG K02 tires are the best doesn't mean we all follow him blindly and buy nothing but those tires.

Same here - I'm just listing an option that many might not know about. it's up to them to read about it, see what reviews say, watch demos, etc.

Everybody makes their own choice. Just because YOU don't like it or don't agree with it doesn't make it false info

 

[ChaseH]

damn.. i need you to be my neighbor

 

[BBLV]

A few days back I pulled the liners and had planned on doing this mod, but I ran into these larger plastic blocks that were bonded to the aluminum along with foam inside the aluminum panels. Getting this plastic off is going to take some serious elbow grease and I don't foresee bring able to get a clean weld with that expanding foam inside the panels... I trimmed it a little to free up some room for my 37's, but still rubbing slightly at full lock. The little trimming I did took some serious effort with a cutoff wheel.

Any tips? And I wonder why some trucks have this plastic and some don't?

 

[jwpres]

My plastic block looked a little different. It was held in with a plastic rivet and came off real easy. I used a 3m paint removal disc part number 07476 to remove expandable foam and paint to prep for welding. Yes the aluminum is very strong and hard to cut. There are cut off wheels designed to cut aluminum.