Wheel Spacer Question

[tjkj2002]

Can you post a pic? As long as the welds didnt separate it'll be alright. You want to bend it over and mash it down not beat it straight back in.

X2................


Smashing straight in breaks the spot welds and severely weakens the structure.

 

[604KJ]

Ok so thats where i f'd up. I hit it straight on and it started to split upwards along the weld. Not all the way, just a little bit for me to think "thats not a good idea". How do you bend it then?

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[tommudd]

Ok so thats where i f'd up. I hit it straight on and it started to split upwards along the weld. Not all the way, just a little bit for me to think "thats not a good idea". How do you bend it then?

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With a BFH, you just hit from the outside bending the whole pinch weld over towards the inside of the fenderwell.
Hit it like you really mean it:happy175:

 

[CactusJacked]

By hitting it cross-ways with a sledge hammer. If need be, you can get the fold started by using a big adjustable wrench cranked onto the pinch. Push it over a little and move the wrench up/down to different spots.

 

[604KJ]

Ok thanks guys. Ill giver er tonight and see how it goes. How bad is it / what will happen if i don't correct this asap?

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[CactusJacked]

If it were mine, I would wheel out my trusty mig welder and weld the split seam shut so that it doesn't keep opening more as you hammer away. Can't say how critical yours is without seeing it.

 

[tommudd]

You want to at least seal it up in some way so that water etc doesn't get back in there. Is it split open an inch or a foot?

 

[604KJ]

All smashed down, adjustable wrench trick worked like a charm. I lost some plastic on the way home though, so when I was done i sprayed the heck out of both sides with an undercoating. What do you think I can do to replace the plastic, any alternative solutions?

The plastic was only lost pretty much over the pinch weld. Rest of the fender wall is good.

**Split in the weld dosnt seem to be an issue anymore now that its folded over, it was only split about an inch anyway**

On a totally unrelated subject, noticed my Passenger UCA ball joint was torn open yesterday while installing the Spidertrax, emailed Marlin pics today and he sent me newer stronger ones, within 1 hour it was all taken care off. Great people over there!

 

[CactusJacked]

Good deal. The adjustable wrench also works like a charm to straighten bent pinch welds on the frame. You just can't hold it tight like that using channel locks, and a hammerfer isn't nearly as effective. I had a couple of good folds on mine that straightened out quite nicely.
I cut off my plastic bump-out, and schmootzed up the folded weld with RTV. Still need to make a patch to cover the hole in the liner.

 

[Cardhu]

heat gun and bits of plastic you have left over will seal it up. Kind of like your tig welding, then use a one inch scraper to push it flat and wait for it to cool.

paint / bedliner / undercoat underneath before you close it up.

Then i hit plastic with the orbital sander to smooth it out.

 

[John3seventeen]

I used a flat piece of bumper I had cut off pop riveted it behind the liner and filled in / covered over with undercoating.

 

[Porkchop]

I used the hard plastic cheap mud flaps (2 to a package) cut moulded and heat fused in place.

 

[tommudd]

I cut the liner up past the pinch weld, two cuts 3 inches apart, ( after heating the liner with a heat gun it cuts like warm butter) heated it up more and bent it upward, when finished just heated it again and bent it back down, continued to heat and flattened it out. All one solid piece yet , been that way since 05 so must of worked ok:shrug:

 

[Luke]

I did the cut and fold and spread like peanut butter trick too .. looks almost factory.