How To: Stop Rubbing Your Inner Fender

How To:
Stop Rubbing Your Inner Fender
A CFans Members Mod Project by burn
Skill Level: Moderate
Disclaimer: Please use caution and seek professional assistance when necessary. ColoradoFans.com, the author,
and all associated members are not responsible for any damages, injuries or other harm which may occur with this
modification. This post does not reflect the views of ColoradoFans.com and its ownership. Before attempting this
modification, it is advised to verify this will work on your Colorado or Canyon, as not all GMT 355's are same!
PURPOSE: So it seems that rubbing the inner fender on dropped 355's is a rather common issue. And with support
for a stiffer strut no longer in the near future, I knew I had to take action. Many people who run the Belltech balljoints experience rubbing the inner fender when they go over large dips/bumps. This problem is less frequent for
people on drop springs because the stock bump-stop is still effective. Although the bump stop is not removed with
the ball joints, the ball joints offset the spindle height which basically renders the stock bump stops useless. And
like many others out there, the problem seems to be primarily in the driver side fender. My passenger side inner
fender does have some rub marks on the plastic, but the driver side was worn right through the plastic and the paint
was rubbed right off. I decided to take action. Today I decided to lift up the truck, pull the wheel off, and have a
look at the actual area that is causing all these problems. Here is the culprit.
REQUIRED PARTS:
¾ Spray undercoating
REQUIRED TOOLS:
¾ Flat tip screwdriver
¾ Propane torch
¾ Hammer
¾ Air compressor
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¾
¾
¾
¾
Air tools (nibbler, body saw, angle grinder, cut off saw)
Breaker bar
19 mm socket
Torque wrench
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. To get a better look at the area, you will need to remove the 7 press clips. They come out by lifting the center
section of the clip up, and then simply pull the clip out.
2. Now we have a better view of the situation. It’s sort of hard to tell in the picture, but the area that rubs is
actually hanging down lower than the rest of the inner fender.
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3. First thing we want to do is remove the harness that is clipped to the sheet metal beside the battery - which is
very close to this location. We don’t want it getting damaged.
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4. The next thing I did was put some heat to the area. Be careful not to catch anything on fire.
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5. Next you want to select a BFH. I chose this 20oz model.
6. Now use your calibrated-smashometer to persuade the sheet metal upwards.
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7. You want to just work the area gingerly to get the sheet metal to move up evenly and assure there are no lowhanging areas left.
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8. Next I used some asphalt undercoating to protect the area.
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9. You can sort of see better the area that is pushed up now with it covered.
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10. Then you want to go ahead and reinstall the inner fender liner.
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11. And torque your wheel to 100 ft lb.
12. UPDATE: Alright, since adding the new rims I’ve started rubbing again. I tried using an air chisel to move
the metal - but it was still rubbing so I decided to take drastic measures. I fired up the compressor last week and
got to work with the body-saw, nibbler, cut-off saw, and angle grinder. I forgot to take pictures at that time, but
today I had to do some more trimming so I remembered to take some pics this time.
Here is an old picture of the inner fender from before I hammered it to give an idea of the area we are dealing
with:
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13. And here I’ve circled the area that hangs down that needs to be cut out. This area is below the battery tray
and there is about a 1" gap between the fender well and the tray so when you cut out the well there is still the
tray which now doubles as the well.
14. So here is the area cut out.
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15. I know it looks hacked in that picture but hold your comments, it’s actually really good looking in 3D.
Here’s a picture looking straight up. You can see the bottom of my battery in this picture too:
16. I had to do a bit more grinding since that pic - but this gives you a good idea.
17. Here’s the hole I had to cut out of the liner. I was just going to leave it out but at least it keeps it from
packing dirt in the fender behind the bumper or in front of the door.
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18. Here it is with the fender liner back in.
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19. And here’s a pic taken from the cab looking towards the front of the truck. I also drew in the path of the
wheel so that you can see where the low spots were. You can also see the spray of the dirty water on the fender
to also give an idea of the wheel path.
20. I also gave it a good coat of tremclad to keep it from rusting. I went for a cruise around town today for over
an hour and it didn’t rub once. Hopefully this is the last time I have to deal with this.
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