Front fender removal: any words of wisdom?

mathlete

New member
A couple of weeks back we had a pretty intense storm that blue some heavy limbs down. One left a pretty big dent/gash in my front passenger fender.

My body shop estimate was north of $500, which for an 18 year old faded Runner is a little more than I can swing. I mean, I love it, but dang.

I was able to find a replacement fender and have spent some time in the Haynes manual, this forum, and on YouTube. I feel like I've got a pretty good grasp of what needs to come off, etc. to do the swap. I've got experience in tools, taking things apart, etc., so I feel good as far as that goes.

Got a couple of questions for any of you seasoned folks who've done this before:
  1. Is it necessary to remove the front wheel when removing the fender? My tires are pretty small, so there's a lot of room in the well for me to maneuver. I'd read I need to take the wheel off, but I was kind of curious if that was mandatory.
  2. What about the front bumper? I can get to the bolt on the front of the fender from underneath. Is there another reason to remove the bumper?

Thanks, everyone.
 
Register to hide this ad
Easy to do:

1 - Remove wheel well/fender liner (those clips suck)
2 - Remove grill to make your life easier, or use a ratchet wrench to get the bolt that holds the filler panel (below the headlight), which is hiding another bolt
2 - 3 bolts below hood
3 - 1 bolt under the front door
4 - Use ratchet to get the 2 bolts that are generally hidden by the bumper. If you don't have a ratchet that fits (I think they are 10s or 11s?) go buy one. Otherwise it feels like its about 600 turns because of how cramped the area is.

No reason to remove wheel or bumper.
 
Fantastic - thanks so much! Yep, I've got a ratchet armed and ready. The bolts are 10mm.

And yeah, I'm kind of anticipating those clips being the bane of my existence for a bit.

I appreciate the help!
 
Good tip is to lay some marks with a pencil. So when you put it back together. Your body lines will be back to same
 

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
278,316
Messages
3,554,120
Members
248,016
Latest member
Advally Service

Trending content

Back
Top