How to: DIY 2004 Front Fender replacement (not just flare)

[KaseyMcc]

Well after a good rain and playing in the mud I'm in need of some help. :ybrick: Slid off the road into a fence post and not only busted the side of my bumper off, but broke the fender flare and put a nice big dent in the front fender that I'm about 90% sure I can't pull out and make look decent. Being that I can pick up a new front fender for about $50, I'm looking to go that route, but I'm not finding anything on here detailing how to replace it.

Anybody ever do this? I can't imagine it being that difficult, but I was hoping to find some reading material/diagrams to help me get an idea of what I'm getting myself into.

 

[KaseyMcc]

Here's a pic of the mod I did...I don't know how to rotate or downsize but you get the idea...

 

[BlackWorksInc]

[MENTION=125396]KaseyMcc[/MENTION] Sorry for the delay!

Not sure, I don't usually replace fenders to be honest with you...

There's a lot of clips and bolts and screws, but it should be straight forward. At worst there might be a couple spots where body seam sealer was used and you have to cut that away.

 

[Ralphman]

bumper, fender liners and headlights need to come off/out of the way and then a handful of bolts along the top of the fender under the hood and one or two threw the door jam

 

[KaseyMcc]

[MENTION=125396]KaseyMcc[/MENTION] Sorry for the delay!

Not sure, I don't usually replace fenders to be honest with you...

There's a lot of clips and bolts and screws, but it should be straight forward. At worst there might be a couple spots where body seam sealer was used and you have to cut that away.

bumper, fender liners and headlights need to come off/out of the way and then a handful of bolts along the top of the fender under the hood and one or two threw the door jam

Awesome, that's pretty much what I figured. All those parts will be coming off to be replaced anyways so I'm in good shape. Thanks a bunch guys, I really appreciate your help. I'm looking forward to getting this project underway.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

bumper, fender liners and headlights need to come off/out of the way and then a handful of bolts along the top of the fender under the hood and one or two threw the door jam

Any body seam sealer you had to deal with or all fairly straight forward bolt-on affair?

 

[Ralphman]

no body sealer just about 7 or 8 small bolts and 2 nut in the front of the fender that bolts to one of the bumper supports. Hardest part of taking the fenders off I can see is the bumper cover or getting the fender liners off, I tried using the proper tool to get the fender liner push fasteners off or what ever they are called with no luck or patients so it got a die grinders with a cut off wheel and was done with it but I was taking my fenders off to cut them and the flares so I had no intention to try and save them. I'm also not sure if you need to completely take off the bumper cover to get the 2 nut and 2 bolts, but mine was already off when ive had the fenders off.

Also after looking I found alother bolt at the bottom back of the fender that is covered by the flare

 

[BlackWorksInc]

Ah crap, forgot about those! I HATE those damn square clips...

[MENTION=125396]KaseyMcc[/MENTION] get a dozen or so square clips for the fender liner.

Like [MENTION=143255]Ralphman[/MENTION] said they are a damn pain to try and get out and you're better off just cutting them off and using new ones.

Part Number:
90189-06065

 

[Ralphman]

So 7 bolts total after you get the headlight off, 2 nuts.
Get your bumper and fender liners off first.
After you get the headlight out you will have 3 bolts up top on the fender under the hood. Next open your door and at the top of the fender you will see a rubber flap pull the top out to reveal a hidden bolt. Under the flare is another bolt, cant remember if you can get to this one with the liner out of the way or if you need to pull the flare off to get to it. The other two bolts and two nuts are at the front of the fender where the bumper cover meet up with the fender.
This is everything to remove the fender that I can recall when I took them off the first time.

 

[KaseyMcc]

Ah crap, forgot about those! I HATE those damn square clips...

[MENTION=125396]KaseyMcc[/MENTION] get a dozen or so square clips for the fender liner.

Like [MENTION=143255]Ralphman[/MENTION] said they are a damn pain to try and get out and you're better off just cutting them off and using new ones.

Part Number:
90189-06065

So 7 bolts total after you get the headlight off, 2 nuts.
Get your bumper and fender liners off first.
After you get the headlight out you will have 3 bolts up top on the fender under the hood. Next open your door and at the top of the fender you will see a rubber flap pull the top out to reveal a hidden bolt. Under the flare is another bolt, cant remember if you can get to this one with the liner out of the way or if you need to pull the flare off to get to it. The other two bolts and two nuts are at the front of the fender where the bumper cover meet up with the fender.
This is everything to remove the fender that I can recall when I took them off the first time.

You both rock, thanks so much for your help! :hail::hail:

 

[mdrees]

Well after a good rain and playing in the mud I'm in need of some help. :ybrick: Slid off the road into a fence post and not only busted the side of my bumper off, but broke the fender flare and put a nice big dent in the front fender that I'm about 90% sure I can't pull out and make look decent. Being that I can pick up a new front fender for about $50, I'm looking to go that route, but I'm not finding anything on here detailing how to replace it.

Anybody ever do this? I can't imagine it being that difficult, but I was hoping to find some reading material/diagrams to help me get an idea of what I'm getting myself into.

How did this turn out for you? Were you able to get it replaced somewhat easily?
My sister backed her Jeep into my front bumper/passenger side quarter panel today....

 

[makeitso2008]

Nice keep updating this thread with progress. We want to see finale

 

[KaseyMcc]

How did this turn out for you? Were you able to get it replaced somewhat easily?
My sister backed her Jeep into my front bumper/passenger side quarter panel today....

It actually went a lot easier than I expected. I'd recommend having the pieces painted professionally, but as long as the impact wasn't big enough to damage subframe stuff that could throw off alignment of panels, you should be set. If you can build with Legos, you can probably knock this out without too much trouble. It's a pretty straightforward deal.

 

[mdrees]

It actually went a lot easier than I expected. I'd recommend having the pieces painted professionally, but as long as the impact wasn't big enough to damage subframe stuff that could throw off alignment of panels, you should be set. If you can build with Legos, you can probably knock this out without too much trouble. It's a pretty straightforward deal.

Good to hear, thanks for the reply.... body shop quoted me $2,000 to replace the fender and bumper cover - I'll have a go at it myself and hopefully save a good chuck of cash.

 

[KaseyMcc]

Good to hear, thanks for the reply.... body shop quoted me $2,000 to replace the fender and bumper cover - I'll have a go at it myself and hopefully save a good chuck of cash.

Yikes! I don't remember how much I ended up having in mine total--I think it was between 600-800...but that involved having to paint twice because the first attempt didn't work out well (painted in a makeshift paintbooth in the basement). At 2000 I'm sure you wouldn't be able to tell they had been replaced. If I had spent roughly 400 to have the pieces professionally painted you wouldn't be able to tell they had been replaced on my vehicle. As it turned out, my paint looked good for about six months before the clear coat started to sort of crack--just looks like it shattered--but only on the metal fender. The bumper and fender flare look completely fine. I prepped it all the same but just wondering if/where something went wrong. Either way, I'd never pay 2000 for it. Tracking down the little extra pieces you need can be a bit of a pain, though. I used partsouq.com, plugged in my VIN and looked at several parts diagrams to find the odd little pieces that I couldn't reuse. You won't fully know all the pieces you need until you get everything torn apart, it helps to have a second vehicle. I did enough checking before hand that I was able to buy up everything I needed before I took stuff apart, so I got the parts, painted what needed painted and fixed it over the course of a weekend. Could've probably done it all in about 6 hours, if I had to do it again.