Fixing a tear in a front fender

[travisk]

When I first go this Jeep I went wheeling without bump stops and created a small tear in my trimmed fender. It causes the fender to flap in the wind on the freeway.

Is there a quick fix to stiffen the fender and keep the tear from spreading? Maybe some Bondo on the inside of the fender?

 

[rav]

cheaper to just by a fender in the same color.

 

[scottmcneal]

Drill a hole at the back of the crack so it won't grow anymore. This will stop it.Now from the looks of things you may be able to trim more of your fender and then remount the stock flairs if you want.
A picture of the whole fender would help more in seeing if this could be done
HTH

 

[travisk]

cheaper to just by a fender in the same color.

Cheaper than bondo? I'm not asking how to make it look right. I'm just asking if it will stiffen it up if I drill a small hole at the end of the crack (thanks) and put some mesh and bondo on the back side.

 

[scottmcneal]

You can also weld it if you know somebody thats good

 

[travisk]

The metal is pretty thin. Will that burn up a bunch of paint on the other side?

I wonder of JB weld would hold...

 

[rav]

Cheaper than bondo? I'm not asking how to make it look right. I'm just asking if it will stiffen it up if I drill a small hole at the end of the crack (thanks) and put some mesh and bondo on the back side.

bondo will not make it stiff...

 

[xcm]

bondo or fiberglass WOULD make it stiffer, if applied right to the backside, but I would stop drill the crack, then weld it. Yes, it is thin, clean the paint off both sides (easy here), and weld it using low settings, and tack tack tack from the inside, grind flush on the outside.

Ideally, if the crack was perpendicular, or at a large enough angle to a flat edge, i'd grind out the crack to give the weld someplace to go, so it doesnt just sit on top, only to be ground off for the most part. In your situation, you dont care if theres weld on the backside, so weld from that side.

 

[SleeperXJ]

You could tack a piece of sheet to the back. That would give some base material to weld.
Then just weld the crack

 

[xpedition xj-eh!]

If you don't have access to a welder, then I wouldn't use regular body filler (bondo) to fix that crack, but "bondo glass" *might* work ok. I've used it a few times and was pretty pleased with it. It's bondo with fiber glass strands embedded in it to make it stronger than regular body filler. I don't suggest using straight fiberglass (mat or cloth with polyester resin) as it may not adhere permanently to the sheet metal.

It all comes down to how much stress is going on at that location (how hard it "flaps in the wind" and whether or not you will continue hitting your tire on it). Make sure you don't sand the bondo down very much (or at all) on the backside of the fender.

Here is what it says on the tin:

Twice as strong as regular body filler. Half-inch, interlocking fiberglass strands create strength and make Bondo® Glass the ideal filler for repairing small (dime size or smaller) holes or rust-outs. The fiberglass strands in the filler allow you to cover holes and eliminate the need for backing strips, fiberglass mat, or cloth. Make repairing small holes easy with Bondo® Glass.

• Covers small holes without the need for backing strips, cloth or mat
• Works great on boats
• Sands in only 20 minutes
• Includes cream hardener
• Great for use on fiberglass, wood, metal, aluminum, SMC, and masonry and compatible with all paints systems
• Includes Red Cream Hardener

 

[WB9YZU]

You need to put structure back that you removed durring the cutting process.

If it was me, I would stop drill the crack, and rivet in a doubler behind the fender to re-enforce the fender in that area. I'd be tempted to roll the fender lip. The I would body fill over the rivets and smooth it all out to the body line.

 

[souske]

Fill over the rivets? Do you own stock in bondo?

 

[WB9YZU]

Not everyone owns a welder. And you need to hold the doubler on somehow.

 

[scottmcneal]

Not everyone owns a welder.

I guess i should have said to weld it and if you don't own a welder maybe a friend does an he can help you with this. I know i would have offered to do it if he didn't have a welder. But he is kinda far from me.

Sorry for not writing it out..

To the OP, try to get it welded.Find a friend if need be. You hook the fender again with bondo, it will just crack and you'll be back at square one.

Maybe trim more before you repair also.:cheers:

 

[markw]

If that line is the original line from where the flare was, just trim it to there. Most guys trace the flare, remove the flare, trim to where the flare was. Looks like you didn't trim that far, just open it up to the original flare line and call it good. Any "bondo" fix will look ghetto.