Beating your pinch weld flat with a sledge hammer. --Let's discuss!

The time has come for me to beat my pinch weld flat for the front fender wells. My tires are rubbing and it's driving me nuts.

I have noticed at least three methods based on my searching here.

Pull plastic fender liner out and:

1. Beat the pinch weld flat to the inside of fender well
   
2. Beat the pinch weld flat to the outside of fender well.
3. Some people cut / notch it in sections and then beat it flat.

My question is are any of these methods better than the other?

I completed this job in July 2016

SEE PAGE 3 NOW FOR PICTURES

 

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Easier to beat it inboard due to arc of hammer swing. As to cutting remember that if you cut too deep you could create a water ingress point. On mine we only cut/notched about halfway down every six inches and then beat the seam flap inboard.

 

Broke a 5 pound sledge beating mine. Haven't gotten a new hammer yet.

 

If you pull the tire, you can get in there and swing outward which would provide more clearance with the least amount of distortion IMO. Then use a heat gun to mold the fender liner to the new contour. Had you brought this topic up this weekend, I could have shown you what I did with mine.

 

Thanks.

Harbor Freight is your friend.

Would have loved to have seen it. So your recommend outward...

It wasn't until yesterday I realized how much rubbing was occurring on the trail. Not only are tires rubbing the pinch weld, they are rubbing the top of the fender liners too.





Lower pinch weld / Mud flap

 

NorCal thread just had a handful of guys with water leaks at the pinch weld area.

Be sure to seal the ever loving shit out of it, and then do it again.

 

@LTDSC I think was one of them.

@stroM- another? If not, they'll remember who, maybe.

 

Thanks. They probably cut it too deep is my guess? ... I'll probably do what Ghost Ship said above and once I'm done flattening it out, put back the plastic liner and heat gun it flat.

 

Pretty sure they just folded them over and sealed them with silicone and still had leaks, but hopefully they'll chime in - wasn't more than 2-3 weeks back, we had 3 or so guys with that issue and don't think I remember anybody cutting the pinch weld.

 

That lower point is exactly where mine was rubbing under compression, but I did some trimming at the lower fender flare and I'm not running front mudflaps (not sure if you got a chance to see that). As for the rubbing at the top of the fenderwell, you have tall tires and a heavy truck. Might be time for more lift or heavier springs. Or you could just slow down a bit on the trail.

 

Just to be clear, I didn't flatten mine out, just nudged it over to about a 45* angle and that gave me the clearance I needed. I also sprayed a little rattle can rubberized undercoating on mine. When I was hitting the pinch weld, some of the paint started to chip at the leading edge. I wasn't worried about rust, I did it more for appearance so you couldn't tell I was in there (I'm anal about a clean outcome to any mod). The rubberized undercoating could provide some water resistance I suppose, but because I wasn't stretching the metal out as much as if I had flattened the weld, I'm sure I didn't crack anything.

 

Found it.. @Crom

Starts here...
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/norcal-spotted-and-bs-thread.53517/page-2440#post-12041126

 

Ouch. Sucks for them. Looks like they caught it in time before any serious damage though.

 

I'll look into shimming my bump stops to stop the top rub. 1/4" probably do it. And yeah no way can I tolerate water intrusion. I think once I pull the fender liner out and look at this pinch weld, it may make more sense in my brain.

@DCSBFTMFW Thanks for the link to ffdawsons comments.

 

For sure.

 

mine ended up not being pinch weld related but all i did was hammer the crap out of the pinch weld. Then used a good helping of 3M Seam sealer. It looks flat now and has been sealed. I used about half a tube of it per side just to make sure i sealed it up. The bottom corner i did a relief cut and hammered it flat then sealed it. So i wouldnt have any chance to catch my tire.

I still need to weld in a plate for my CMC but gives you an idea.

 

I expect a "Crom" worthy write up on this when finished, Mister!






Thank you for all your work...

 

"Hitting with a hammer" and "my truck" used in the same sentence causes anxiety for me........