Fixing what the body shop set back to factory, and some perspective on the new fender flares...

So as you may recall, my truck had to spend some quailty time in the body shop due to an attempted theft / vandalism that caused some extensive damage to the drivers front fender, wheel, studs, and windshield. I finally get the truck back from the body shop that fixed what the first body shop royally messed up on, and I want to take the time here, since I knocked Cook Ford for the poor quality work, I want to credit Frede Chevrolet for exactly the opposite, although it took them a bit to get the parts in, more on that in a bit... they did first rate work. Everything was aligned properly, and fitted the way I would expect to see it..

Only problem is, they put it back to Factory, excluding the fender flares... They replaced the Damaged Pacer Performance flares, with EGR OEM Look flares. I am not going to complain, those were the flares I wanted in the first place, but couldn't ever seem to locate...

However, as I said, the body shop put the fender back to stock, meaning the plastic trim, and the steel lower / inner edge of the fender were put back where they were from Ford, and the 35x12.50/17s rubbed when I turned / hit a bump. I HAD to fix that again...

So now having some experience with this, I started the truck up, set the parking brake, made sure it was in park, and rolled the window doen...

I then got out of the truck, rolled the window down, and turned the wheel to the left (it is the back outer edge of the tire that hits), and watched where it came closest, and marked off about 1/2" past each way...


Turn the wheel to the lock the other way, and turned the truck off, and went to the shop...

Out came the air hose off of my hose reel, an air hammer, an air chisel hammer, and a pair of tin snips.

I trimmed the plastic, just outside of the marked lines, so that there was no longer any protruding plastic. Next I used the tin snips to re-cut the fold that the body shop tack welded back, and then the air hammer / chisel hammer bit came out and folded the sheet metal back well away from tire interference...

There is now more than enough space for the suspension to flex.

The new flares offer close to full coverage of the tires.

Not fully covered, but close enough.

Road tested, and the tire rub is now completely gone over all surfaces I have been willing to try it on. Turning, large bumps etc... Still need to test it offroad, but that will be a bit...

IF the Rancho Quick Lift Loadeds had a strong enough spring, I am certain there would have been no interference problem, as I was running this same brand, model, and size tire with the stock struts and Auto Spring 2.5" leveling spacers. 

But, with all the headache it has been getting to this point, there it is, done for now. 2004 F150 4x4 with 35x12.50/17 mud tires, Only suspension lift is a 2.5" Rancho coil spring / strut lift, 9K lb winch and heavy duty brush guard / winch mount, nerf bar steps to help my wife and I get into the truck easier. I do need to swap the Rancho coils for Moogs, but aside from that, and some minor cosmetic stuff, this truck has seen enough attention from me for a while. On to the Saturn!