Wide Fenders On a Thing

Mattt · Post by **Mattt** » Mon May 03, 2004 12:36 am

Kubelmann wrote:So I checked out the pictures of Eric's Thing and I must say it looks way cool. I like Bob am now thinking I could sell my Thing fender collection and do the 4" fiberglass rear fenders that body mount and perhaps could run my favorite rear tires (BFG A/T 31 11.5 x 15) without a body lift. As a result of my set up I was looking at the Mickey Thompson Baja Belted 29x 11.5 x15. But I actually designed my gear ratio around a 31" tire. I have rear centerlines 5x130 10x15 and front centerlines 5x130 7x15 From this thread I am imagining that I could run 7x15 front and The BFGs rear by selecting the correct fenders. I really liked the picture of the fenderless Thing that Eric posted. It makes me want to remove my fenders and build from there. I still prefer metal to fiberglass. I only wish that I had current access to the fab tools to knock out some fenders. Like most of us I have a long history with metal fabrication and have dabbled in fiberglass molding and by far prefer metal. How do the body mounted fender attach? After my current venture of installing thhe John Massengale beast into Herr K, I ma quickly becoming a fan of cutting the back bdy bar out of the way to make a turn key install possible. This big mama T-1 more than fills the slot. I am a long term sawzall fan...K-mann

The 31 will be tight, if not impossible, with no body lift, and only cranked up rear end. The wider fenders wont help with additional height needed for 31" tires. You need taller and wider fenders, and a body lift if you want to run 31s. Ive got 30s on mine, and it has adequate clearance.

Mattt · Post by **Mattt** » Mon May 03, 2004 12:39 am

Bob Ingman wrote:Well without a doubt the idea of fabricated metal fenders appeals to me more than anything BUT those glass fenders in the link you posted third are very appealing. I have to ask myself if i really need metal fenders. Best of luck. Bob Ingman

There is shop here in CA that has fabricated aluminum splash guards(barely a fender) for Things. I wouldnt call them fenders, but I wouldnt call them mudflaps either. If you want to got fenderless with a little tire protection, they are what you want. They might be enough to make you legal. Sorry, I dont have any pics.

ericj8 · Post by **ericj8** » Mon May 03, 2004 6:51 pm

Matt,

I have 3 inch raised Thing spindles. If you go down to So Cal imports and take them your original spindles they will machine them to give you a 3inch lift. I will try to take a picture of mine. The owner of So Cal, Andy, has a set on his Thing with his disc brake set and fiberglass fenders. It looks nice. The only thing is that you lose your speedometer because the cable becomes too short. The only way to get it back is by using a longer speedo cable off an early bus.

Your right about the 31s in the rear. I have no body lift but my rear end is cranked up and it is a very tight fit. I am thinking of going with the fenders that bolt to the car for more clearance

Bob Ingman · Post by **Bob Ingman** » Mon May 03, 2004 7:21 pm

Eric if you change fenders I`ll buy yours. I`m only running 235s and just need width due to the wider arms. Good luck. Bob Ingman

ericj8 · Post by **ericj8** » Mon May 03, 2004 7:23 pm

Sounds like an idea. The only problem with the fenders is that on the driver side one there is a chip and small crack but if you know how to fix fiberglass, it shouldn't be a problem. Let me look into the other fenders and I'll let you know.

Thanks,
Eric

Bob Ingman · Post by **Bob Ingman** » Mon May 03, 2004 7:28 pm

Eric, OK just put it on the back burner and Pmail me if you want to work a deal. good luck. Bob Ingman

Mattt · Post by **Mattt** » Mon May 03, 2004 10:51 pm

ericj8 wrote:Matt,

I have 3 inch raised Thing spindles. If you go down to So Cal imports and take them your original spindles they will machine them to give you a 3inch lift. I will try to take a picture of mine. The owner of So Cal, Andy, has a set on his Thing with his disc brake set and fiberglass fenders. It looks nice. The only thing is that you lose your speedometer because the cable becomes too short. The only way to get it back is by using a longer speedo cable off an early bus.

Your right about the 31s in the rear. I have no body lift but my rear end is cranked up and it is a very tight fit. I am thinking of going with the fenders that bolt to the car for more clearance

Take a look under you car when you get a chance. You may have a Bug beam under there if they told you the 3" lift spindles would work on your front end. Which way are your ball joints oriented? Are they both facing down, with the nuts on the bottom? Or, is the bottom ball joint facing up with the nut on top? Now take a look at the spindles you bought and see where those spindles are machined for the ball joints to slip in, probably one top, one bottom. Im sure we all are interested to see these spindles in a pic. A stock Thing spindle is roughly 3" taller than a stock Bug spindle. SoCal advertises every month a 3" lift spindle, but its based on the Bug unit.

Are you talking about the rear fenders that bolt to the outside of the body above the rear fender opening? They really dont afford any addt'l clearance since you still have the inner fender well in place. Also, if you ever decide to go back to stock, you have holes to fill in on the side of the body.

ericj8 · Post by **ericj8** » Tue May 04, 2004 10:37 pm

Take a look under you car when you get a chance. You may have a Bug beam under there if they told you the 3" lift spindles would work on your front end. Which way are your ball joints oriented? Are they both facing down, with the nuts on the bottom? Or, is the bottom ball joint facing up with the nut on top? Now take a look at the spindles you bought and see where those spindles are machined for the ball joints to slip in, probably one top, one bottom. Im sure we all are interested to see these spindles in a pic. A stock Thing spindle is roughly 3" taller than a stock Bug spindle. SoCal advertises every month a 3" lift spindle, but its based on the Bug unit

Matt,
They are THING SPINDLES! I told you I had an original set machined for 3 more inches. I just took pics of them but I will start another tread to post them. At So Cal, they do a process similar to the one on blind chicken racing http://www.blindchickenracing.com/How_t ... indles.htm