seattletom wrote:
What size tubing (OD and thickness) did you use for the mounts?
How are the fenders attached to the tubes (all I can see are Clecos)?
Where the mounting tubes penetrate the rolled edges of the fenders, it looks like round holes were made to preserve some of the integrity of the rolled edge. Is that correct or did you make U-shaped cuts?
Are you satisfied with the stiffness of the mounts?
Are those Fenders’n’more flattop fenders?
Your thoughts on using the rock guard coating?
Hey Tom
The tubing is 3/4" .065".
I kinda fab the mounting backwards. I mark the location for the tubes on the fender that looks pleasing to the eye, make a jig for a 3/4" hole saw on the table, raise the hole saw high enough to clear the fender thickness by resting it on some 1/8" ply, turn the fenders on their backs and create the holes keeping in mind to keep fender material all around the tube hole, NO U shaped cuts, this keeps the fender rigidity. Then I fine tune the holes with a round file so that the tube will sit flush to the top of the fender when going through the mount holes and have clearance around the whole tube.
Then I draw a line across the top of the fender that intersects the hole center. Measure the distance for a couple of screw holes that look about right and drill the holes in the fenders. Then I draw a line along the 3/4" tube with a Sharpie, insert it through the side holes and find the sharpie line through the 2 drilled screw holes, mark them, and drill them (removed from the fender of course). I start off with 1/8" holes for Clecos during initial fabrication, but then drill the tubes for 8-32 rivnuts, and drill out the fender screw holes accordingly.
I used 8-32 AN washer head screws to fasten the fenders with no issues to date. I use clear Marine silicone as 'Loctite' to keep the screws from loosening up, yet very easy to remove (I actually use this for all screws on the cars, never Loctite).
With the tubes fastened to the fenders I work backwards massaging them to the bolted mount point on the spindle (this is where the Clecos pay for themselves as you remove and attach the tubes from the fender many many times while fitting them). Once happy with the fitment I install the rivnuts, mount the tubes to the fender, do a final fitment check then weld the tubes to the spindle mount. A cross piece welded in makes everything very solid.
They are flat top fenders from Fenders N More.
I used black rubberized spray undercoat on them before final install.
Done this on all three builds, very happy with the stiffness of the tubes and have yet to have a failure.
The downside of this type of mounting is that the 3/4" tube takes up some clearance between the fender and tire that you have to account for. I have about 3/4" between the mount tubes and tire for the escapement of pesky gravel. This still has the fender looking fairly close to the tire.
Any other questions, don't hesitate to ask