Fitting 35 inch tires in a NBS front wheel well.

[JR]

OK, so like a lot of you I like big tires but don't have a big lift, some have none at all. Sure you can get a 33 inch in there, maybe. But with a stock height truck you are limited to about a 285 (32in) if you get lucky. Saw this for the 07+ trucks but not for the "new body style" as they are known.

So here is the clearance you have stock with a 35 inch tire. Now this truck has Cognito upper control arms with new keys giving about a 3 inch lift while still giving some down travel for a decent ride.

I started this with the tires on, but you just can't swing a hammer in there that way even with the tire turned out. I mixed both sides up here but you get the idea.

[JR]

After pulling the fender back I was surprised to find all kinds of crud in there. There is also a piece of insulation I just folded up until done.

On the drivers side you have to move the parking brake cable inward a little. I then tied it back with bailing wire and beat the body alignment tabs down some.

How has an idea of what the black stuff is on the frame there??????

[TexasRedNeck]

waiting on the after pics.....

[JR]

Here is the rest,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

After getting the fenders cleaned out, you have to make a couple cuts.

The lip is trimmed as you will be bending the lower piece up, which will become your new lip.

The yellow line you cut and the orange line will be bent over.

[JR]

When cutting, gloves or a safety shields are a good idea. Just a slight touch gave me this,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, :o

[JR]

Then you bend the lip forward. It is alot tuffer than it looks and why I finally took the tire off.

First I tried a long punch, then an air hammer. Both worked OK, to point, but just a BMH worked the best.

This is what you are looking to get it too after you bend the lower up along the red line. It does not need to be pretty, just blended nice with no sharp edges.

[JR]

I cleaned it up some and covered it with a good coat of etching primer.

Then it got several coats of undercoating to seal it all up, that is your floorboard there! I covered the area really good, but looks like I didn't take any pics until I painted the frame rail too.

[JR]

I folded the stock insulation back down, reattached the fender and drilled a new hole for the push retainer.

Gives me about 1.5 inches of clearance now.

I needed a little more up front to so the heat gun helped with that on the inner fender. The front air dam had been trimmed before, but looks to need a little more now.

[KensAuto]

Turned out good JR.