HOW TO: Pound pinch welds, stop fender rubbing...

[tommudd]

pictures???
no rubbing??

 

[eliotal]

Will I be able to fit 245/75R16 or 255/70R16 on a stock liberty? Just with the pinch weld?

 

[boebr1]

Will I be able to fit 245/75R16 or 255/70R16 on a stock liberty? Just with the pinch weld?

:::Bump:::

that's a good question, anyone know the answer? I'm gonna guess it is a "no" on the 06 lib, since this is a little lower stock than the older ones?

 

[Libroller02]

Tires with weld pounded

So I just bought so A/T 245/70r16's and they run fine on my 2002. I still need to pound out the pinch welds but that is the only place they rub (other than full lock).

Further testing will be required but so far they have done fine.

 

[tommudd]

Will I be able to fit 245/75R16 or 255/70R16 on a stock liberty? Just with the pinch weld?

No well unless you never go anywhere but straight and no speed bumps/ curbs etc

 

[tommudd]

So I just bought so A/T 245/70r16's and they run fine on my 2002. I still need to pound out the pinch welds but that is the only place they rub (other than full lock).

Further testing will be required but so far they have done fine.

If they are rubbing on the pinch weld then your springs must have sagged quite a bit.

 

[cplchris]

i will be doing this mod next week, has anyone on here used body seam sealer to seal the pounded pinch weld? i would like to use that to make sure no water will get in there, thoughts?

 

[onesik86]

Anyone have the bow to pictures for this thread? I know it’s an old one but the pictures say no longer available. ‍

 

[tommudd]

Anyone have the bow to pictures for this thread? I know it’s an old one but the pictures say no longer available. ‍

Very simple to do
heat up plastic liner over pinch weld area
cut a V shape starting wide 3-4 inches at bottom and up above pinch weld
bend that area up
take 3 lb sledge and beat the pinch weld over as flat as you can
paint it
then heating up liner again bend back down over area and flatten it out , making it almost invisible that anything was every done

 

[Squamish_Steffen]

Very simple to do
heat up plastic liner over pinch weld area
cut a V shape starting wide 3-4 inches at bottom and up above pinch weld
bend that area up
take 3 lb sledge and beat the pinch weld over as flat as you can
paint it
then heating up liner again bend back down over area and flatten it out , making it almost invisible that anything was every done

I did exactly that last month and it worked out well for me.
I used a 2lb hammer but wished I had a 3lb... It takes quite a lot of hitting at it. Like 50 wacks per side I found.
Like Tom says, start your cut wider than the extruded part at the bottom. Heat it up lots with a heat gun and then a study knife can pull through it.
All that plastic is literally meltable and moldable with a heat gun. So afterward you basically sculpt the the new flatter form using your heatgun and the hammer to push/bend/compress the plastic. The sides will glue to itself. Its not going to be perfectly flat in the end, but mostly.
In hindsight I wish I spray painted before pounding as well as after as I'm sure there is some raw metal on the inside of the flap which can't be painted afterward.
Removing the wheel would definitely help but I go by with just turning the wheels appropriately to get some clearance.
Give yourself 2h for the whole job. Its not technical but takes some effort.

 

[Joey D]

I did exactly that last month and it worked out well for me.
I used a 2lb hammer but wished I had a 3lb... It takes quite a lot of hitting at it. Like 50 wacks per side I found.
Like Tom says, start your cut wider than the extruded part at the bottom. Heat it up lots with a heat gun and then a study knife can pull through it.
All that plastic is literally meltable and moldable with a heat gun. So afterward you basically sculpt the the new flatter form using your heatgun and the hammer to push/bend/compress the plastic. The sides will glue to itself. Its not going to be perfectly flat in the end, but mostly.
In hindsight I wish I spray painted before pounding as well as after as I'm sure there is some raw metal on the inside of the flap which can't be painted afterward.
Removing the wheel would definitely help but I go by with just turning the wheels appropriately to get some clearance.
Give yourself 2h for the whole job. Its not technical but takes some effort.[/QUOTE/]


Would it be possible to just cut out a "V" section of the plastic liner then cutting a 1/8" piece of rubber To fit and just sealing and pop riveting it to the back side of the cut out section? I haven't looked at it carefully to see if that will work but i cant think of why it wouldnt.

 

[Joey D]

For the wheel well liner:

Would it be possible to just cut out a "V" section of the plastic liner then cutting a 1/8" thick piece of rubber To fit and just sealing and pop riveting it to the back side of the cut out section? I haven't looked at it carefully to see if that will work but i cant think of why it wouldn't.

Sorry about repeating this comment but it appeared at the end of the previous post and I'm not sure if that's where it's supposed to be.

 

[tommudd]

For the wheel well liner:

Would it be possible to just cut out a "V" section of the plastic liner then cutting a 1/8" thick piece of rubber To fit and just sealing and pop riveting it to the back side of the cut out section? I haven't looked at it carefully to see if that will work but i cant think of why it wouldn't.

Sorry about repeating this comment but it appeared at the end of the previous post and I'm not sure if that's where it's supposed to be.

Well I guess you could but why ?
Works well as described above, if done right it is smooth, it is sealed very well and nothing to fall off possibly