1994 dually rear fender
#1
1994 dually rear fender
Wow, what a discouraging adventure this has been. I wrecked the left rear outer fender on my 1994 dually, and after a lot of searching discovered these components are no longer made. The model year for this fender is 1994-2002 and it is made from a vacuum formed plastic (similar to what Ford used to form a number of body components on the 2002-05 Thunderbird). The damage is too extensive for any kind of repair due to the material.
After much internet searching (including eBay) we (the body shop and myself) discovered that this part is no longer made or available. There are a few right side units still in old inventory, but no left side. We ended up ordering a fiberglass replacement from an outfit in Houston, TX which arrived today. After seeing it, it is going to take a lot of hours to fair all the edges to enable it to fit cleanly to the body of the truck and a bunch of fairing to the upper lip where it rounds into the truck body.
The one benefit to fiberglass is it would be easier to repair if it is damaged again. I am amazed that for a body component that is compatible to 1994-2002 trucks that it would have been discontinued by Dodge -- there are a lot of these vintage trucks out there (even in my area -- the Pacific Northwest).
I would encourage everyone to be especially careful not to damage this body unit.
Randy
Gig harbor, WA
After much internet searching (including eBay) we (the body shop and myself) discovered that this part is no longer made or available. There are a few right side units still in old inventory, but no left side. We ended up ordering a fiberglass replacement from an outfit in Houston, TX which arrived today. After seeing it, it is going to take a lot of hours to fair all the edges to enable it to fit cleanly to the body of the truck and a bunch of fairing to the upper lip where it rounds into the truck body.
The one benefit to fiberglass is it would be easier to repair if it is damaged again. I am amazed that for a body component that is compatible to 1994-2002 trucks that it would have been discontinued by Dodge -- there are a lot of these vintage trucks out there (even in my area -- the Pacific Northwest).
I would encourage everyone to be especially careful not to damage this body unit.
Randy
Gig harbor, WA
#2
Wow, what a discouraging adventure this has been. I wrecked the left rear outer fender on my 1994 dually, and after a lot of searching discovered these components are no longer made. The model year for this fender is 1994-2002 and it is made from a vacuum formed plastic (similar to what Ford used to form a number of body components on the 2002-05 Thunderbird). The damage is too extensive for any kind of repair due to the material.
After much internet searching (including eBay) we (the body shop and myself) discovered that this part is no longer made or available. There are a few right side units still in old inventory, but no left side. We ended up ordering a fiberglass replacement from an outfit in Houston, TX which arrived today. After seeing it, it is going to take a lot of hours to fair all the edges to enable it to fit cleanly to the body of the truck and a bunch of fairing to the upper lip where it rounds into the truck body.
The one benefit to fiberglass is it would be easier to repair if it is damaged again. I am amazed that for a body component that is compatible to 1994-2002 trucks that it would have been discontinued by Dodge -- there are a lot of these vintage trucks out there (even in my area -- the Pacific Northwest).
I would encourage everyone to be especially careful not to damage this body unit.
Randy
Gig harbor, WA
After much internet searching (including eBay) we (the body shop and myself) discovered that this part is no longer made or available. There are a few right side units still in old inventory, but no left side. We ended up ordering a fiberglass replacement from an outfit in Houston, TX which arrived today. After seeing it, it is going to take a lot of hours to fair all the edges to enable it to fit cleanly to the body of the truck and a bunch of fairing to the upper lip where it rounds into the truck body.
The one benefit to fiberglass is it would be easier to repair if it is damaged again. I am amazed that for a body component that is compatible to 1994-2002 trucks that it would have been discontinued by Dodge -- there are a lot of these vintage trucks out there (even in my area -- the Pacific Northwest).
I would encourage everyone to be especially careful not to damage this body unit.
Randy
Gig harbor, WA
#4
#5
Unfortunately, the dually beds are low production. Not just Dodge but Furd and Chubby too. Most one ton and larger trucks get flat or otherwise work type beds. If you had a SRW bed, there would be numerous units available. The right side is the one that gets hit the most which is why there are some of those available.
#6
Turns out the fiberglass replacement fender the shop ordered was of pretty poor quality, so it will be returned and shop owner is going to make welded plastic repairs to my damaged fender. This will include backside stiffening in those repair areas to ensure surface cracking does not occur at a later date. Cost not to exceed what a new OEM would have been (if we could have found one) and less work than what it would have taken to adapt that FG unit to fit and fair out the surfaces.
A real learning experience!
Randy
A real learning experience!
Randy