Fenders

1985 - Present, Questions, discussions, regarding anything related to the Humvee. (NO AUCTION or EBAY)

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MAXJEEP
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Fenders

Post by MAXJEEP » Thu Jul 13, 2017 2:55 am

I have a 1994 M998A1. Has any one replaces a rear fender? Was it a lot of work? What do I use for rivets so the new ones match and will I need a special gun to install them? Thanks for any help


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Kurt Lesser
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Re: Fenders

Post by Kurt Lesser » Thu Jul 13, 2017 7:02 am

The "fender" on a HMMWV is technically called a wheelhouse and isn't that hard to replace if you have the right tools.

The first thing you have to do is to remove the old rivets and this is best done with a tool called a rivet shaver. It 's basically an high speed pneumatic drill that has a small end mill bit in it and a collar that prevents it from removing material from the body panel after it has removed the rivet head. Then you use a small punch to drift out the rest of the old rivet. They are expensive but there are adapters for pneumatic drills that consist of just the shaver section that are more reasonable priced. DO NOT use a 3/16 drill bit. You'll end up drilling "siamesed" holes and the new rivets won't grip properly.

Most new panels won't come with the holes pre-drilled and if you take a close look at the rivets on the truck you'll see they aren't equally spaced and not on a straight line. This is because they were hand drilled and riveted. Buy some new 3/16 drills for this job if you want it to come out right. The panels themselves are glued together and you'll see drill tailings in the old glue where the holes were drilled after the wheelhouse was mounted. One of the best glues to use is called "Sikaflex" and is used by truck and trailer manufacturers and repair places because it never completely dries out. When installing the new panel use some Cleco fasteners to hold things in alignment while you install the new rivets.

Pop rivets aren't the best thing to use for the re-assembly even though they're cheap and readily available almost everywhere. The originals are CherryMax rivets and you want to use the right length if you want a solid assembly. Other rivets that will work are made by Huck and there are probably others but you want good aircraft stuff. Here's a link to why you want to use them. They're also called "blind rivets". https://www.eaa.org/en/eaa/aviation-com ... -to-know-2 The original CherryMax guns are pricey but you can use rivet pullers made by FSI or Huck or even Harbor Freight for low volume jobs.

The HMMWV is assembled almost as if it was an aircraft so read up a little on the subject and you'll end up with a better job. One last thing: the large hole in the rear crossmember (D pillar) isn't an alignment hole. Your best bet is to take a good set of dimensions off of your old wheelhouse and match is with the new one. That way your new one will be in the right position.

Hope this helps.
Kurt Lesser
US Navy, 1969-1975
M996A1 Ambulance w/M101A3 Trailer
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MAXJEEP
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Re: Fenders

Post by MAXJEEP » Tue Sep 05, 2017 3:07 am

Thanks for info. I have an aircraft friend that is going to help. He said to grind the heads off also. I hope to start in the next week or so

ohiohmmwv
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Re: Fenders

Post by ohiohmmwv » Tue Sep 05, 2017 3:33 am

MAXJEEP wrote:Thanks for info. I have an aircraft friend that is going to help. He said to grind the heads off also. I hope to start in the next week or so
Let me know if you've sourced the round headed rivets. The cherry max rivets I've been able to find have rounded heads but then are somewhat flat on top, and don't match what's currently in the hmmwv.


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