Adding Fiberglass Fenders - Off Road Magazine

Adding Fiberglass Fenders Bolting On Bedsides Exterior Rear View

Fiberglass fenders and bedsides are essential for off-road racing, but they provide great benefits for consumers like you and us as well. Adding fiberglass in place of factory panels can sometimes drop weight off your ride, and the enlarged wheel openings means you can fit a bigger tire without rubbing the body. If a fiberglass panel gets damaged, it can be repaired and replaced fairly easily. If you had something happen to your factory fenders or bedsides (read: You crashed), then fiberglass units are usually cheaper.

To get the taillights into the fiberglass, some trimming had to be done there as well.
Here is another look at the fiberglass bedside installed. It conforms to the factory body well but gives it a much more unique flare.
Here is another look at the fiberglass bedside installed. It conforms to the factory body
The Glassworks bedsides we got were for a '99-'06 application. They cost around $600 and give a 4-1/2-inch flare and a 3-inch rise. They match nicely to the front fiberglass fenders we already had on the truck.
The Glassworks bedsides we got were for a '99-'06 application. They cost around $600 and g

With this truck, we had two reasons to put fiberglass on: 1) We'd already done the front and we were going to do the bedsides next anyway, and 2) During that transitional period, some stupid BMW owner ran a stop sign and decided that the truck would look better with a crushed bedside. This sped up the process of the bedsides install.

Matt and Greg held the fiberglass bedside up to the truck to see where else they would have to trim. Since Greg's good with a plasma cutter, he used one to finish most of it off. You could also use a cutting or grinding wheel or a Sawzall.
Matt and Greg held the fiberglass bedside up to the truck to see where else they would hav
Greg used a permanent marker to draw a line along the top of the bedside, as he would be cutting most of the bedside off. He used a plasma cutter to take most of the bedside off, leaving the edges attached to the bed for a later trimming for a precise fit.
Greg used a permanent marker to draw a line along the top of the bedside, as he would be c
Since we were keeping the bed itself, we needed to keep the top rail for integral support with the fiberglass bedside. Greg and Matt pulled the bedsides, being careful to cut around the original taillight housings since we wanted to keep those too.
Since we were keeping the bed itself, we needed to keep the top rail for integral support

We were originally hesitant about fiberglass bedsides because we weren't sure what we would have to change on the truck to install them. This isn't a race truck, after all; this is a daily driver. Could we keep the inside of our bed? How about the tailgate and the stock rear bumper, or the taillights even? Upon recommendation from Glassworks Unlimited, we called Desolate Motorsports in Whittier, California, to get some answers. Desolate invited us down to watch the bedsides go on in around four hours, keeping all other factory equipment. A crew of two guys worked on this and they had done it many times before, so count on using the better part of a weekend if you try this at home.

The new holes will have to be drilled to install the taillights - and not just in the fiberglass. It's necessary to raise the hole in the metal housing as well: Since the fiberglass bedside sits on top of the original rail, it raises the taillight positioning by a few millimeters.
The new holes will have to be drilled to install the taillights - and not just in the fibe
Greg Gilbert and Matt Carter of Desolate Motorsports started by taking off the stock stuff we wanted to keep. The taillights were unscrewed, the tailgate was popped off, and the factory bumper was unbolted next. In the end, the bumper would go back on just as if the truck still had the original bedsides.
Greg Gilbert and Matt Carter of Desolate Motorsports started by taking off the stock stuff
The new fiberglass bedsides lay directly over the old rails of steel bedsides. This helps give structural support to the new bedside, and also gives an easy place to tie it into. Matt drilled holes along each bedside and threaded 7/16-inch nuts and bolts to hold the bedsides in place.
The new fiberglass bedsides lay directly over the old rails of steel bedsides. This helps

To support the lower part of the bedside, Desolate Motorsports put in some 1/2-inch box-tube supports they made quickly with cut and bent ends that attached with 7/16-inch bolts. You want to make sure to not use too small of a bolt and washer, or else they could pull right through the fiberglass when the going gets rough.
To support the lower part of the bedside, Desolate Motorsports put in some 1/2-inch box-tu
On the driver side of the truck, you can see how much the tire stuck out of the bedside. On the right, you can see how the new fiberglass bedside covers the tire. Now the tire can tuck up inside the bedside, instead of hitting the steel bedside that was there before. Another benefit is that this truck would stop getting tickets for tires sticking out the side.
On the driver side of the truck, you can see how much the tire stuck out of the bedside. O
Not only will the factory sheetmetal need to be trimmed for the bedsides, the new bedsides themselves will likely have to be cut to go on an otherwise factory body. Since we were keeping the tailgate, we needed to keep the structure around the taillights at the end of the bed. Some trimming needed here to fit over the factory metal.
Not only will the factory sheetmetal need to be trimmed for the bedsides, the new bedsides