Rear Fender Trim/Tab Removal for Clearance

[Kona61]

Duplicate of a FB post I made that I figured I would share here as well. This information only applies to BRZ/GR86's running very aggressive wheel fitments that most commonly are around 18x9.5 +38-45 and 17x9 +35-42.


I had my fenders rolled by a SoCal local known by the IG name MrSexyS2K (David). He is renowned as one of the best fender magicians anywhere who works on the cars of many big names in the industry. For our platform specifically, he has rolled JayCraaay's fenders, Kev Win’s for Titan 7, Art of Attack's, and another belonging to Jongers. My car is to date the one with the most aggressive trim. Which involves completely removing the fender tab located below the rear plastic trim, shaving the rear lip of the quarter, and then massaging the transition from the normal quarter to the tab (That little notch located in front and above the main part of the tab). I realized I have zero pictures of the final result without the piece attached. The final trim is extremely smooth with no burrs or jagged cuts. I ran my hand along both sides after he was done and it would be impossible to cut yourself. The trim follows the lines of the car extremely well.


Now, you may be asking reasonably, "Josh, why the f*ck would you cut so much off? Everybody else seems to be doing fine without such an aggresive trim?"


Well, the issue is every single car listed (except Jongers possibly) has cut tires and bent the tab without removing it. Mr. Sexy himself had to go repair Art of Attack's car while at Willow Springs due to clearance issues that made the car undriveable even on the street with aggressive camber <-2.5 and 18x9.5 +43 on 255/35 AO52's. The trim itself seems to be very secure as of so far. There is definitely more movement laterally than stock but it is a very small piece with about 6 inches of tape holding it together. The tabs that are removed during the process also do not seem to play a significant role as the tape is what makes the extension’s removal difficult, not popping out the pins. Also, while discussing it with David, he suggested that if further issues arose using a well-positioned screw or bracket of some kind connecting the piece to the bumper (look at the last picture for reference) would help to keep the extension attached securely. If any issues arise, I will report them. I currently have driven the car about 500 or so miles without any calamities so far.


On a visual level, there is on change. If nobody told you it had been trimmed I can assure you it would never be noticed. In summary, if you want to run wide ass tires, you will probably need to do this or something quite similar.

[jongers]

Thanks for detailing the info and +1 for mrsexy's work.

Looks like he's shaving it a bit more aggressively now! I believe my fender "feels" more like yours now after the tire has rubbed off a bit of the tab naturally (18x9.5 +40 w/ 255 35).

What sizing were you planning on going with?

[Powersfrs]

18 9.5 +45 with 255 35 (ps4s) run fine. -2.2 camber all around and you won’t rub unless your super slammed. I’ve done 1000 miles on my set up with aggressive cornering and no issues.

[timurrrr]

Just as a reminder, we already have a thread on tire fitment in the rear: https://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=147495

For future forum archaeologists, it will be handy if all the information of what fits and what not is in one thread. Back before I started the Brembo thread, the information about which wheels fit and which don't was scattered across like 17 different forum threads. It was not easy to find anything...

It can be beneficial to keep this thread separate to discuss specifically the cutting/rolling/etc fender modifications to gain clearance though.

[Robertw]

So it's just 3m double sided tape securing the plastic trim to the fender now?