Repairing the Inner Fender

AKeson — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:45:50 +0000

One of my recent projects involved the repair of a 1993 International Medium-Duty truck hood made from SMC. There were several areas needing attention, and one of them was the driver’s side inner fender. This piece had formerly been attached with button-head pop rivets. This design is common to composites, and allows for easy replacement of the separate fiberglass pieces. The pop rivets had come loose over time, allowed to move around, and cause severe damage to the extent that the riveting flange was broken off. My only solution was to bond the two pieces together.

Material Fatigue in the corner

The loose panel flexed so much and for so long that it fatigued the material and failed in the corner of the inner fender next to the attachment to the rest of the hood. To repair this, I removed the area with the rivets, ground down the surfaces of both pieces on both sides, and reattached them with fiberglass and epoxy resin.

Prepared glass and resin

I wanted to place epoxy and fiberglass on both sides of the repair area to ensure a good, solid bond that would hold very well.

Epoxy Resin and Fiberglass applied

After the area was prepared, I applied epoxy resin to the surface to ensure good adhesion. I had a low spot that was a gap, so I mixed some microfiber and epoxy to make a paste and fill this gap. A stronger bond is produced when the fiberglass is not spanning an open gap between the two pieces. I placed two layers of 3oz Chopped Strand Mat over the paste and worked the air out to make a nice consistent repair. I then ground down the surface to make a nice-looking, consistent repair.

Back end of the inner fender

The rear of the inner fender had similar problems. A hole had emerged in the black SMC piece. I ground down both surfaces and placed some fiberglass across the area to bond it together.

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SMC Truck Fender

AKeson — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 15:33:52 +0000

SMC (Sheet Molding Compound) works well for heavy duty truck parts, especially ones requiring complexity, strength, and impact resistance. One of the projects I am working on is a heavy truck with these SMC parts, including a hood and a driver’s and passenger’s truck fender extensions. Each of these SMC parts is very complex in geometry because of its complex application. The following is a picture of one of the SMC fender extensions.

SMC Truck Fender Extension

This SMC part is all one single molded piece, having very complicated geometry. It can also be noted that there are not any undercuts, i.e. the mold can open and close without having to move around the part. It has a mostly constant cross section, is not supported by any metal struts, and is attached to the cab by three bolts. The geometry and details to match the cab and hood styling are molded-in so that the part can be painted and bolted on the truck.

If a part needing this much complexity was manufactured with sheetmetal, it would have many more pieces of the assembly and much more bracing. Metal would also not have the resistance to corrosion and impact that is enjoyed by this composite part.

This fender extension is from a truck that has been on the road since 1993, with over 270,000 miles on it. This part has been in the wild for over 15 years, and has been exposed to tons of road salt, debris from the tires, and lots of other environmental exposures. It has survived well, only needing an update in paint to refresh its look.

Another great application of composites!

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Repairing the Inner Fender

SMC Truck Fender