How to Remove a '92 F150 Driver's Side Front Fender

Ford's F-150 entered the world as a work-ready beast, a take-no-prisoners implement designed to do whatever its owner asked of it. These days, those demands often include bombing through the woods and bashing nature out of the way as necessary. If your truck was the victim of a tree -- or a Carrie-Underwood-Esque ex-girlfriend of boyfriend -- then you'll probably find yourself spending the better part of the day hunting down hidden fender panel fasteners. Unless, of course, you know where they are ahead of time.

Instructions

1

REad through this entire article, and then locate all of the fasteners on your fender. Liberally spray them with penetrating oil first, and then allow the truck to sit for 20 minutes while it soaks in. Remove the two top screws and two bottom nuts on your driver-side headlight assembly, and pull the headlight out to access the fender bolts hidden behind it.

2

Remove the screws that secure the fender to the radiator, and then the two nuts near the bottom of the radiator. Remove the screws at the corner of the cab near the cowl, and the bottom corner of the cab (accessible from under the truck). Remove all of the screws inside the wheel well opening over the tire, and the bolts on top of the wheel-well opening under the hood.

3

Detatch the wiring harness clips from the fender, and unbolt the hood cable from the fender. At this point, the fender should pull free and come off the truck. If it doesn't, kick it a few times, then double-check that you didn't miss any of the wheel-well fasteners. Keep track of any shim or spacers you find; previous mechanics may have installed them to compensate for prior damage, and you'll be unhappy later if nothing lines up.

4

Scrape any remaining sealant off of the sheetmetal apron underpinning the fender apron, and apply a new bead of sealant in the same location. Slide the new fendoer on using all the previous shims and spacers, and hand-tighten all of the fasteners. Don't torque anything till you have all the fasteners in and the fender aligned. Once you do, tighten the screws to 8 foot-pounds and the nuts and bolts to 10 foot-pounds with a torque wrench.

5

Reinstall the cable and headlight using the above torque values. You may need to realign the headlight after removal.