Removing Tglide fenders

[Phu Cat]

Had the misfortune to have a friend scratch a fender. He apologized immediately and offered to pay to repair it. The paint repair, except for the two stripes near the wheel opening is only $275. However, the 2 quarts of HD paint is ONLY $600.91.

The fun part came when trying to take the fender off. After getting the wheel off, the fender is held on with 6 torx bolts. Being inside the fender they are kind of awkward to get to, not to mention, very, very tight. Harley intended for these not to come loose accidentally. Even once you have them broken loose they are still VERY hard to turn until they are almost all the way out. As I said, these aren't going to come loose accidentally. I stripped two of the bolt heads out and had to grind them off as they are too hard to drill out. Your ratchet MUST stay exactly square over the bolt head or the bolt head will strip. And as you become fatigued, allowing the ratchet to get off square gets easy especially when you're working with an extension. If you have or can borrow an impact wrench that will fit under the fender (good luck there) that might make the job easier. I just wonder how the shop guys do it?

Not sure if this is a justified complaint, but it seems like the holes for the torx fitting in the bolt heads weren't as deep as they could have been. Never had trouble stripping them out before. But not being able to see what you're working with adds to the skill level necessary.

PC

 

[FuzzyWuzHe]

I'm guessing the reason for the tightness even after they are broken free, is Lock Tite? i'm not a big fan of torx bolts, but I understand the reasons Harley uses them, probably the biggest reason being to make it harder for a shade tree mechanic to work on his ride. Anyway, while it's off can you take a picture of the body with the fender is removed?

I have this desire to put a set of freewheeler fenders on my tri. I have seen the free sans fenders, and am curious how the tri body is. A friend of mine has a body shop, and said he'd do the mods to make them fit and paint the fenders if I bought the paint. The issue I see is the alignment of the wheels to the fenders. The tri wheels are a little farther from the body. My buddy said he could increase the gap from the body to the wheel enclosure on the free fenders so the wheels are in the middle.

I have always thought the tri would look good with the bobbed free fenders. The other option, that my body suggested is to just bob the tri fenders and use the free twilight mounts. Not sure how I feel about "cutting up" my Fat Bottom Girl's fenders. If I mod a set of free fenders and hate the look, I'm jus out some $$$, but can go back to stock.

We now return to our regularly scheduled program, sorry for ranting and the hijack, but I got excited when you said you had a fender off ... thanks in advance for the pic if possible.

 

[rhino 2]

Had the misfortune to have a friend scratch a fender. He apologized immediately and offered to pay to repair it. The paint repair, except for the tho stripes near the wheel opening is only $275. However, the 2 quarts of HD paint is ONLY $600.91.

The fun part came when trying to take the fender off. After getting the wheel off, the fender is held on with 6 torx bolts. Being inside the fender they are kind of awkward to get to, not to mention, very, very tight. Harley intended for these not to come loose accidentally. Even once you have them broken loose they are still VERY hard to turn until they are almost all the way out. As I said, these aren't going to come loose accidentally. I stripped two of the bolt heads out and had to grind them off as they are too hard to drill out. Your ratchet MUST stay exactly square over the bolt head or the bolt head will strip. And as you become fatigued, allowing the ratchet to get off square gets easy. If you have or can borrow an impact wrench that will fit under the fender (good luck there) that might make the job easier. I just wonder how the shop guys do it?

PC

Most use a cordless hammer drill/driver with the lithium battery, Small enough to get into any spot, And the hammer action will loosen any bolt with very little effort ThumbUp

 

[jc1300]

Most use a cordless hammer drill/driver with the lithium battery, Small enough to get into any spot, And the hammer action will loosen any bolt with very little effort ThumbUp

+1

 

[Phu Cat]

It sure would have been worth $100 to save all that aggravation! Six years ago I gave away all my air tools when down sizing for retirement. Ya probably know how that goes. I'm slowly replacing all that stuff. Like a hammer drill. Oh well, maybe I've saved someone else some grief.

PC

 

[BOXX3R]

The fun part came when trying to take the fender off. After getting the wheel off, the fender is held on with 6 torx bolts. Being inside the fender they are kind of awkward to get to, not to mention, very, very tight. Harley intended for these not to come loose accidentally. Even once you have them broken loose they are still VERY hard to turn until they are almost all the way out. Your ratchet MUST stay exactly square over the bolt head or the bolt head will strip. And as you become fatigued, allowing the ratchet to get off square gets easy especially when you're working with an extension. If you have or can borrow an impact wrench that will fit under the fender (good luck there) that might make the job easier. I just wonder how the shop guys do it?

Not sure if this is a justified complaint, but it seems like the holes for the torx fitting in the bolt heads weren't as deep as they could have been. Never had trouble stripping them out before. But not being able to see what you're working with adds to the skill level necessary.

PC

I don't know what kind of thread locker Harley uses, but I call it God Snot because it has the Grip of God. I Had to borrow a cordless 3/8" Snap-On impact to remove the bolts that hold the floorboards on when I installed the DK 1" extensions. Two of the allen bolts were in there so tight I almost burnt up the $400 impact gun.

And I know what you mean about being exactly square on their bolts. It is probably due to the fact that Harley bolts (on left) are rounded on the top edge. Don't know why, but it does make it a chore to remove or install accessories, especially in the many tight spots that are on a Tri-Glide.

I also would love to see pics of the fenderless Tri.

 

[FuzzyWuzHe]

Phu is sending me pics ... I'll post them for him when I get them.

 

[FuzzyWuzHe]

I think the problem was they were too big ... gotta be less than 2 meg to post.


Thanks for the pics .. now to do some math on weather it is cheaper to chop my fenders or to buy some free and modify and paint.

 

[rhino 2]

I don't know what kind of thread locker Harley uses, but I call it God Snot because it has the Grip of God.

[''Yellow''.......... ]
Loctite # 201 Yellow, It's put on dry, almost like wax Then when the bolt is threaded in' the threads releases a curing agent... ...

 

[Peter A.]

Pics +

GREAT info/photo's fellows.......been having the same thoughts......guess I better file all that info,
Thanks,

 

[Sloufoot]

You are going to find it easier to modify the OEM fenders I think. Mainly because of where the fender sits on the body in relation to the wheel & bolts in the body.
Get some fenders off EBay used. You might have to repair the fender to use it, but they are usually cheap. They also have aftermarket new fenders there.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Used-Original-Harley-Tri-Glide-Fender-Set-NO-Cracks-NOTHING-Broken-Custom-U-669-/361413095006?hash=item5425e62e5e:g:egMAAOSwgQ9VqbOx&vxp=mtr
or
[url]http://www.ebay.com/itm/Harley-Davidson-Rear-Fender-Right-Hand-FLRT-Freewheeler-Amber-Whiskey-59500176-/191569327038?hash=item2c9a6bf3be:m:mEdRsu10yFqG_udCCedMlmA&vxp=mtr
[/URL]

 

[Sloufoot]

Most use a cordless hammer drill/driver with the lithium battery, Small enough to get into any spot, And the hammer action will loosen any bolt with very little effort ThumbUp

While it might be a pain to remove those bolts without an impact wrench, be aware of the problem you can create when the high power of the impact wrench brakes the nut (threads) loose in the fender before you get the bolt out.
You just trashed the fender unless you know a way to repair the fender & fiberglass.
If you run into Loctite holding the bolt or nut use a bit of heat to loosen the Loctite. Like heating directly with a flame, or if the flame might cause problems try heating a piece of steel & holding it against the problem. Loctite is a form of plastic & will melt.
Many times the threaded portion is formed to be a lock-nut type & loctite isn't the problem. Then sometimes some knotthead decides it would hold better if they put loctite with the lock-nut......

 

[FuzzyWuzHe]

You are going to find it easier to modify the OEM fenders I think. Mainly because of where the fender sits on the body in relation to the wheel & bolts in the body.
Get some fenders off EBay used. You might have to repair the fender to use it, but they are usually cheap. They also have aftermarket new fenders there.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Used-Original-Harley-Tri-Glide-Fender-Set-NO-Cracks-NOTHING-Broken-Custom-U-669-/361413095006?hash=item5425e62e5e:g:egMAAOSwgQ9VqbOx&vxp=mtr
or
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Harley-Davi...m2c9a6bf3be:m:mEdRsu10yFqG_udCCedMlmA&vxp=mtr

You're probably right ... the tri fenders "seem" wider too ... still think bobbing the tri and getting some free tail light mounts would look sharp.

 

[HDB0B]

I use a simple butane torch lighter (less than $4 at Walmart) to heat up the bolts before removing. About 20 seconds will heat up the bolt and soften the locking agent. I use it quite regularly working on Harleys.

Bob orag:

 

[jc1300]

I use a simple butane torch lighter (less than $4 at Walmart) to heat up the bolts before removing. About 20 seconds will heat up the bolt and soften the locking agent. I use it quite regularly working on Harleys.

Bob orag:

View attachment 30936

That's a great idea! Now all I have to do is remember it!

jc