1994 International 4700 Conversion Begins
- Thread starter scooter421
- Start date
scooter421
Adventurer
Excellent, thank you. I will go check them out!
scooter421
Adventurer
Okay, I've been busy.
Headed to hardware store to look for mounting ideas for fender flares.
Headed to hardware store to look for mounting ideas for fender flares.
scooter421
Adventurer
I had to cut the wheel well out a little bit. I also needed to make sure that in a worse case scenario I lose an air bag or two the wheel well did not end up sitting on the tires. Long story short, a lot of measuring, a jig saw, a sawzall, fender flare material, 3/4 inch by 1/8 aluminum bar, #12 self tappers and.....walla! I now have fender flares installed. As it turns; out with air bags deflated, I have about 2 3/4 clearance remaining above the wheels. At least this way, one problem should not turn into two in an instant! Well, that is the hope!
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scooter421
Adventurer
Took it for a drive and I can't believe how much nicer the truck sounds and handles! I expected the engine would be a little happier turning fewer RPM's and wow what a difference. My wife and I can have a conversation without raising our voices while going down the road. Much less rocking back and forth going around corners or hitting bumps and almost bottoming out on the air seats. I am also cruising around town in 3rd with one more gear to go at around 1800 to 2000 RPM's! I forgot to bring the GPS to check speed but it's certainly off now with the bigger tires. It feels like 35 is around 45 but I will have to double check. I can't believe the difference and could not be happier!
Now, I have to figure out how to mount the spare! Next project.....
OH! I wanted to mention for those thinking about getting tires. I picked mine up last Friday and the guy at the tire shop said the US is increasing the Tariff's on tires coming in from China by 60%. So if anyone is on the fence in regards to "cheaper" tires it might be a good time to look into it or at least contact your intended tire supplier. I did look into the claim and found rumblings in the news specific to truck and bus tires but not specific on percentage of the tariff increase. Paying more than double what I paid for mine would have been a deal breaker for a long time!
Now, I have to figure out how to mount the spare! Next project.....
OH! I wanted to mention for those thinking about getting tires. I picked mine up last Friday and the guy at the tire shop said the US is increasing the Tariff's on tires coming in from China by 60%. So if anyone is on the fence in regards to "cheaper" tires it might be a good time to look into it or at least contact your intended tire supplier. I did look into the claim and found rumblings in the news specific to truck and bus tires but not specific on percentage of the tariff increase. Paying more than double what I paid for mine would have been a deal breaker for a long time!
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RiderBloke
Observer
Great job scooter421. Looks very nice.
Sent from my iPhone somewhere on the face of the earth using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone somewhere on the face of the earth using Tapatalk
rossvtaylor
Adventurer
Hi Scooter421 - so, are those 295/75 22.5 tires? I saw an earlier post mentioning that size, but wasn't sure if that's what you ended up with. And, it looks like you're sticking with DWR, right? And those fit without any lift modification, right? I've been reading the tire and wheel posts in all these threads, to see what fits and how much cutting is required. We've not yet installed our tires yet, as I'm out of the country for another 10 days.
scooter421
Adventurer
Hi Ross,
Yes, they are 295/75/22.5 and a very long story short.... and somewhat regrettably I decided to stick with the dual rear. (those tires/wheels OZ has are just awesome!) The tires I have are 39.9 inches in diameter or 40" for simplicities sake. My wheel well capacity front to rear was 46" so I probably could have gotten away with 42" but I wanted to keep things the same front and rear as well as reduce the amount of cutting so 40" worked out well. 42 inchers in the front would have been really close on the drivers side under a hard left turn.
The offset of the new wheels pushed the tires out past the body in the rear, so I had to cut the fender well out to ensure no contact would occur should I lose pressure in my air bags. Other than cutting the wheel well and adding the fender flares, I was able to avoid any further modifications. I have plenty of room above the tires with the airbags deflated. I did remove a small corner of fiberglass from the front drivers side just below the master cylinder and in front of the shock. Again, I removed this to avoid a worst case scenario in an extreme left turn. 10 days will go quick!
A better angle
Scooter...
Yes, they are 295/75/22.5 and a very long story short.... and somewhat regrettably I decided to stick with the dual rear. (those tires/wheels OZ has are just awesome!) The tires I have are 39.9 inches in diameter or 40" for simplicities sake. My wheel well capacity front to rear was 46" so I probably could have gotten away with 42" but I wanted to keep things the same front and rear as well as reduce the amount of cutting so 40" worked out well. 42 inchers in the front would have been really close on the drivers side under a hard left turn.
The offset of the new wheels pushed the tires out past the body in the rear, so I had to cut the fender well out to ensure no contact would occur should I lose pressure in my air bags. Other than cutting the wheel well and adding the fender flares, I was able to avoid any further modifications. I have plenty of room above the tires with the airbags deflated. I did remove a small corner of fiberglass from the front drivers side just below the master cylinder and in front of the shock. Again, I removed this to avoid a worst case scenario in an extreme left turn. 10 days will go quick!
A better angle
Scooter...
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scooter421
Adventurer
Hi STIG, thank you.
They are 8 lug 275's and it took a long time to find the supplier. Thank goodness for the internet, I actually found them by accident!
Here you go: http://www.wheelsnowinc.com/
Go to the "Wheel Solutions" icon click and go from there to find what you are looking for. They even make custom wheels.
These folks were very helpful and I had no issues with shipment or quality.
Scooter...
They are 8 lug 275's and it took a long time to find the supplier. Thank goodness for the internet, I actually found them by accident!
Here you go: http://www.wheelsnowinc.com/
Go to the "Wheel Solutions" icon click and go from there to find what you are looking for. They even make custom wheels.
These folks were very helpful and I had no issues with shipment or quality.
Scooter...
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scooter421
Adventurer
You just have to appreciate those little victories....
A repurposed "trash" bin into a spice holder. Although, I am not sure how much they could have put in there even with some sort of small can.
A repurposed "trash" bin into a spice holder. Although, I am not sure how much they could have put in there even with some sort of small can.
rossvtaylor
Adventurer
The tires and rubber fender flares look great, sir! I'm definitely following along and taking ideas. Thanks for taking the time to share your progress.
scooter421
Adventurer
Thanks Ross, and likewise. All the information and ideas everyone posts is fantastic. The forum is one heck of a support group!
Scooter...
Scooter...
rossvtaylor
Adventurer
Hey Scooter, I'm going to need that same fender flare material. I see it sold in lots of places. Is it all the same, or did you find one you liked more than the others? Yours looks great, so if you'd share your source I'll get the same stuff.
scooter421
Adventurer
Hi Ross, and thank you. My wife had reservations when I told her I was going to cut into the wheel wells. For my sake, I am glad it turned out well! This is what I purchased.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005Y0OU8E/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
There seems to be a couple different variations. A few are heavier rubber than others, some have a wire you push through the outer bead which adds rigidity to the edge. For no particular reason other than the hassle of it, I chose to go with heavy duty and no wire. The length I ordered allowed me to do the rear twice if my numbers are correct. The circumference of the wheel well was going to be longer in length than the smaller sections they were selling, so I went with longer than needed.The only other thing to consider is the offset from the body.
While working one side I laid the second fender flair over the other sides tire. I believe sitting there for a while in the heat made it a little easier to put on and it turned out just a little better. Then again, it could be because I figured out what I wanted to do with the first side! I probably went overboard with the mounting; however, I did not like the idea of leaving gaps between fasteners or putting in a bunch of screws and washers. I was worried about the flare getting wavy over time in the Arizona heat. So, this is how I installed mine. To get the radius of the cut I used the original aluminum fender flare a sharpie and eyeballed the shape. Of course there was a lot of measuring before I made my line and started cutting. The original wheel well cut out on my truck was forward of the wheel center. I adjusted my cut line accordingly. The screws are coated self tappers. I pre-drilled and used a small 1/4 drive ratchet to tighten so as not to strip out the holes. I had a lot of clamps too, they really helped hold the material in place while I was thinking things through. Sorry, I am running on. I hope this helps!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005Y0OU8E/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
There seems to be a couple different variations. A few are heavier rubber than others, some have a wire you push through the outer bead which adds rigidity to the edge. For no particular reason other than the hassle of it, I chose to go with heavy duty and no wire. The length I ordered allowed me to do the rear twice if my numbers are correct. The circumference of the wheel well was going to be longer in length than the smaller sections they were selling, so I went with longer than needed.The only other thing to consider is the offset from the body.
While working one side I laid the second fender flair over the other sides tire. I believe sitting there for a while in the heat made it a little easier to put on and it turned out just a little better. Then again, it could be because I figured out what I wanted to do with the first side! I probably went overboard with the mounting; however, I did not like the idea of leaving gaps between fasteners or putting in a bunch of screws and washers. I was worried about the flare getting wavy over time in the Arizona heat. So, this is how I installed mine. To get the radius of the cut I used the original aluminum fender flare a sharpie and eyeballed the shape. Of course there was a lot of measuring before I made my line and started cutting. The original wheel well cut out on my truck was forward of the wheel center. I adjusted my cut line accordingly. The screws are coated self tappers. I pre-drilled and used a small 1/4 drive ratchet to tighten so as not to strip out the holes. I had a lot of clamps too, they really helped hold the material in place while I was thinking things through. Sorry, I am running on. I hope this helps!
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