Down here cycle guards/ mudguards are a requirement for registration so l figured go with the traditional old school way and use a 36 ford spare tyre hoop. So l am into it a bit and as can be seen l really need to change the contour of the guard to get a better fit. Not looking to change tyre diameter at this stage. Would heat shrinking be an option? Thoughts?
Gotta love the Hamb. The OP says he doesn't want to change the tire diameter, and the first post suggests he do just that.
At 250.00 a tire, I’d almost bet you could have a set of fenders made. Me?? I’d slice it in the middle, add 3-5” and metal finish it.
Tricky, as you open it out it would flatten the profile slightly. Another option is to put transverse slits accross the raised bead and the reweld them to pull the radius out. A lot of work. Plan B would be to get the correct radius tire cover from a 4x4 and someone with a bead roller to form the profile.
View attachment 6170676 Hello, When we owned a Harley Sportster, the front fender was a nice accessory. It kept the crapola off of my/our faces and chests from all of the road grime. As much as it was stock, we wanted a modified drag bike look for our custom motorcycle. We tried to take it off and go for a long coastal ride. After a trip southward for of about 30 miles to Laguna Beach, we just enjoyed the ride and ambience, but we hated the small flying objects kicked up from the “no front fender” application. So, when we got home, the fender came back on and now, it was comfortable on all future road trips. Even my wife, sitting behind me still got blasted from those flying objects that were hard to see, but we felt everyone of them. Much later, some of the old hot rod roadster builders were also in need of fenders for the front exposed tires. If the open wheel roadsters or RPU were over 1500 lbs, then front fenders were a requirement. So, like most, a mad dash to the junkyards to look for replacements ensued. Jnaki At a photo shoot, one roadster owner that was around the location asked where we got the custom front fender. He was measuring it and said it was perfect for his front tire situation. Nice coverage and he could use the existing holes to create a mount for his tire locations. The look was slightly flat, but would cover his front tires perfectly. Note the full tire coverage and not like the photos that have been shown so far. Any exposed tires with narrow fenders will throw stuff up, so why not get something that covers the tires, but still looks nice. So, you might try a Harley Davidson dealer or a myriad of fender companies online. Amazon comes to mind. YRMV
You know as flexy as those things are I’d be tempted to build the supporting frame and brackets and see if when you flex it open to fit it on if you can just bolt it on and be done. Would it be in a little bit of tension? Probably, will be make any difference? I doubt it
What if you cut the fender shorter ? If you give your tire height I have a couple cut down fenders here in different lengths I can lay on a tire for a photo to give you an idea of how it'll fit.
It's only metal, build a buck, heat it, slice it, hammer it, weld it, hammer it some more, grind it and body/paint. I have to say I don't like it when the tire and fender have different radiuses.
As a little extra note I’m 99% sure a 35/36 ford had a 600-16 tire from the factory. assuming the spare was full size that ring should fit that tire. Maybe it got tweaked and you just need to tweak it back.
I always wandered about maybe airing up the tire to 60 pds, wipe a little grease on the treads and then setting the fender on it, wrap a tie strap around the tire and fender and start ratcheting it down. Can't see where it might cause too much damage.... ....
If you stretch the outer edges of the fender it will increase the radius of the curve to fit your tire better
I used a stretcher to expand out the radius and get the tire covers to hug the tire on my Roadster. The fenders rules are not really enforced around Alberta. I needed them for my inspection and liked the look so they have stayed on.
thanks for the replies The cost of a new similar tyre down here will set me back probably over $500 per tyre once fitted so exploring options. Will not get it passed if I was to cut it shorter. I will try some stretching flattening on a bit of the off cut, I feel that the centre ridge is going to make it difficult to get it to "open up"
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