Fender liner getting thrashed.

[StormChasingX]

Hey folks. Just got my 4wd 2002 Xterra XE about 2 weeks ago. I'm loving it but noticed a noise the other night coming from the passenger front tire area when I was doing a hard turn in a parking lot. Haven't heard it any other time and the truck drives fine. In fact I forgot about it since it wasn't a loud noise or anything scary.

Then today I was perusing the forums here about tires for a stock Xterra or with a PML. It dawned on me the tires the dealer had put on the truck are a little larger then stock even though they are only Highway tires. 265/75r16 Yokohama Geolander H/T-S. Took a closer look out under the wheel well and sure enough a bit of the fender liner is tore up.

So two questions.

Am I right that the most likely reason for this is because of the tire rubbing? I thoroughly went through it when I bought it and the fender liner was in good shape then.

How big of a deal is it if I trim it up so there isn't any dragging pieces? Or should I run out and get a replacement out of a junkyard? I'm thinking it's not urgent but should probably be replaced in the near future to keep dirt and crap out of the engine bay.

Sorry the pictures are kind of crappy. I had to take them with my phone. I can take the wheel off and get better pictures this weekend but thought I would get this up and ask about it tonight.

Thanks for any and all help,

David

[intender]

Thats the stock body gap liner. And I would be really surprised if your tires caused that to happen. The material it is made of is like rubber, but it tears and falls apart. If you ever do a body lift it will have to come out anyway. I dont have them on my truck. I pulled them off before the body lift and never replaced them, but they were rotten and tore apart in chunks. the aftermarket ones for the lift are kind of expensive. Not sure about finding replacements for your stock ride. I would imagine ones from a junk yard would be fairly rotten and would fall apart if you tried to remove them. The dealer would probably want an arm and a leg for them. If you plan on ever doing the body lift i would probably just forget about them. if it really bothers you then go to the dealer.

[StormChasingX]

Thanks Intender. I figured it was probably not anything to really worry about but wanted to make sure. Makes since a body lift would require them to be removed or at least altered.

[miskywhisky]

Yep and those little clips it uses are SPENDY. Like $5-8 each from dealers and i've yet to find aftermarket the same size.

[SamsXE]

Does anyone know of a similar material that can be purchased? I want to cover up some of the space behind the front bumper to keep that area from getting pelted with debris.

[intender]

I saw somebody else on here use tar paper like you would put under the shingles on your roof. Not sure how well it held up or how strong it would be. I had looked into this stuff if I ever decided I wanted some, but its pricey http://www.allstategasket.com/info_g...style-1190.asp

the sheets are 48" wide so it wouldnt take too many feet of it to make whatever you need. its operating temp is 180F but not sure what its meant to operate with or for.

[phrog man]

Looks like you have a ps leak. Time for new clamps


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[StormChasingX]

Yeah I saw the leak. Nice job narrowing it down. Thank you phrog man. Makes it easier on me knowing what to check now.

[xearth]

Originally Posted by SamsXE

Does anyone know of a similar material that can be purchased? I want to cover up some of the space behind the front bumper to keep that area from getting pelted with debris.

there are pics in my build but I grabbed something like bath tub liner from home depot, cut it to the size I needed and used the same tabs that were in there before. Now it covers up post BL and looks slightly sharper.