heat gun, or hair dryer heat - warped plastic fenders.

[vash]

wow. sorry. for starting a new thread. i need the firepower of the smart pelican brain trust, and wanted to get more people looking.

plastic fender. pros. they have to be easier to install than metal fender. you can move them about for the perfect alignment.

cons!!! it has to be the potential for warping. and mine is warping badly to the right!! any ideas?

called REI and he said to tug it straight...huh..yea. right!! should of asked him if he knew what a roll-pin was.

[vash]

Sent via Jedi mind trick.

[LEAKYSEALS951]

was it warped like this out of the box?

[vash]

yup.

out of the box. pretty great boxing from the company. i thought my warp would come out in the install, but it is forward of the forward-most-attachment points..so there is nothing even close to pull it straight. i got the difficult stuff lined up tits.. the front..

REI offered to give me another set, but the install is a mofo. going backward and taking it off is a last resort.

[LEAKYSEALS951]

That sucks!
As one of the people who lauded plastic, I feel bad- but that is totally defective. If it makes you feel better, I went with the bamboo fenders that came all defective and were missing a lot of hardware. The plastic ones were always the 'simple' ones.

If I were going to try to make it work, I would look for some way to attach the front fender to the front rack with an extended screw(s) or something- but that is going to require fabrication- and it is something you will see on every ride, so whatever you do not only has to work good- it has to look good, or it's gonna mess with your groove/pysche.

Sorry about all the hassle. It really shouldn't be all that involved. I'd send it back.

[vash]

i clamped it bent in the other direction.

lets see if it holds..them maybe a splashy splashy of hot water..then if it stays wonga'd to hell..off to REI. i'm making them reinstall the front..

thanks. the rears look awesome.

[Otter74]

A bit of heat will help you shape SKS fenders, but be gentle and take your time. You could try hot water, too.

It's hard to tell based on your overhead photo, but using the stud on the bottom of your Nitto rack as another mounting point may take a lot of the twist out. That stud is there to use for fender mounting.

When I have to deal with twist in plastic fenders, I do everything I can to straighten them before I start mounting them - otherwise you end up with built-in stress.

[red-beard]

Fenders? Remove those vile things!

[herr_oberst]

If you're going down the rando path, take those plastic things back (show 'em the pictures so they don't balk at the return) and get some of these VO's.

"Look good, cost cheap".

[herr_oberst]

[john70t]

Fix:
A). Oblong the attachment bolt slots on the right side.
Apply heat. Or whatever.
Push down and over.
Re-attach with fender washers and a 1/2 impact at 125psi. Dig 'er in.

-or-

B). Hook a chain around the nearest oak.
Use a hydraulic come-along liberally.
For final adjustment, an extra cable and a pickup truck with a raunchious burnout until something snaps might be necessary.

[jyl]

I'd return them. Life is too short to screw around with fixing a factory defect. The install will be much faster the second time.

[LEAKYSEALS951]

Originally Posted by john70t

Fix:

B). Hook a chain around the nearest oak.
Use a hydraulic come-along liberally.
For final adjustment, an extra cable and a pickup truck with a raunchious burnout until something snaps might be necessary.

If pickup not available, consider a porta-power kit from harbor freight:

Search results for: 'porta power'

[vash]

Hot ass water, a binder clip, and a Pilsner seem to have done the trick. People came out of their apartments to ask why I was pouring boiling water on my bike.


Sent via Jedi mind trick.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by vash

Hot ass water, a binder clip, and a Pilsner seem to have done the trick. People came out of their apartments to ask why I was pouring boiling water on my bike.


Sent via Jedi mind trick.

You should say why not, it was cold with a straight face.

[rusnak]

I'm starting to really like REI. I'm sure they'd just give you a new fender if you call them.

They gave me a ton of stuff, like over $200 in store credit because I bought so much from them last year. I got a free Gerber non-folding knife that says Bear whatshisname on it. I don't know about the celebrity endorsement, but this is one hell of a nice knife for $30 or whatever it would have cost.

[vash]

Originally Posted by rusnak

I'm starting to really like REI. I'm sure they'd just give you a new fender if you call them.

They gave me a ton of stuff, like over $200 in store credit because I bought so much from them last year. I got a free Gerber non-folding knife that says Bear whatshisname on it. I don't know about the celebrity endorsement, but this is one hell of a nice knife for $30 or whatever it would have cost.

i love REI.

i've never gotten free stuff tho..and i thought i bought a lot.

they offered to replace the front fender for me..if i couldnt stomach the install over again.

REI isnt the cheapest tho.

[vash]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

You should say why not, it was cold with a straight face.

haha..i didnt think that fast..i stammered out an explanation..