Replacement Front Fenders

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GMCTruck

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Hey guys. I have a 1995 GMC K1500 ECSB. The passenger side front fender is rusted through at the bottom behind the wheel. There is almost no structure left to mount the mud flap. The nearest Pull-it-your-own-damn-self is 100 miles away so I don't get there often. The last few times that I was there, I did check for donor fenders but I've seen nothing that was in better shape than my own. I don't weld and I am not a body guy.
I see that there are replacements on Rockauto (about $110) or Amazon (about $200) in Canadian dollars. "GMdirect" replacements tend to be in the $600+ range. I was quoted $750 from a local autobody shop for just the fender and then another $650 for painting it.
Question: Are the "cheaper" fenders any good or are they thin junk? Go with the GM fenders? The truck is not a show truck or a restoration project. It is in very good shape overall except for the passenger side fender. Thanks for your help.
 

sewlow

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The cheap ones fit like poop. What you save on the purchase price you're gonna spend on the time it takes to get them to fit properly.
$750 to re-n-re a fender? Ouch! That's a notsohard job. You don't need to be a bodyman to do that. Pretty straight forward job. But that price could be taking into account 'cheap no-name offshore fender'.
Take before pix & bag-n-tag as you remove nuts & bolts.
$650 to paint? Double ouch. I had my cowl hood painted top & bottom for $300.
 
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GMCTruck

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The $750 is the price just for the new fender, unpainted. The extra $650 is for painting the fender + paint + miscellaneous + tax.
There is NO installation fee in that quote. I am sure I can install it my-own-damn-self.
If the cheap fenders are junk, then I will avoid them. Everything is expensive in Canada compared to the USA. That's the way we like it up here. Maybe if i keep looking, I can find a donor fender and have it painted otherwise I will just get a new one.
My buddy thinks $1400 would pay for a nice Fender guitar instead. ha ha.
 

sewlow

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I would think that a good used fender + shipping to you from inside Alberta or even from here in B.C. would be a lot less expensive than $750.00.
The local P-n-P. Check their price list.
Yea! $35.00 for a U-pull fender.
They can also have their yard-monkeys pull the part along with offering shipping. More $$$ of course. But it certainly wouldn't be another $715.00!
Most are clean & rust free. There's more than 1/2 a dozen decent 400's in their yard right now with good fenders.
 

GMCTruck

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Junkyards in Edmonton are around $65 for a fender which is very reasonable. I just haven't found a good one. I guess the trucks around here have lived harder lives than your area. I never thought about having one shipped though. "Mint" in the eyes of a yard monkey might be "piece o crap" to me. I have travelled the 100+ miles to Edmonton to pick from a vehicle that looks great on the row 52 site only to find the vehicle trashed by the time I get there. A few years ago, i went to grab a mint condition white hood. When I got there, someone had dropped a transfer case on it and turned it into a water trough.
 

HotWheelsBurban

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Junkyards in Edmonton are around $65 for a fender which is very reasonable. I just haven't found a good one. I guess the trucks around here have lived harder lives than your area. I never thought about having one shipped though. "Mint" in the eyes of a yard monkey might be "piece o crap" to me. I have travelled the 100+ miles to Edmonton to pick from a vehicle that looks great on the row 52 site only to find the vehicle trashed by the time I get there. A few years ago, i went to grab a mint condition white hood. When I got there, someone had dropped a transfer case on it and turned it into a water trough.
Hopefully there is a special place in hell for idiots like that....
 

sewlow

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Hopefully there is a special place in hell for idiots like that....
Found a tilt column with cruise for a stickshift in a 2 dr. Yukon on a Monday. Really rare part around here. Near unicorn status. It was even the right color.
Didn't have the tools to pull it.
Went back Wednesday & some 'person' had taken what looked like a crowbar to the column to get at the turn sig mechanism inside. Column was trashed beyond repair.
Just to get the same part that every other non-stick column has.
 

man-a-fre

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A year ago I bought a pair of key brand fenders that were capa for my 1994 k1500 and the drivers side fit perfect no mods gap was great nice fender. The passenger fender sucked, where the marker lights go the fender was not deep enough so the grill stuck out at the top, had to slice it tap it back and weld. The passenger fender did not bolt on easy either and took some adjusting of the gaps. The passenger fender was a mistake but couldn't be happier with the drivers side.
 

packer0440

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A year ago I bought a pair of key brand fenders that were capa for my 1994 k1500 and the drivers side fit perfect no mods gap was great nice fender. The passenger fender sucked, where the marker lights go the fender was not deep enough so the grill stuck out at the top, had to slice it tap it back and weld. The passenger fender did not bolt on easy either and took some adjusting of the gaps. The passenger fender was a mistake but couldn't be happier with the drivers side.
I had a similar experience with fenders from LMC. Passenger side was perfect, driver side fit fine on the front but gap and body lines were off. I was able to make it work eventually though. Got both sides for 300 including shipping so overall happy cause most salvage fenders in Ohio are pretty bad.
 
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