# Carpeted fender replacement?



## Bubba (Sep 23, 2008)

So the inside of my fenders on my trailer are carpeted. On one side the plywood is completely detroyed and busted up and I just pulled it out the other day because it was getting down into my tire/wheel. So I need to replace this, although i'm not sure what the best way is. It had rivets around the edge holding it on, is this the way I need to re-do it? Or is there an easier way because I don't have a rivet gun, and they look like pretty good size rivets(the shaft on them is at least 1/8" in diameter). 

Also, What do I need to get as far as wood...just regular plywood and coat it with some waterproofer and then re-cover with carpet?

Any tips would be great. Thanks!


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## Dave Deutsch (Sep 23, 2008)

I would think that just using some screws would do the trick, just make sure you get them countersunk down so there is no chance of scratching your boat. 

As far as wood goes you'll get different answers. Here's my .02. The fenders on your boat are not going go be underwater for long periods of time and this means that they will not necessarily need "special" treatment. Realistically the wood that was on the was probably not treated or marine grade. Not sure how old the trailer is but they probably lasted a long time with the original non treated wood. I'd say to save some green to just use good quality plywood and carpet and you should be good to go for a very long time. Treated and marine grade wood is just way to expensive!


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## Quackrstackr (Sep 23, 2008)

Use several coats of water sealer on or paint some regular plywood with a good latex paint and use screws to reattach. Shoot some silicone caulk into the holes to seal out the water.

The reason that wood rots quickly is because of the moisture held in by the carpet. Marine carpet has a rubber backing and won't let the water evaporate out from under it very well. Seal that wood so that you don't have that problem and it should last a very long time.


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## Bubba (Sep 23, 2008)

Well, I'm just wondering how I need to attach them back to the trailer? The holes from where the rivets were(still are) are still there, so i'm just wondering if I need to get some regular bolts/washers/nuts to re-attach them through the existing holes?


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## Quackrstackr (Sep 23, 2008)

You have had two votes for screws. :lol: 

Home Depot and Lowes both carry stainless wood screws.

You don't want to use bolts because either the heads or nuts would rub your boat.


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## Bubba (Sep 23, 2008)

Quackrstackr said:


> You have had two votes for screws. :lol:
> 
> Home Depot and Lowes both carry stainless wood screws.
> 
> You don't want to use bolts because either the heads or nuts would rub your boat.



Yeah, But It doesn't make sense to me to go drilling more holes into my fender.... #-o 

I don't seen why I couldn't use some regular bolts and nuts and just countersink then down into the wood just a little. This particular piece of wood isn't gonna have any weight on it really....the boat isn't in contact with it....it just serves as a cover for the inside of the fender basically.


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## Quackrstackr (Sep 23, 2008)

Maybe we aren't understanding something. Are you saying that you have two layers of metal that sandwich the wood?

All of the fenders that I have dealt with like yours just had the wood attached directly to the metal on the fender.


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## Bubba (Sep 23, 2008)

Quackrstackr said:


> Maybe we aren't understanding something. Are you saying that you have two layers of metal that sandwich the wood?
> 
> All of the fenders that I have dealt with like yours just had the wood attached directly to the metal on the fender.




Here is a pic of my boat/trailer....Its the piece of wood/carpet inside of my fender....this is when I first got it, you can tell the fender has been kinda bent down, which started the wood busting and it just got worse...I plan on straightening out the fender as well.....


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## dedawg1149 (Sep 23, 2008)

just get you some galvinized carriage bolts use the same hole. when you tighten them down they will sink in were they wont rub your boat


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## Waterwings (Sep 23, 2008)

I was gonna recommend using countersunk head stainless bolts and some nylock nuts.


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## SlimeTime (Sep 23, 2008)

Go to the Dollar Store (lol....or Sprawl Mart for those of you who can't turn into any other parking lot :mrgreen: ) & get a couple large cutting boards to cut replacements from, you'll never have to replace them again.

ST


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## LarryA (Sep 25, 2008)

Couldn't you just use stainless screws and screw then in from the fender side into the wood. All you would need to do is make sure they are not too long that they would go through the boat side of the wood. That way you would be able to do a nice job wrapping the carpet and fastening to the wood before you attach it to the fenders.


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## Bubba (Sep 25, 2008)

LarryA said:


> Couldn't you just use stainless screws and screw then in from the fender side into the wood. All you would need to do is make sure they are not too long that they would go through the boat side of the wood. That way you would be able to do a nice job wrapping the carpet and fastening to the wood before you attach it to the fenders.



Do you think that would be enough to hold it snuggly? The plywood I would use probably is only gonna be 3/8-1/2inch thick. :?


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## Quackrstackr (Sep 25, 2008)

Bubba said:


> LarryA said:
> 
> 
> > Couldn't you just use stainless screws and screw then in from the fender side into the wood. All you would need to do is make sure they are not too long that they would go through the boat side of the wood. That way you would be able to do a nice job wrapping the carpet and fastening to the wood before you attach it to the fenders.
> ...



I can't see your pics here at work but that is what I was suggesting earlier. Depending on the number of screws, they should be more than enough to hold a fender liner on. There is no load there.


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## LarryA (Sep 25, 2008)

Bubba said:


> LarryA said:
> 
> 
> > Couldn't you just use stainless screws and screw then in from the fender side into the wood. All you would need to do is make sure they are not too long that they would go through the boat side of the wood. That way you would be able to do a nice job wrapping the carpet and fastening to the wood before you attach it to the fenders.
> ...



My unprofessional thoughts:
With only 3/8 or 1/2" I don't there would be enough bite for the screws With that thickness I think I would use at least 1/2" (maybe thicker) then carriage bolts and make the holes for them a tight fit so you need to tap them through the wood. You should be able to put the bolts in the wood then carpet and install the bunks. With the tight fit the squared section of the bolts, under the rounded head, should grab enough to keep the bolt from spinning when tightened. This would also allow you to get a nice carpet covering that would fold under and add securing between the wood and fender. I've used carriage bolts over the years and I've found that the heads can easily pulled down flush in wood. The only time you would have a problem is if the head stuck above the wood and the carpet wore out. A test piece would be a good idea first then cut the carpet and see if the head of the bolt did tighten to below the wood surface.
As some have said, it would be a good idea to do some sort of waterproofing of the wood too.


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