fenders

[hotrod]

what seems to be the best fender design? more specifically rear fenders. I have seen some long, short, run the entire length of body, rounded point back into the body and others a sharp box look at point. What makes a builder decide what type of fender he or she use?

What purpose do they serve? just to create or prevent bad air from other cars moving them around? aerodynamics?, speed, looks, or unknown?

I have seen the bad air move cars around some....so how can you prevent this besides adding more steer? What effect or any does which side the dfw is on when 3-4 cars are running at the same time?

With everything being equal, why do some cars like them while others do not? Some of the best builders in the country are league racers and you see a lot of fast cars with fenders. But I have seen no fender cars fly too.

A lot of questions, but thought it might bring on some discussion.

Ed

 

[Chief]

[font="times new roman, times, serif"]Going out on a limb here and like you maybe we can stir up some talk. IMO, I think the fender design is more builder preference as to the look they want. Long fenders typically are for the rear however I do not know if weight will factor between long fenders and short ones? I also think that some of the top racers would not go to the Xtra effert to build and put on fenders if it did not make a substantial difference, keeping in mind that .001 or less is the difference between winning and losing. We have to keep in mind that everything we do to the cars have to work together all at the same time...the trick is knowing how to do that[/font]

 

[DNA RACING]

all things being equal, a fendered car has the potential of being faster and more consistent than a nonfendered car.
no air pushing back on the actual wheel will allow the wheel to have less friction. that means a faster car.
yes there are some smoking fast non fendered cars out there.
boiles down to this....
the fastest non-fendered car ever made would get beat by the fastest fendered car ever made.

 

[Quicktimederby]

Last month I built a rear rendered only SS, I was very excited about it. It turned out great! But was about .005 slower than my fendered car. So for me it's fenders or nothing for now on. I am trying to fabricate some frt fenders for it now.

 

[Classy Chassis]

Do you guys think the cars should also have front fenders? I too only build the rear ones but have a little time and I guess could construct some front ones too.

 

[DNA RACING]

on the SS class, yes.
on the street pro class, normally there isn't enough room.

 

[Shade Racing]

I still believe the fenders don't really make the car that much faster as it upsets the car beside it which depending on how one looks at it.That could be a good thing are bad thing.

 

[Chief]

I still believe the fenders don't really make the car that much faster as it upsets the car beside it which depending on how one looks at it.That could be a good thing are bad thing.

[font="times new roman, times, serif"]That is something I have wanted to know...has anyone taken their car and ran it down the track without fenders and then put fenders on it and run it again? What was the time difference???[/font]

 

[Classy Chassis]

Chief, Before the Nationals one year Donnelson did put two way tape on my purestock and re run it with fenders and he did get it running much faster. But then again it may have just been because he is better at stageing than I am. who knows? but it did make me rethink fender use.

 

[Resophonic Racing]

ok this is a test a did recently to determine the value of front fenders on a Street Stock. I removed the NDFW off of my Street Stock (no front fenders) and replaced it with a guide pin. My street stock ran .015 faster with the guide pin. I was really surprised at that result. The results were based on a 6 run average using a guide pin vs the NDFW. IMHO reducing the drag of the NDFW and DFW will result in a faster car. I guess the trade off is wether or not the weight added by the front fenders could be best used for more engine vs the drag reduction benefits. Depending on what wall your at with your prep will determine the benefits of using fenders as well. If Kinser and DD4H built a non Fendered car with their current prep, I'm sure it would run in the low 2.94x's. After adding just a fender to the NDFW my Street Stock picked up .006 seconds. Results may vary depending on the body and rear fender design, thats what makes building these little cars so fun and challenging. Hope this info helped.

*I would like to also add that if you are going to add fenders, study the cars that have the best results using them. Some fenders can be too large and shaped wrong IMHO.

 

[Skippy Kicky]

I am in the process of building my first street stock ever. After reading this thread I have decided to include fenders on my car. It has been fun, but they have actually taken longer than the car to build. I am ready to attach them and am curious how y'all attach your fenders? I was wondering if a resign glue is enough or if I need extra strength with some type of dowel running through them?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Old Geeezer]

Medium CA glue works real well. I also mask around the area to protect the surfaces that you do not want to get CA glue on.

 

[Owens Racing]

I've had good luck with Gorilla super glue.

I am in the process of building my first street stock ever. After reading this thread I have decided to include fenders on my car. It has been fun, but they have actually taken longer than the car to build. I am ready to attach them and am curious how y'all attach your fenders? I was wondering if a resign glue is enough or if I need extra strength with some type of dowel running through them?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[E.T.Racing]

I have used gorilla wood glue on mine and it works well. I have not had one fall off yet. Knock on wood.

 

[jator359]

Thing to keep keep in mind about Gorilla glue is that it foams as it cures and it dries to a tan color so use less than you think you need. I always learn these lessons the hard way!

 

[Owens Racing]

Thing to keep keep in mind about Gorilla glue is that it foams as it cures and it dries to a tan color so use less than you think you need. I always learn these lessons the hard way!

I use the Gorrilla brand CA glue, not the regular Gorrilla glue. It sets quick and seems to not be as brittle as most other CA glues.

 

[renegade]

I use Elmer's wood glue.

 

[g.o.racing]

dd4h has a great video on this site about fenders very usefull... took me no time at all to make them went to his website cliked fenders and they showed up in my mail box!!!!!! thanx john.

 

[MackayDesign]

If you dont have fenders....your not going to win a race at NPWDRL,enough said!Now dont you top guys go & try to prove me wrong...back me up here

 

[Resophonic Racing]

If you dont have fenders....your not going to win a race at NPWDRL,enough said!Now dont you top guys go & try to prove me wrong...back me up here

Fender are king!