My fenders look wrong

Kristian_Wraae · 05-02-2007, 11:24 PM

Hello

I have noticed that something is wrong with the alignment of my fenders or the position of my wheels on my mkIII.

As you can see the right tyre sits more inside the fender than the left tyre.

Here you can see it from above:

And here from the front:

Inside the engine bay it looks like this:

If I measure the distance between the fender and the where the upper end of front shock absorber mounts to the chassis I get 19 cm in both sides. So both fenders sit at exactly the same distance from the suspension.

So why does the left front tyre stick out further than the right?

I don't know if a fender has been exchanged since I have bought the car used and since I bought it abroad from a dealer I can't track down the previous owner. But if a fender has been exchanged could it be that there are different shapes/sizes available and that somehow two different fender have been mounted?

In some of the pictures the camber looks different on the two sides with the right side having negative camber and the left side having zero camber. But on other pictures I think they look the same.

Does anyone have an explanation or something for me to do/measure so I can find out what is going on here?

dcrusupra · 05-03-2007, 02:51 PM

In that picture that is a narrow body fender. Someone replaced that fender. The other side is a wide body fender. Which was stock on your car. Supras had both a wide body and a narrow body version. The narrow bodies are hideous in my opinion. Thank god we never got any over here in the US. Lol.

Kristian_Wraae · 05-03-2007, 02:54 PM

Thank you very much.

I'll look for another front fender then.

Kristian_Wraae · 05-03-2007, 03:27 PM

I talked to someone today who has 51 Toyota mkIIIs in his backyard. He deals in Supra mkIII parts. All his cars are from Germany or Switzerland. He said that he never heard about two types of fenders.

So are you 100% sure about the wide/narrow original fenders?

He also told me that you can adjust the fenders about 2 inches via the bar that sits inside the fender. Couldn't it just be that? In a few minutes I'm going to pull off the inside fenders to have look.

supra_91 · 05-03-2007, 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kristian_Wraae

I talked to someone today who has 51 Toyota mkIIIs in his backyard. He deals in Supra mkIII parts. All his cars are from Germany or Switzerland. He said that he never heard about two types of fenders.

So are you 100% sure about the wide/narrow original fenders?

He also told me that you can adjust the fenders about 2 inches via the bar that sits inside the fender. Couldn't it just be that? In a few minutes I'm going to pull off the inside fenders to have look.

there are. a widebody and a narrow body. it goes by the year of the car

Kristian_Wraae · 05-03-2007, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by supra_91

there are. a widebody and a narrow body. it goes by the year of the car

Ok. In which countries where the narrow and wide body cars sold and which years were narrow?

When I look at the car now I think that you might be right. The fender simply looks to have a different shape.

Kristian_Wraae · 05-03-2007, 04:36 PM

I found this:

------------------------------------------------------
ok... here in New Zealand we have a very large variety of mk3 bodies but here is how you can tell the differences on them regardless of what year the registration ticket says it is

(just as a sidenote these body differences may not apply to northern hemisphere, most of what is shown here is what japan sent to the southern hemisphere

)
86 supra bodies....
aerial in back windscreen
body moulding looks like this on jdm models (usa used 87 moulding from 86-88)

windscreen washer jets are small stubby ones like this

86's also have a parklight switch whereas in nz in 87 they got changed for a coin slot (in the usa i believe they still have parklight switches)
86 supras are also narrow body (flat sides, guards aren't flared out etc)
here's a pic of a narrow body & widebody... you can see the yellow one has wider front guards than the white one

also as shown above... the white supra is an 86 but had the 89 bumper and spoiler conversion done... so 86-88 = yellow bumper, 89-92 = white bumper (if you look at the turn signals you will notice that they are exactly the same as the yellow ones.. 86-88 turn signals)
taillights look like this

factory 86 spoiler shown above
87 bodies...
aerial in back windscreen
87 moulding is exclusive, it is not on any other year... you will never mistake an 87 unless someone went through the trouble of changing it all (which i doubt someone would go through the trouble with)
87 moulding comes in 3 colours... burgundy, gray & blue
87 moulding pic

windscreen washer jets change for 89 to longer nice looking ones

as shown previous... widebody & narrowbody
all 87 supras are widebody from the factory
the yellow one is an 87

taillights and spoiler are still the same as 86

87's also came with seatbelt holders which the 86's didn't come with (in the USA only 89+ got seatbelt holders)

87's had a coin slot in replacement of the parklight switch (in nz, not sure of other countries, USA 87's did not come with coin slots factory)

88 bodies...
aerial in back windscreen
back to narrow body style
still retains coin slot
no seat belt holders in 88's
still have the newer style windscreen washer jets
still have 86 style taillights and spoiler
back to 86 style moulding

89-92 bodies...
aerial changes to an automatic one in the right rear quarter in spoiler
taillight style also changes
spoiler changes to a new 3 piece with spoiler light

body moulding changed

windscreen washer jets are still the long sleek nice ones
all are widebody (but..... generally the ga70 1ggte is an exception to the rule)
front bumper changed as well as turn signals
have a look at the front bumper and turn signals between these two.. the turn signals on the purple 89 are shorter and have little black grills rather than the yellow one which has one grill that spreads right between the two

if you have any other questions on body diff's post em up and i'll answer them the best i can

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
So I guess you are right.

Kristian_Wraae · 05-03-2007, 05:30 PM

When I look at the smaller fender on my car I don't think it looks exactly like the narrow fender from the 86 model:

My car looks like this:

Kristian_Wraae · 05-03-2007, 11:00 PM

If I measure the distance from the shock absorbers to the tyres I get this:

This means that the left tyre is 1 cm further out than the right relative to the shock absorber. I have of course made sure that I'm measuring at the same spot.

How is that possible?

Kristian_Wraae · 05-04-2007, 12:48 PM

When I look at the shape of the fender I don't really see that big difference:

I have never seen an 86 model with narrow body. Do the fenders on a narrow body look like this?

I talked to someone who said he thought that the bottom part of the left fender was not pulled out as much as it should and doing that would make the fenders look the same.

What seems strange to me is if both the fender and the wheel alignment is wrong at the same time. Of course if the wheel is wrong due to an impact and the fender has been replaced du to the impact it will make sense.

But as far as I can tell the car drives straight and stops straight too. I had a machanic testing it a few weeks ago and he said after driving it that the brakes and the handling were perfect.

05-02-2007, 11:24 PM	#1
Kristian_Wraae Stock Join Date: May 2007 Location: Denmark Posts: 20	My fenders look wrong Hello I have noticed that something is wrong with the alignment of my fenders or the position of my wheels on my mkIII. As you can see the right tyre sits more inside the fender than the left tyre. Here you can see it from above: And here from the front: Inside the engine bay it looks like this: If I measure the distance between the fender and the where the upper end of front shock absorber mounts to the chassis I get 19 cm in both sides. So both fenders sit at exactly the same distance from the suspension. So why does the left front tyre stick out further than the right? I don't know if a fender has been exchanged since I have bought the car used and since I bought it abroad from a dealer I can't track down the previous owner. But if a fender has been exchanged could it be that there are different shapes/sizes available and that somehow two different fender have been mounted? In some of the pictures the camber looks different on the two sides with the right side having negative camber and the left side having zero camber. But on other pictures I think they look the same. Does anyone have an explanation or something for me to do/measure so I can find out what is going on here?

05-03-2007, 02:51 PM	#2
dcrusupra 500whp yet? Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Plantation, Fl. Posts: 1,052	In that picture that is a narrow body fender. Someone replaced that fender. The other side is a wide body fender. Which was stock on your car. Supras had both a wide body and a narrow body version. The narrow bodies are hideous in my opinion. Thank god we never got any over here in the US. Lol. __________________ New Rebuild My CarDomain

05-03-2007, 02:54 PM	#3
Kristian_Wraae Stock Join Date: May 2007 Location: Denmark Posts: 20	Thanks Thank you very much. I'll look for another front fender then.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Audio and a lot of other things wrong with car	bluemeate	MKIII Supra	4	05-18-2010 07:07 PM
Carbon Fenders	jdpartridge05	MKIII Supra	6	04-29-2008 03:42 PM
carfax report. (sorry earlier posted to wrong category)	supramkiiiboost	Non-Generation Specific Questions	0	09-21-2007 10:45 PM
Stock Block	Evilfurby	MKIV Supra	56	01-09-2006 02:23 AM

05-03-2007, 03:27 PM	#4
Kristian_Wraae Stock Join Date: May 2007 Location: Denmark Posts: 20	I talked to someone today who has 51 Toyota mkIIIs in his backyard. He deals in Supra mkIII parts. All his cars are from Germany or Switzerland. He said that he never heard about two types of fenders. So are you 100% sure about the wide/narrow original fenders? He also told me that you can adjust the fenders about 2 inches via the bar that sits inside the fender. Couldn't it just be that? In a few minutes I'm going to pull off the inside fenders to have look.

05-03-2007, 04:36 PM	#7
Kristian_Wraae Stock Join Date: May 2007 Location: Denmark Posts: 20	I found this: ------------------------------------------------------ ok... here in New Zealand we have a very large variety of mk3 bodies but here is how you can tell the differences on them regardless of what year the registration ticket says it is (just as a sidenote these body differences may not apply to northern hemisphere, most of what is shown here is what japan sent to the southern hemisphere ) 86 supra bodies.... aerial in back windscreen body moulding looks like this on jdm models (usa used 87 moulding from 86-88) windscreen washer jets are small stubby ones like this 86's also have a parklight switch whereas in nz in 87 they got changed for a coin slot (in the usa i believe they still have parklight switches) 86 supras are also narrow body (flat sides, guards aren't flared out etc) here's a pic of a narrow body & widebody... you can see the yellow one has wider front guards than the white one also as shown above... the white supra is an 86 but had the 89 bumper and spoiler conversion done... so 86-88 = yellow bumper, 89-92 = white bumper (if you look at the turn signals you will notice that they are exactly the same as the yellow ones.. 86-88 turn signals) taillights look like this factory 86 spoiler shown above 87 bodies... aerial in back windscreen 87 moulding is exclusive, it is not on any other year... you will never mistake an 87 unless someone went through the trouble of changing it all (which i doubt someone would go through the trouble with) 87 moulding comes in 3 colours... burgundy, gray & blue 87 moulding pic windscreen washer jets change for 89 to longer nice looking ones as shown previous... widebody & narrowbody all 87 supras are widebody from the factory the yellow one is an 87 taillights and spoiler are still the same as 86 87's also came with seatbelt holders which the 86's didn't come with (in the USA only 89+ got seatbelt holders) 87's had a coin slot in replacement of the parklight switch (in nz, not sure of other countries, USA 87's did not come with coin slots factory) 88 bodies... aerial in back windscreen back to narrow body style still retains coin slot no seat belt holders in 88's still have the newer style windscreen washer jets still have 86 style taillights and spoiler back to 86 style moulding 89-92 bodies... aerial changes to an automatic one in the right rear quarter in spoiler taillight style also changes spoiler changes to a new 3 piece with spoiler light body moulding changed windscreen washer jets are still the long sleek nice ones all are widebody (but..... generally the ga70 1ggte is an exception to the rule) front bumper changed as well as turn signals have a look at the front bumper and turn signals between these two.. the turn signals on the purple 89 are shorter and have little black grills rather than the yellow one which has one grill that spreads right between the two if you have any other questions on body diff's post em up and i'll answer them the best i can ------------------------------------------------------------------------- So I guess you are right.

05-03-2007, 05:30 PM	#8
Kristian_Wraae Stock Join Date: May 2007 Location: Denmark Posts: 20	When I look at the smaller fender on my car I don't think it looks exactly like the narrow fender from the 86 model: My car looks like this:

05-03-2007, 11:00 PM	#9
Kristian_Wraae Stock Join Date: May 2007 Location: Denmark Posts: 20	If I measure the distance from the shock absorbers to the tyres I get this: This means that the left tyre is 1 cm further out than the right relative to the shock absorber. I have of course made sure that I'm measuring at the same spot. How is that possible?

05-04-2007, 12:48 PM	#10
Kristian_Wraae Stock Join Date: May 2007 Location: Denmark Posts: 20	When I look at the shape of the fender I don't really see that big difference: I have never seen an 86 model with narrow body. Do the fenders on a narrow body look like this? I talked to someone who said he thought that the bottom part of the left fender was not pulled out as much as it should and doing that would make the fenders look the same. What seems strange to me is if both the fender and the wheel alignment is wrong at the same time. Of course if the wheel is wrong due to an impact and the fender has been replaced du to the impact it will make sense. But as far as I can tell the car drives straight and stops straight too. I had a machanic testing it a few weeks ago and he said after driving it that the brakes and the handling were perfect.