Fender Replacement DYI (help ?)

Hi Jascha,

I suggest you invest $10 for a one-day subscription to techinfo.toyota.com and download the body manual pages relating to the front LH fender replacement so you can judge whether you can do this or not. Depending upon your car's exterior color and your ability to discern various shades of colors, you may or may not like the color match between your car and the newly painted fender especially in bright sunlight.

Regarding an aftermarket fender, it may or may not precisely match the Toyota-branded part, so be aware you may be accepting some risk there. Good luck with your repair.

 

I looked at the body repair manual. It doesn't give full instructions, but it looks relatively straightforward. It looks like there is a retaining clip up near the top of the fender which you will need to release to take the old fender off. Since you need to access the clip inside the fender, you will need to remove the fender liner first. I'm attaching the two pages that show the bolt locations and the clip location.

 

I think you will have to release the bumper cover clips on that side to access that bolt, but I don't think you would have to remove the whole cover.

 

Here is how to remove the fender:

1. Remove the wheel.
2. Remove the wheel well liner. There are several fasteners that hold the liner in.
3. Remove the front bumper cover. You may be able to get away with just unhooking the fender and headlight on the side you are working on.
4. Remove the headlight.
5. Remove the inner A pillar liner. This part is located in the wheel well were the door meets the fender. Just stick you head in the wheel well and look toward the rear of the car, it's the tall black plastic thing.
6. Starting with the bolt that you access by opening the door and looking toward the fender streight removing all the fender bolts. There is one in the door jam (it's up high), one under the A pillar liner, one on the rocker panel (under the car), one under the bumper cover on the side up front, and 2 on the top ledge under the hood. One of the top ones is under the seal that comes down from the windshield so you will have to pop that out of the way.

Take the top bolts out last so the fender won't fall off and scratch up the rest of the car. You may have to tug on the old fender to get it off as it's glued on to the car just under the little window.

Another thing: You can get a primed aftermarket fender from someplace like CertiFit Auto Body Parts - Home for $35

 

I'm replacing my fender and have two questions if anyone sees this comment on this older but great thread.
1. I would like to know what holds the clip that you have to get to up under the wheel well. Like P-Car notes, its attached to my replacement fender and it needs to first attach to to the hooked slot. It looks like there is a bolt of some sort in the slot, does it just push on or am I missing something.
2. Kinda off topic but can someone tell me what the black round plastic plastic item is near the lower headlight attachment on the car body, looks like there may be wires coming from it. I do not seem to have that item, but do have on two wire plug that goes nowhere. I don't know if I had it before I dented my fender or if it may have broken off...wonder if its essential You can see the item in two of P-Cars photos, img_0724 and img_0719. I may aske in another tech topic too.
Thanks for any help.