Wanted CTLS Wheel Fairing(s)

[Doug G.]

The left wheel pant on my 2010 CTLS has worn a larger hole around the rear bolt. I can go through the work to repair it, but I thought there may be some of you who have changed to tundra and want to sell the originals. If so, send a message to me.

Doug

[Roger Lee]

Hi Doug,

 

It may be better to repair this, it will be stronger and here is a modification tip. First just use about 4-6 layers of fiber glass on the inside of the wheel pant. Then re-drill.

 

Here is the cause and fix. The cause is the little rubber piece of hose that FD has put behind the wheel pant on the inside. You can't tighten this as it just smashes the rubber hose and allows the wheel pant to seesaw back and forth which enlargers the hole. Toss the piece of rubber hose and install a 1" fender washer on the back side of the wheel pant between. Now the wheel pant has a nice larger flat support on the inside and a flat washer on the outside. This will sandwich the wheel pant between the large washers, let you tighten it down tight and keep the wheel pant from seesawing back and forth enlarging the hole. The extra layers of fiber glass will make a nice strong area that won't give you any more trouble.

[Doug G.]

Thanks Roger, I was looking to avoid the repair, but it does sound like I would end up with a stronger setup.

Doug

[Roger Lee]

Hi Doug,

 

The repair only takes about 20 min. It's really easy.

[Runtoeat]

Doug, sounds like you've done fiberglass repairs. If you take Roger's suggestion you will have a strong wheel pant and feel good that you've saved yourself a lot of money. One suggestion is to inspect the wheel pant and look around the inside edges for cracks and add some glass to these areas if you find some. I have found that using good quality (West) "slow working time" resin is well worth the expense compared to using cheaper polyester stuff from Walmart.

[Roger Lee]

The killer of wheel pant holes is the rubber piece of hose, but even if that is not there it is the small surface area of the wheel pant support on the back side of the screw against the wheel pant surface. Couple that with not keeping it tight and the hole can't do anything else, but move around and eat the hole out larger.

 

Put that larger fender washer on the back side and tighten that wheel pant axle screw down tight and you'll never have an issue.

[Doug G.]

Thanks guys, looks like I have a small project ahead of me. I also have developed a small coolant leak near the water pump. I am hoping it is a hose problem, if not I'll probably start a new thread.

[Roger Lee]

FYI,

 

The ceramic water pump seal can from time to time leak a small amount of coolant from the heating and cooling cycle and that is normal even though it doesn't happen to everyone. If you see a couple of table spoons of fluid it's not an issue and not even worth the time to try a fix because a new seal could do the same thing. If you have a much larger puddle on the floor then that may be a different story.

[Doug G.]

Looks to be from a hose connection. I think I got it fixed - not fun a hose clamp very close to the firewall. I ran it, bit not to full temp, but I did not see any more leaking. I'll check again tomorrow.