what is a fender washer?

A fender washer has a larger than normal outside diameter for the size of the center hole. The purpose is to cover the slotted adjustment holes normally found in some fenders and body panels.

Dear alanh_27:

Just to add a little to John Kunkel's response... They also help distribute loading, when the bolted joint is into/includes sheet metal. Serves to stiffen up the bolted area.

David A. Smith

Sort of. Usually not very strong, so they tend to sink a lot if you torque them down to a reasonable amount. I've brazed a smaller washer on top of a fender washer to stiffen one up, just stacking them only goes so far. Actually, I needed it to remove and replace some bearings from the front axle of my 4x4 truck. Had a 5/8" allthread going the length of the axle and you couldn't get washers the right diameter with a 5/8" hole in it. Lots of wrenching going on that day!

A little guy name Jose' who works down at my local car wash. He's not tall enough to wash the top of the car, just the fenders.

carl mciver wrote:

OK, so what's the etemology?

Did they hold fenders on, or fend off denting?

Jeff

STOP THE CROSS POSTING PLEASE, THIS IS A WOOD TURNING SITE !!!

wrote: A little guy name Jose' who works down at my local car wash. He's not tall enough to wash the top of the car, just the fenders. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ You can buy at your neighborhood electric guitar store parts department.

"Jeff Wisnia" wrote: OK, so what's the etemology? Did they hold fenders on, or fend off denting? ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ It's the same etymology, Jeff. Fenders on a car are so named because they fend off other cars, or possibly cows. Incidentally, in Britain, fenders really can fend off things--they are what Americans call "bumpers."

We call them 'penny washers' in the UK, because they are about the same size as an old penny.

Leon

Ah yes, and I'm old enough to remember when cars HAD bumpers, not the wussy things they still call bumpers which get scarred from their first kiss.

I also remember "bumper bolts"; Chromed carriage bolts which held the old chromed bumpers onto their brackets.

Jeff

I can remember when Sunoco 260 cost .25 a gallon! John

On my 1950 Austin A-40, the "fenders" couldn't fend off much more than your average red squirrel. Gerry :-)} London, Canada

That is what happened to all of those old Pennies!

Our 1/2" hole type are typically 2" or more.

Martin

I remember when I could put $5.00 worth of gas in my dads Tri Pacer and go fly for a couple of hours.

Jerry

Pickups still have bumpers, Jeff.

When you can't afford to have the whole car washed?

Actually, those "wussy things" will take a higher speed impact without damage other than scratches than will the ones when cars HAD bumpers. The reason for the "wussy things" is that the government wasn't satisfied with the strength of the existing bumpers and required that they be made stronger--to do that they had to be made with some "give" which meant using flexible materials which meant scratches.

Personally I think it was a bad idea--the "wussy things" work fine up to their design speed but above that they cost a _lot_ more to fix than the old fashioned kind because the pieces that make them able to survive impacts at the required speed get broken and have to be replaced.

I can remember when you jacked up a car by the bumper. Nowdays hit a curb and its $800 in repairs

Gunner

"The French are a smallish, monkey-looking bunch and not dressed any better, on average, than the citizens of Baltimore. True, you can sit outside in Paris and drink little cups of coffee, but why this is more stylish than sitting inside and drinking large glasses of whiskey I don't know." -- P.J O'Rourke (1989)

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