draco

One (or a few) of the plugs that normally hold the plastic liner in in my wheel well failed today. I have just returned from a 400 km trip and going up to my destination was fine, but on the way back I started to hear a rattle/vibration (like something rubbing and moving about). Sounded like it was coming from the passenger front wheel well (drivers front wheel well for you US guys). Initially stopped to take a look and couldn't see anything wrong. I made the call that it was likely the plastic liner as it wasn't as solid as the drivers side and continued my journey. Depending on the wind (which was quite strong during my 4.5 hour drive) and reaching various speeds between 110-140kph (the latter for overtaking) the noise would come and go. I stopped at a half way point so we could eat and noticed a hole in the liner. Suffice to say continuing on the end of our journey, that hole got slightly bigger and eventually the noise stopped.

I suspect that the direction of the wind and constant movement of the wheel (country roads) would have caused this liner to vibrate like crazy and touch the tyre of my car and slowly grind away at it.

Picture of what a normal wheel well liner looks like



Picture of what my well liner looks like now after the journey



Checked Sewell and can't seem to find this particular part. Any thoughts on part number / cost to replace? May have to source the wreckers (urgh).

thomas1

Take it off and buy a fiberglass kit with cloth and fix it. Than paint it black...good to go. I have done that many times on these panels and it works great.

Barry2522

The part number 53806-48021 list price is 162.12 . What happens is the lower clips fell out or broke off and at highway speed the wind pushes the liner back into the tire rubbing a hole . If you don't want to spend the money on new it could be patched with a piece of plastic . You would have to make sure the bottom of the liner is reattached to hold it solid .

robbyk

For something like that I would buy aftermarket, a lot cheaper and can do the job.

Check out this site, they ship world wide and they are very reasonable. I am sure you can get that liner for half the price.

http://www.autobodypartsnow.com/

Barry2522

Not trying to shoot robbyk idea down aftermarket is a lot cheaper than OEM but they fit like a sock on a rooster and they are paper thin . We use a lot of aftermarket parts in my body shop and those are the most irritating things to install . Don't get me wrong they will go in but not good enough for a Lexus imo .

draco

So is it better to try and fix (not really used fibreglass to fix it so the method, process is foreign to me - save what I have seen on the internet) or just buy a replacement part?

thomas1

Hey the fiberglass is like mixing expoxy...really simple and very strong....mix the two parts and dip cloth in mix and apply to back side of the hole....wait 20 minutes and then mix more and apply over the cloth. Paint it black and you are good to go. Hey its the wheel well...will look fine.

smassey321

I have fixed several of those under body parts with fiberglass. They are expensive. Then, if needed, set up saved searches on ebay to get low cost OEM used ones.

mandyfig

I had the same thing happen, I have been successful in putting in Gorilla tape (black). Stays in there. Couple of years, I refurbish it.