Replacing Ranger Trail Tandem Fender

[Portajohn]

In late November 2019, a guy hit my trailer causing the spare tire assembly to be knocked off completely and it struck the driver's side fender, thereby damaging the first 10" or so of the fender. Repair shops in my area wanted to replace the fender completely instead of trying to fix the current one. I ordered a new fender from Ranger and it is due in town tomorrow. The repair shop called me Friday and asked if it would be necessary to raise the boat up off the trailer while replacing the damaged fender. What say you? Thanks for your input.

[wmitch2]

NO !! All the mounting bolts can be accessed. You'll have to remove and replace the carpeted bump board and all the lights if the if the new fender doesn't come with one on it. But this can be done after the old fender is off.

[Portajohn]

Thank you....

[OH_Ranger]

On my 2007 you would have to remove or lift boat. The carpeted bump board is riveted to trailer.

[mikesxpress]

John you don't list the year/model of boat? From the multitude of Ranger's I have fooled with they all have rivets attaching the side guide boards onto the fenders. You will also have hidden carriage bolts under the step pads. There are many threads on here describing the removal/replacement process and the use of bolts vs rivets to reattach the board.

[Ranger519VS]

John you don't list the year/model of boat? From the multitude of Ranger's I have fooled with they all have rivets attaching the side guide boards onto the fenders. You will also have hidden carriage bolts under the step pads. There are many threads on here describing the removal/replacement process and the use of bolts vs rivets to reattach the board.

Later models Ranger trailer have the side bunk attached with h shaped clips that ride on the bar on the trailer. They aren't attached with rivets or anything else, they just ride in the slot. They are still attached to the inside of the fender with pop rivets. this eliminates the rivets from pulling out when the fender flexes. Not sure what year they started doing this.

[Portajohn]

My trailer is a 2015 Ranger Trail, Model Tandem....Thanks again.

[KO84]

I replaced my fender (2016) just this year after I had a tire blow out and blew a hole in the fender. You do not have to take the boat off. I did mine right in my garage. Everything is accessible, you'll have to switch the lights and bunk from the old to new fender, unless you bought new lights from Ranger. My bunk was riveted to the fender. I drilled out the rivets and reattached the carpet bunk to the new fender. I had a whole 2 hours in the entire process, from unboxing to plugging the trailer into the truck to make sure everything works. Very easy and a repair shop should be faster than me....LOL!

[CxThree]

Here's my recent video where I had my fenders painted and filmed how they go back on the frame. Hope it helps.

[Portajohn]

Thanks again to you all for your responses. Will be changing out the fender next week.

[brimster]

Portajohn, I'm going to have to swap fenders on my 2015 RangerTrail Intracoastal (aluminum). Wondering how your swap went. Is it just a matter of removing the lights, a few bolts, pulling the fender, bolting the new fender, replacing the lights and call it a day? More to it than that? Did you have the boat off the trailer? Did you have to remove the wheels? Thanks!

Thanks again to you all for your responses. Will be changing out the fender next week.