Closing The Gap On Your Body-Lift



Although body-lifts are one of the most popular methods to inexpensively raise a vehicle, it often leaves a noticeable gap between the body and frame that’s most visible through the wheel wells. A simple solution is to use wheel well extensions that cover the gap and also prevent water and mud from getting into your engine compartment.

Performance Accessories' Gap Guard
kits come complete with instructions
and hardware.

One of the leading manufacturers of body-lifts, Performance Accessories, also manufactures wheel well extensions that they call Gap Guards. These are made from high-quality urethane and are designed for a custom fit on your specific vehicle application.

The reason Performance Accessories prefers to make their Gap Guards from urethane instead of plastic or rubber, is that urethane remains flexible and easily conforms to the vehicle’s inner wheel wells. The thicker urethane construction also helps to prevent water, dirt and debris from entering into the engine compartment, and is a better material in withstanding the effects of gasoline, oil and engine heat.

Gap Guards for most Jeep, pickup truck and SUV applications retail under $100 and are easy to install, making them a much-needed and inexpensive addition to any body-lifted vehicle. The first step is to make sure your vehicle’s inner wheel wells are clean and free from caked-on mud. You can hose down dirty wheel wells on your driveway you can see where you’ll mark for drilling several mounting holes.

 

Performance Accessories Gap Guards are manufactured from
urethane that's poured into vehicle specific molds to ensure
a custom fit for every application.

Each Gap Guard is specifically cut and designed for your application, so the fit is perfectly contoured to your vehicle’s wheel wells. Following the instructions, each Gap Guard is marked to easily identify which location on the vehicle it’s designed to fit.


Once you’ve found the right guards for each wheel well, use the Gap Guard as a template and hold it in place inside the wheel well. The Gap Guards have the mounting holes pre-molded into position, making it easy for you to use it as a template to mark around one or two of the holes near the center of the Gap Guard onto the wheel well.
 

Once the urethane has set, the Gap Guards are removed
from the molds, trimmed and are ready to be packaged.

With a ¼-inch drill bit, drill a hole following your marks, into the factory plastic wheel well. Be aware of any hoses or electrical wires behind the wheel well that you can accidentally cut while you are drilling. Insert one of the plastic push clips into the hole and the Gap Guard can now hang in position, allowing you to mark and drill the remaining mounting holes. Once all the holes are drilled and the push clips are in place, you’ve successfully covered the gap in your vehicle’s wheel well.


Once you’ve completed installing the Gap Guards to the front and rear wheel wells, it will give your vehicle the appearance and performance you’ve been looking for with your body-lift. Performance Accessories Gap Guards are available for a variety of early and late-model domestic and import pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles and Jeeps. For more information, visit http://www.performanceaccessories.com/.
DS Media

Gap Guard Installation Procedure



Installing a body-lift leaves a gap that's visible in the vehicle's
wheel wells. It also allows for dirt and moisture to enter
into the engine compartment.

The Gap Guards come marked, indicating which is the passenger
and driver's side. The first step is to position it in the wheel well.

The mounting holes are pre-molded into the Gap Guards. You
you can use these as a template to mark their positions on
your vehicle's wheel wells for drilling.

Drill and insert the provided push clips to hold the guard
in place. This allows you to drill the rest of the holes using the
guard as a template.

The rear wheel well Gap Guards also install in the same
manner as the front. Hold them in place and use the Gap
Guard as a template to drill the mounting holes.

Drilling one or two holes and installing the push clips to
hold the guard in position frees up one hand and allows
you to use the guard as a template for the rest of the
mounting holes.

Once all the Gap Guards are installed, you can see how well
they work to cover the space between the body and frame,
as well as keeping moisture and mud from entering into
the engine compartment.