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Trimming the Wheel Arches.

Fitting tyres much larger than about 28" to a Niva may necessitate some wheel arch alterations. Basically there's 3 types of trims: a basic beating of the lower guard, a whole arch tim, and extreme trims.

Right-click & "view image" for bigger images.

1 Lower guard beating/cut

The problem areas are usually the bottom rear of the rear wheel-arch, and the bottom front of the front wheel-arch (or the bottom rear of the front arch if your castor's as badly out as mine was). These can be addressed by a bit of panel beating and re-working these areas back a few cm. It can be done without even needing to cut anything. This is what I have done. It's easy, and should happily accommodate 29" tyres iirc. If you do decide to cut, fold the edges back or use some edging to stop it cutting your tyres.

See more examples below.

2 Cutting around the whole arch

If you need more clearance you'll have to start cutting. You can follow the factory line around the arches and remove about up to an inch, and fold a new lip in.

Before

After

See more examples below.

Note the rear arches of the Niva is double skinned so will require some welding if you separate the 2 skins.

Inside rear guard (untrimmed)

Rear skins separated

Welding the skins together after rear trim

Some people have done versions of this trim without separating the rear skins (ie no welding needed), as in the below image:

Here's a guideline, in Russian sorry, but it's obvious enough:

Here is a DIY arch-trim guide; it's for a Range Rover but same theory applies to the Niva (just be aware of the problem if you separate the rear skins).

Alternately the guards can be rolled up under the guard with a hammer instead of being cut:

Here's how

Big arch trims
You can trim past the arch line on the front to get a big arch trim, but there is a limit before you need to start cutting into the inner arches, sill, and floor. Typically these cut around the front valence under the headlight.

3 Extreme

Simply cut as much as you need out (ideally avoiding things you don't want cut) and weld in plates to fill the gaps, reinforcing any structures you weaken by cutting. Clearly you'll need decent welding/fabricating skills.

See more examples below.

WARNING Don't forget to check local legislation before cutting into parts of your car's body, especially anything that's more than a simple trim.

And remember to paint any bent or cut steel (both inside and outside the arch) asap to stop it rusting.

Examples

1 Lower guard beating/cutting examples

2 Whole arch trim examples

2B Big arch-trim examples

3 Extreme trim examples

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