wheel well and rocker molding removal

[possumsquisher]

I have a 2005 z71 black and I'm going total black. I just installed ranch hand front and rear bumper replacement. The front looks great, but the rear is lacking a little. The lines of the truck don't "flow" into the bumper. Th The ideas to fix this are two fold.

1. Removing the grey molding along the bottom of the truck.

2. Fabricating attachments for the bumper that go on the ends that extend down and towards the truck body.

My question is how hard is it to remove the rear and rocker molding?

How are they attached ?

Has anyone removed these moldings and are there any pictures?

Also has anyone removed the fender flares? Pictures?

 

[Shaggy]

I have no idea how they are attached, but they could be the same setup as fender flairs are on must gm trucks/suvs. They are connected by plastic connections and 3m tape. Have you looked under the truck?

 

[mdtahoe]

You may want to try to post this in the correct year. People in that section may be able to help you better

 

[possumsquisher]

I did it.

I went ahead and took off the rear molding.

Problem # 1 Kinda sucks on the 05 they have metal brackets mounted with rivits that the plastic is attached to.

Easy fix, just drill them out.

Then I used plugs for a Nissan (because they were smooth and gloss black) to fill the holes.

Problem # 2 they have a bracket mounted on the plastic fender flare. Now there are two nice holes on each fender.

Problem #3 The metal brackets under the rocker panel molding. Ugly as hell and they are attached with rivits also. Oh Yeh and the step Tube brackets are attached on top of the molding mounting brackets (WITH RIVITS!!!).

Trying to make up my mind on what looks best ;

1 All molding gone.

2 Just the back piece.

3 If all molding gone I want to take off the molding mounting brackets, but I think that is going to look funny. Look at the pictures and see how the step bar is attached. It has four brackets coming down looking like messed up teeth.

I'm thinking the next solution is an aftermarket step bar that is attached to the Hoe the right way.

 

[possumsquisher]

with part of the molding

Or This.

 

[BeenChevy]

Ahhh 2009. Hey possum - you still have the truck?

Just starting to remove cladding on the 05 and found this string helpful - thanks.

If you're still alive what did you end up with?

 

[NathanJax]

Ahhh 2009. Hey possum - you still have the truck?

Just starting to remove cladding on the 05 and found this string helpful - thanks.

If you're still alive what did you end up with?

Hasn't been online since March 2010

 

[PR RAY]

Man that totally sucks. i wanted to remove mine too. Plan to lower my Tahoe soon and wanted to remove that dorky lower plastic piece.

 

[Hankus]

Man that totally sucks. i wanted to remove mine too. Plan to lower my Tahoe soon and wanted to remove that dorky lower plastic piece.

Hey BeenChevy....I have the same 05 Z71 hoe as possum and I am lowering mine as well. The hoe is black and I have 26" black rims wit machined lip and machined faces on the center stars. There is really no way of gettimg around taking the bottom plastic and rear rocker molding off because of the riveted sheet metal that runs along the bottom where the step bar is and the sheet metal that holds the rear molding on. The only real way would be to take the plastics off, drill the rivets out, cut, grind and weld the holes closed... (alot of work and I would highly recommend taking it to a body shop as it will have to be painted after) I just said screw it and left mine on. It still looks okay I guess....I plan on putting a mild cam with a nice lope in mine, possibly a turbo setup, doing a 2/3 drop (cant go to low because of the 26's), had a 40 series Flowmaster dumped halfway back (sounds aggressive and rumbles the ground when you stand close enough) and I totally removed the roof rack... (looks much cleaner with out it) but anyways thats the steps you will have to do in order to make it look like it was never there....really sucks Chevy did the sheet metal that way. Hope this helps you bud...

 

[BeenChevy]

Agreed. Aside from the gray trim being, well, grey - it does a great job rock deflecting rocks running offset mud tires. Thought about painting the trim black or bermuda and decided to leave as is. Not exactly a show truck but like tinkering with a customized look that suits it's purpose.