Trucks and Automobiles
In current US auto industry nomenclature, usually only the panels over the front wheels are called fenders. The auto industry changed from rear fenders bolted onto a quarter panel to an enlarged welded-on quarter panel that fulfilled both functions. This resulted in one piece where there had previously been two, and name of the larger welded piece, the quarter panel, survived the consolidation.
The bolted panel which covers the wheel on dual rear wheel pickup trucks is called a fender. A pickup truck with a separate bed but without bolt on fenders has a bedside, which performs the function of a fender. When the side of the bed is welded to the cab, as with the Cadillac Escalade and Chevrolet Avalanche, it is called a quarter panel.
While the standard of bolted versus welded normally applies, there are some exceptions. Although attached by welding, the panels over the front wheels on cars such as the early 60s Lincoln Continental, the Corvair, and the early 60s Chrysler Imperial are called fenders. Similarly, even though bolted on, the panels covering the rear wheels on the Saturn S series are called quarter panels.
A common accessory on pick up trucks are fender flares, which blocks mud and stones and/or covers rust. They are sometimes used by manufacturers on models that have wider tires than basic models. Using this method, the manufacturer can provide the needed tire coverage without producing a different fender, bed side, or quarter panel for what may be a low-production model.
The terms have evolved to be determined mostly based on location. Fenders are at the front. Quarter panels are at the rear, with an exception made for dual rear wheel trucks, where the panel at the rear is called a fender.
For vehicles with a narrow car body that exposes the tire, the fender is an exposed curve over the top of the tire. For wide body vehicles that cover the tire, the fender forms the wheel well surrounding the tire, and is not directly visible from above the car body.
Wheel wells tend to be much larger than the diameter of the tire, because they do not move with the tire suspension and consequently must be large enough to allow the full range of tire motion on the suspension without touching the interior of the wheel well. More elaborate designs include fender skirts for enclosing the outside edge of the wheel well, and stylized pontoon fenders for exposed fenders.
Certain types of cars with narrow bodies, such as the Lotus Seven, Allard, and Caterham Seven, use what are called cycle fenders in the US or cycle wings in Britain, for their resemblance to those used on bicycles. They are attached to the wheel suspension and remain at a fixed distance from the tire regardless of wheel motion, and can therefore be much closer to the tire than fixed wheel wells. This was popular on early Classic Trials cars because the fenders were lightweight and allowed for a thin streamlined body. They persist on cars wanting a "vintage" look.
Read more about this topic: Fender (vehicle)
Famous quotes containing the word automobiles:
“Uses are always much broader than functions, and usually far less contentious. The word function carries overtones of purpose and propriety, of concern with why something was developed rather than with how it has actually been found useful. The function of automobiles is to transport people and objects, but they are used for a variety of other purposes—as homes, offices, bedrooms, henhouses, jetties, breakwaters, even offensive weapons.”
—Frank Smith (b. 1928)