fastening fender down

If it were me, I would likely mix up some Bondo and squeeze it in the holes, wait for it to harden, then use the same type screws as originally used to reattach the fender. I'm sure there are better options and would like to see them also.

Originally posted by TheBum Another option is epoxy putty into the holes. You'd likely have to drill pilot holes after it hardened.

That is what Bondo is. I've used it for wood repair also. The gray is the all-purpose filler. The salmon is auto body filler.

I've done that with steel wool and JB Weld to fill a couple of holes in the frame left over from removing the BAL Hide-a-Spare that I removed. Mixing a cotton ball or two in the Bondo would do the same thing. Bondo has worked well with wood for me, both in repairing windows and in repairing a wooden column on the front porch of the church building. It is cheaper than buying the Elmers Damaged Wood product.

I removed it when it went to the factory for repair so as to have the RPod in as close to stock condition as possible. I never reinstalled it because I didn't need to hold the spare there since we got the pickup truck to carry things I had previously had on a carrier rack that was in the rear receiver (things like gasoline for the generator and the spare propane tank). It was not because I did not like it but I did not need it. We don't have anything that would need to ride there such as bicycles.

I purchased the BAL from Stephen H this spring and I can report that it is riding along caring my spare tire and the BAL is in good health and doing its job.  It has seen a 6k trip to NM this spring and now it's looking at the ground in Petoskey MI.  The BAL works good and frees up the back mount but be cautious about what you mount in the 1 1/4 receiver on the back of the trailer...I am using it for a bike rack with 2 bikes which I will be beefing up by installing a back bumper of 2x5 steel tubing and mounting the receiver to that...too much flex in the current design.