Fender trimin party!!

[Neil]

I just bought some 35's for my 87, oh boy are those things big!!! So tonight I plan on doin' a little trimming. I just wanted to see if any one has some Ideas on any really big no no's or things to look out for. Also if any one want's to stop by feel free to, just send me a private message and I'll shoot the directions.

Neil
Fresno:party:

[xjmike]

watch the spot welds in the rear...if you go past them the body will split...........in the front...look out for the hood...lol

[Safari Ary]

depending on how much trim in the rear and your methods you can actually avoid breaking the pinch seam. If you cut slits in the wheel well(like rays of the sun) so that they extend about an inch or inch and a half in, you will be just past the spot welds(do not cut these). Make these slits ever 1-2", more for the corners, and then just pound them in. It would help if we knew how much lift you have, thereby giving us some indication of how much you need to trim. Peace

Ary

[Neil]

Well I'm running about 6" and have plans for 8" so there needs to be a lot of trimming! So far all I have cut is the rear of the front fenders and bent over the pinch seam in the same area. I am going to have contact with the fenders off road I know, all I want to do is minimize the dammage for now. Thanks for the tip on the spot welds, I would have cut them right off! Oh yea, are you sure that you can't get by with small relief cuts in the hood?

[TN William]

If do "lots of trimming" you won't need to go to 8", especially depending on which "35s" you bought.

[Boz88xj]

Id love to stop by, if only to see what youre doing for the rear, but im working... :/

[watson]

There was a good article in one of the magazines awhile back. It was called "38s, an airsaw, and you" or something. I believe it was in JP. I am actually trying to find my issue of it for a buddy of mine. If anyone knows what month that article was, please post it on here. They show where and where not to cut on a Cherokee. But for just 35s on 8" lift, you shouldn't have to cut too much. I'm running 8" lift and 36x12.50 TSLs on 10" rims with 3.5" backspacing and I only had to beat in the forward and back edges of my rear fenderwells. Mine'll flex pretty darn good too. The front was a different story... a lot more trimming up there and even taking a hammer to the floor boards for a little more clearance. With 8" and 35s though, you shouldn't have to cut too much. Good luck and post some pics. I'm going to try to attach a couple pics of mine to show you how much I cut. I've never attached pics on here before though so I'm not sure if it'll work. The pics aren't closeups but they'll give you an idea at least.

[watson]

Let's try this again.

[watson]

And another. They were too big, I had to modify them.

[watson]

Let me know if you'd like more pics. I can send you to a website that has a bunch more pics of mine or I can take some closeup pics of it tonight and send them to you tomorrow. Just let me know. Good luck.

[Neil]

Thanks for all of the input guys. Watson, I am looking at doing mine the same as yours and reattaching the stock (trimed) fender flares. The only problem that I have is the rear. The front is easy, you can prety much cut at will. I know that you aren't supposed to cut the spot welds in the rear, but how about if I do cut them and then re-weld the seam? Would that work?

[TN William]

I personally feel the rear is easier than the front. In the front there is not much of an option with the inner fender. You can cut the outer all you want but you still have the inner fender that you are limited to massaging with a sledge hammer. On the rear you have all kinds of room to open the outer and inner fenders. I stretched my rear wells 5 inches and everything is as strong (or stronger) as is was originally.

[watson]

I never had to cut enough in the rear to cut the welds. That was kind of my point. All I did was trim just a little metal and then hammer it back just down starting where I trimmed the flares. I didn't have to cut any metal above where my flares are trimmed. I did beat some of the metal back up there but no cutting. I didn't raise my flares or anything. I have seen someone who cut up past the welds and move his flares up and didn't do anything about welding it back, just bent the cut taps back. It looked horrible and seemed very weak. The fender flapped around and was not supported at all. That's why I was trying to find that article. Me and a buddy are about to cut his up. He would rather cut than lift. He's got 4" and is running 33s. We cut his about the same amount as mine in the rear and he just rubs under full flex. Actually with that set-up, there was enough clearance that he ran my old 35s on the street just fine. He couldn't flex it much though. He's going to TJ flares front and rear and cutting out as much metal as he can using those flares. If we cut past the welds, no biggie, we'll just weld it back together. I don't think anything is wrong with that. Anyone else? His goal is to run 35s on as little lift as possible (probably about 6" with the TJ flares). I'm interested to see how it works cause I'm getting some 38.5x14.50 SXs in a couple weeks and don't want to lift more than another 1.5". Also, I'd like to lengthen my wheelbase about 2" and not cut anymore towards the doors. Just leave it like it is and just take whatever I need from the backside. Is this what you did TN Will? The only concern I have with that is the filler tube for the gas tank.

[TN William]

Yes, I cut the inner and moved it back. Relocating it right at the tunnel for the filler will give you about 5 inches more space. I don't know why I stopped mine at the filler since I don't use it anymore.

[Neil]

How come no one told me what a pain in the @&& trimming the back of the rear fenders was. I have one done (I haven't welded it yet) So far I have waisted two Rotozip blades (thanks Chuck) and about ten Dremmel blades. Oh yea, four knuckles and six fingers;)

[Bronco]

What worked better Rotozip or Dremmel? I was thinking of trying the slow and careful approach rather then the more common sawsall method.

[ChuckD]

Niel borrowing my RotoZip, I used that and the dremel for the tight area's. The dremel disks don't last very long. If you have a realy good compressor, use a three inch cutter. Habor Freight sells them cheap. They really suck the air though. Beware, make sure you cut enough away, either you'll mess up your fenders or cut up your tires. In the front when stuffed turn the wheel to make sure the tires don't rub.

[ChuckD]

Originally posted by Neil
How come no one told me what a pain in the @&& trimming the back of the rear fenders was. I have one done (I haven't welded it yet) So far I have waisted two Rotozip blades (thanks Chuck) and about ten Dremmel blades. Oh yea, four knuckles and six fingers;)

What are you talking about, the rear quarter panels. I have pictures, it wasn't that hard. I guess you need to take another shop class. :D

If you going for the full rear trim, I obviously have no experience at that. You’re on your own. :looser:

[Neil]

I ran out of disks for the RotoZip and the Dremmel. So I used a cold chisel to break the spot welds on the last part. The RotoZip is actually easier to work with on the large areas. I had to use the Dremmel on the really tight spots in the rear. Oh yea, a big hammer really comes in handy. And Chuck, I got your shop class right here :)

[family XJ]

I read before that someone used the Jig saw with several blades and it worked good. That is what I am planning for when I cut mine and add TJ Flares next month. I am getting some TJ flares from my friend cheap. Anyone run 33x12.5's on a 4.5" lift with 3.5" backspacing.

[ChuckD]

I did the 4.5" thing and 33's, can be done with enough trimimg. 3.5" BS might bee a bit much.

[Matt]

Originally posted by Neil
Well I'm running about 6" and have plans for 8" so there needs to be a lot of trimming! So far all I have cut is the rear of the front fenders and bent over the pinch seam in the same area. I am going to have contact with the fenders off road I know, all I want to do is minimize the dammage for now. Thanks for the tip on the spot welds, I would have cut them right off! Oh yea, are you sure that you can't get by with small relief cuts in the hood?

I run 38.5" x 14.50 TSL SX's on 8" of lift and it flexes fine (to the tune of 960 on a 30 degree ramp :eek: ) So you should be able to do 35's at 6" no problem

In back I used some 1/8" cut off wheel for my 4.5" angle grinder - made slits as described and went to town with a BFH (I also added length to the rear wheel well with the back 3/4 of an inner wheel well from a boneyard XJ)

Up front I used the same method of slitting and pounding the seam - with jig saw use (24 tpi blade) on the actual fender...

I rubs on the fender top, coil tower, air box and battery bulge at full stuff up front, and out back it rubs on the fender top (they act like bumpstops) and the inner wheelwell wall...

Here you can see with a tiny little 33" bogger how much room there is to be had :eek:

http://home.off-road.com/~wanderingwillys/xjpics/ride_height1.jpg

Just start cutting :D

Matt

[Fenris]

If you want really nice cuts you might consider an air body saw (if you already have a compressor). You can get them at Harbor Freight for $35. I have used mine for sheet metal and fender flares. I'm almost done with my xj trim'n and its looking real good. The saw makes short nice work of cj and yjs (I've done a couple). You will break and wear out blades but they are cheap.