Took off my flairs now what?

[BUCKYXJ]

I took off my fenders last night (I was bored) and now I can't decide what to do from here. I have some YJ flares 2 sets of rears that I am going to use but not till I go to 5.5" and 33" tires. How far up is safe to trim the rear without welding it back together? Up to the spot welds? Thanks for the info Oh and I did a search and read most of the post on it.
Thanks
DIG IT!

[Stoney]

well whatever u do DON'T put the yj flares on!

anyways in the rear u can cut up to that lip on the fender on it will still be wlded together!

stoney

[BUCKYXJ]

Are you talking about where the fender bumps out above the spot welds?

[Kejtar]

mmmm don't know how the yj flares would look... but here are the TJ flares and I cut quite a bit....

http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?m=63978128303.38251080903&n=726128708

[Nay]

Why don't you just trim the metal and the stock flares. I run the stock flares on my '97 XJ with 35" tires. I just trimmed them heavily on the lower ends along with the metal. They still look very nice and I just used a knife, and it didn't cost me a penny. On an older XJ cut the fender beneath the front parking light and the flare to match (you get this from the factory on a '97+ XJ once you take off the front bumper). Some relatively minor cutting with a cutting wheel will finish off the rest. I have no fender or flare rubbing at all, but I also have 8" of lift and a suspension that is tuned for more droop and less compression.

Nay

[bradlyw]

hey bucky, u saw mine last weekend, i think thats what your talking about as far as trimming the rear. cut slits in the rear sheet metal up until that extra lip stops and then hammer the sheetmetal back to fold it in. u wont have to weld and it opens up the fenders a ton.

Brad

[BUCKYXJ]

So I can cut up above the spot welds and it will still be welded together. How do you when you just cut slits in it and hammer it up make it look good like it was supposed to be that way?

[ChuckD]

Originally posted by bradlyw
hey bucky, u saw mine last weekend, i think thats what your talking about as far as trimming the rear. cut slits in the rear sheet metal up until that extra lip stops and then hammer the sheetmetal back to fold it in. u wont have to weld and it opens up the fenders a ton.

Brad

I agree with the rear, if your find it's not enough then cut more and spot weld. I know I can fit 35's by just cutting the slits and bending up the metal.

Do the YJ Flares, I think CheapXJ had used them, I likes the way the rear turned out, I curious what your front will look like. Be sure to post pic's. :)

[BUCKYXJ]

Alright screw it I am just going to cut till I run out of blades and that will be enough. I will probably just cut to the lip and bend it up see how it works. I have a welder just not real good at welding thin stuff yet but I have friends. I will post pics tomarrow or Monday.
DIG IT!

[ChuckD]

http://home.attbi.com/~cdutke/flex/DSCF0011.JPG

It's the best picture I have right now. HTH

[BUCKYXJ]

Thats what I was looking for thanks XJCHUCK

[erikrs301]

if you have 2 sets of flair, you could run the rears all the way around. I have seen some really good applications of it, mine more of hack job. In the rear I just made the relief cuts and hammered the metal flat inside the fender well. I'm at 4.5" and the 33" Swampers fit great.
http://overtorqued.net/forum/attachment.php?s=&postid=38719

[BUCKYXJ]

ERIKS301 what kind of rear spring set up are you running also do you have anymore pics that is what I am going with 4.5" or 5.5" lift with 33" TRXUS
Thanks you can e-mail them to me if you would like.

[giranger]

I did the cuts in the corners (about 3) and used a mallet to bend them back in. It looks real nice and almost stock. http://groups.msn.com/AirborneXJ/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=1 (http://)

[basalt51]

Here's how I trimmed mine in front to fit the 33's:

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/basalt51/FR-trim.JPG

And the back:

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/basalt51/trim11.JPG

[Kejtar]

You call that a trim ?:D :D That looks like barely a shave :D

Sorry.... couldn't resist that.... :)

[basalt51]

I call it PERFECT :D

[GreenGhost]

Is there any reason cutting slits and bending up the metal is better than trimming off the metal up to about the same area (not far enough to split the wheel well from the outer fender)? Does the bend add a bit of rigidity, or is it easier to bend that cut all the metal off?
Thanks.

[Kejtar]

yes when you cut slits and bend you end up leaving it structurally reinforced... if you just trimmed... it's weakend now.

Kejtar

[CheapXJ]

YJ flares don't look all that bad.

http://www.cheapxj.com/paragon04.jpg

but, if you don't need to run flares, why bother? (not sure how OK is about that)

[norcalxj]

cut slits and bend it!!! it will be stronger, smoother (so you will not cut anything), and you dont have to weld it back up.