FENDER CUTTING QUESTION!!!

[himold]

I HAVE A 2000 CHEROKEE LIMITED AND I WANNA KNOW IF I CAN JUST CUT ALONG THE TOP LINE OF WHERE MY FLARES CURRENTLY ARE USING THEM AS A TRACE. I HEAR THAT IT AFFECTS THE RIGITITY OF THE TRUCK. I WANT TO BE ABLE TO FIT 30x11-16 THORNBIRDS ON IT WITH ONLY 2 INCHES OF LIFT (ANYTHING MUCH BIGGER THAN THAT IS CHEATING PEOPLE!!!) ARE THERE ANY DOWNSIDES TO THIS AND IF SO WHAT ARE THEY? ANY KNOWLEDGEABLE REPLIES WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!

[ZPD]

1. Quit yelling
2. Thornbirds suck- you will regret that
3. Search
4. Pull your flares off and examine your inner fender wells. You will have to remove the inner liner. Your limits on cutting and keeping a rigid fender is the cross brace in the front and the lower torx bolt in the rear of the fender well.

[himold]

i wasnt yellin, i just didnt feel like pushing the shift buttom alot, but anyways, thanx for the info. As far as thorns go, for all of the varying terrains here in south jersey they work well (better than my MT/R's on my rubicon!) and they look great. Yeah they suck on the road, but I also have a 30 some mpg saab for a daily driver...also, theyre fun in the rain with a locker!

[Yucca-Man]

i wasnt yellin, i just didnt feel like pushing the shift buttom alotSo.....you're saying you were lazy instead? Search. Your answers are in there regarding those particular tires, that size tire, and trimming your fenders.

[CanMan]

I find it hard to believe that thornturds are better than a MT/R. Ive never used them, but stories point out that they suck in all terrain.

Now, how would cutting out a fender on the front weaken the body structure? A fender that comes off with X amount of bolts? If you cut past the pinch seam in the rear, it might.

HAVE A GREAT DAY! :rolleyes:

[shortxjdoug]

anything bigger than 2" is cheating? wow i gues i really screwed up wasting all that money on a lifted jeep, i didn't know pucks were all i needed to be a badass:bs:

[CanMan]

anything bigger than 2" is cheating? wow i gues i really screwed up wasting all that money on a lifted jeep, i didn't know pucks were all i needed to be a badass:bs:

He must be used to small things. :D

[himold]

Im not putting a junk lift on it. I will even go 3 to 4 inches if I have to in order to fit the tires I want and still have incredible articulation. Im gonna get the best lift kit I can with the least amount of height increase. Now that Ive said it slow and clear for ya I hope you have an understanding where Im coming from this....I use my driving skill to get me through things, you just went out and spent thousands to take the challenge out of off roading....and Im the stupid one?

[shortxjdoug]

Im not putting a junk lift on it. I will even go 3 to 4 inches if I have to in order to fit the tires I want and still have incredible articulation. Im gonna get the best lift kit I can with the least amount of height increase. Now that Ive said it slow and clear for ya I hope you have an understanding where Im coming from this....I use my driving skill to get me through things, you just went out and spent thousands to take the challenge out of off roading....and Im the stupid one?

ahem.... i have under 2000 in my jeep and that includes the price of the jeep, and its reliable enough to drive every day. I have more fun offroading than anything i've ever done and i build mine to go find an even bigger challenge every time i hit the trail. . so before you come in here spouting what you think is the absolute truth sit back and open up to some new ideas, you might be surprised how well it works. And if you see no challenge here then you my friend will never be satisfied

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d144/rcdoug/Dsc08705.jpg


ok i'm done now, i'm a really nice guy once you get to know me :D nothing personal bro

[himold]

See I think most of the people on here ride rocks and dont understand that where I ride there are no rocks, and not only that but if we did have them I wouldnt be the least bit interested in them....thats one aspect of off roading I will never be into....sorry. I have tried, but not interested. Jersey has every kind of terrrain except rocks and Im cool with that.

[Dirt]

No challenge here.



http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h17/dirt2112/wa05.jpg



or here. You're jeep could make this.



http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h17/dirt2112/fl01.jpg




:rolleyes:

[CanMan]

Dirt, he has no rocks in his neck of the woods. :( Poor fella.

Doesn't like them.

I think he is missing out.

[Dirt]

See I think most of the people on here ride rocks and dont understand that where I ride there are no rocks, and not only that but if we did have them I wouldnt be the least bit interested in them....thats one aspect of off roading I will never be into....sorry. I have tried, but not interested. Jersey has every kind of terrrain except rocks and Im cool with that.


Oh sorry... I didn't understand. By all means get the thornbirds. You're definatley right! :kissyou:

[himold]

Yeah but how many Jeeps can ride the Rubicon bone stock? And correct me if Im wrong, but isnt that one of the more challenging trails around?

[CanMan]

The Rubicon Wrangler of course!

[BRIANHO13]

Oh sorry... I didn't understand. By all means get the thornbirds. You're definatley right! :kissyou:

Most of my wheeling is in the midwest, I love rocks when I find them. I ran thornturds for 2 months, I knew they sucked first run out but it took 2 months to find somone to buy them from me. Save your money for better tires.

[seanR]

What about the rear?
You will have a heck of a time cutting the rears with that method!

[jdogg4]

O just trim the Heck out of it who cares it's your rig.

just make sure you don't cut into your washer bottle onthe inside fender wall on the driver side. I relocatedmine under the hood.

http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2107357934

[53guy]

Lol, I happen to be close enough to call it in your neck of the woods and I can say that even in your mud and grass fields wheeling, thornbirds do absolutely nothing but throw grass and mud. now if that's what you're into, go for it, but other than that, they really do suck. You'd be suprised what you can learn and apply out here from all those guys out west. If I'm not mistaken, they only try to lift as little as possiable to lower their center of gravity, so if their 6" lifts or whatever you consider excessive is what they call as low as they can, then well......stfu because their shit must be damn harder and take much more skill than your grass and mud. I'd really like to help with your question, but the more and more that I type, I get more and more frustrated with people and their stubborn assed attitudes and their unwilligness to listen to peoples reasons for doing what they do. Quit judging other people and just work on your little jeep. From what your attitude is saying right now, you're not gonna listen to us and our advice anyhow, so yeah, go for it.

[Ben H]

Lol, I happen to be close enough to call it in your neck of the woods and I can say that even in your mud and grass fields wheeling, thornbirds do absolutely nothing but throw grass and mud. now if that's what you're into, go for it, but other than that, they really do suck. You'd be suprised what you can learn and apply out here from all those guys out west. If I'm not mistaken, they only try to lift as little as possiable to lower their center of gravity, so if their 6" lifts or whatever you consider excessive is what they call as low as they can, then well......stfu because their shit must be damn harder and take much more skill than your grass and mud. I'd really like to help with your question, but the more and more that I type, I get more and more frustrated with people and their stubborn assed attitudes and their unwilligness to listen to peoples reasons for doing what they do. Quit judging other people and just work on your little jeep. From what your attitude is saying right now, you're not gonna listen to us and our advice anyhow, so yeah, go for it.

53 has got his game face on! Get some boy!!!!!

Dude lay off the smack, get a saw zaw and start carving, it might actually turn heads when you are done but more than likely it wont, so.... let me know how those thornbirds work out for ya.

web wheeling drunk rocks

[XJ_ranger]

2" would be probably the best flexing and on road ride lift possibility -

Old Man Emu lift components...

For what its worth - I ran 30x9.5 tires stock on 2 of my XJ's, it rubbed very little...

you wont need to trim much...

In the front trim as much as you want...
for the rear, make cuts into the body perpendicular to the lip, as relief cuts, then get out the 3 lb sledge, and fold it in...

http://www.myxj.net/tech/rolledfenders/

[djblade311]

come out to truckhaven where there are no rocks and you can see how much trimmin you need. :)

I have never even heard of thornbirds until this thread...they must be for the elite.

[BRIANHO13]

I have never even heard of thornbirds until this thread...they must be for the elite.
Yes......all the mallcrawlers with the rigs that thier parents paid for run them.

[djblade311]

ah. I've yet to conquer the malls yet. Maybe my tires are the problem. I'll check into the Thornbirds.

[goodburbon]

I ran slickbirds on my cj-5 when I first lifted it. Here are my experiences (No rocks in South Louisiana, so we'll call it comparable)

i wound up with a very very dirty interior (side lugs sling goo something fierce)

stuck a few times cross rutted on simple hard dirt( side lugs are great in ruts, but without ruts, or trying to cross them you are SOL)

very strange driving habits, (because the super wide slickbirds would track any dips in the road and occasionally throw me into oncoming traffic or a parking lot or two)

broken brake lines (aren't those side lugs just great!)

Then My friend (damn good friend) bought me a complete set of 35x9.50 barely used co-op mudders, I never got stuck again, and on the ol' girls final voyage (led to a severe oil leak and consequently a thrown rod) I went through a crawfish pond where only the big rigs with tractor tires or 44's were making it (local mud-hole event) I was the only rig to make it there and back (the deep end of the pond) without assistance from a tractor ( the rig on 44 boggers broke a t-case chain).

the lesson: Thornbirds suck ass, narrow more aggressive tires work better in the goop, you need to open your eyes........or learn the same lesson the hard way.