31" tires - fender flares or new rims?

Just bought my first XJ this morning. Its a '98 and really clean. Price was right and I couldn't pass it up. My problem is the tires stick out from the fender wells 1 - 2". Previous owner installed a 3" lift (add a leaf), 31" BFG tires and an Auburn locker but never took it off road (most have thought it looked cool). I live and drive on a lot of gravel roads and I hate to screw up perfectly good paint with rock chips. Am I better off getting fender flares or getting different rims with more backspacing to bring the tires in further? What backspacing would I need. Any help and advise is greatly appreciated.

hmmm... if you get bushwacker's, it would look weird since the tire width would be slim compared to the flare, but would accomplish what you're looking for.

Maybe some new wheels w/ proper backspacing or see if you could get some mudflaps, that might help.

Also there was a thread in here not too long ago, maybe yesterday morning? With a guy in Australia who put some kind of rubber edging on his flares to get another 1" of coverage, it looked really good too, not too cheezy like some of the lawn edging jobs IMO.
Also BW makes some extend-a-fenders, they are kind of pricey.

Thats pretty much all I can think of.

GoJeep has a write up on cheap/easy flare extensions. Here's a link to the article, and advice to check out the other stuff on his site; very cool goodies!

http://www.go.jeep-xj.info/HowtoFlareExtensions.htm

ireding said:

Just bought my first XJ this morning. Its a '98 and really clean. Price was right and I couldn't pass it up. My problem is the tires stick out from the fender wells 1 - 2". Previous owner installed a 3" lift (add a leaf), 31" BFG tires and an Auburn locker but never took it off road (most have thought it looked cool). I live and drive on a lot of gravel roads and I hate to screw up perfectly good paint with rock chips. Am I better off getting fender flares or getting different rims with more backspacing to bring the tires in further? What backspacing would I need. Any help and advise is greatly appreciated.

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31's will fit on the stock 5.25" backspacing rims, but many times folks get new tires and rims and use rims with a somewhat normal aftermarket backspacing of 3.25-3.75". Some think this looks cool with a wider stance, but most in the know think it looks sort of tacky. Chrome or black steel rims are pretty cheap, and a 4.5-4.75" backspacing rim can work with 33's, and the tires don't stick out too far. When you go to different rims, they are usually 8" wide rather than the stock rims which are 7", so you gain 1/2" of inside clearance with the 8" rim, plus what you gain with less backspacing. A small amount of rubbing on the inside is acceptable and won't hurt anything.