Rear fenders chop is done *pics*

[hjeepxj]

Nice job! Imma do some trimming sooooon, nice pics! :cheers:

 

[rangerjoe2001]

what size and brand lift? and tires?

 

[xjj33p3r]

The lift is around 6.5", and the bigger tires shown are trXus 34/12.5/15's. The smaller tires are 30" dunlop mud rovers. They used to be 32", but they shrunk with road usage

 

[small pederson]

Yea I scraped that stuff off before starting. Got any pictures of how yours came out?

this is the only one i got on hand

thats about 8" of lift and 35's

 

[xjj33p3r]

this is the only one i got on hand

thats about 8" of lift and 35's

One tip that I'll give you *and it's what I did too* is that you should cut the flare where it meets the door, and take off about an inch of it. That way you'll end up with an even looking wheel well.

But dude, that looks awesome, much better job on the welding that I did

 

[small pederson]

meh, i have it opened a little more in the back to account for stuffing some 38's this spring arty: i understand what youre saying though, it does look funny

 

[xjj33p3r]

Either way, sweet jeep dude. I wish mine was any other color other than white. I was about to get it done silver, but uh, no mula for that kinda thing. Oh well

 

[jmop]

I cut into the door. I wanted the top of the flare even with that crease so I had to cut quite a bit. Here it is with some 36's. I had to remove more of the back area when I went to 38.5's cuz I moved the axle back. That's the area in red in the 2nd pic. I had to use a hammer to open the wheel well up and I used a lot of that spray foam to seal all the little cuts since my mig was to hot to weld just 1 layer of the sheetmetal. It was a real pain and I wish I could have welded up the cuts but it turned out allright.

EDIT: reduced the image sizes

 

[nhrocker]

So on yours you didnt weld at all? Im picking up some flares off of hjeepxj and dont have access to a welder. Is just folding it strong enough? What did you use to seal the slits and keep water (or mud!) out?

 

[CW]

You need to weld it. You are cutting out a structural pinch seem and folding is not good enough. If you don't want to weld dont cut above the pinch seem. Fullsizexj has his flares mounted in one piece bleow the door and I think he cut as far as you can without cutting the pinch seam.

Here is how I did mine. I don't have a pic with the rear flares mounted. It was all welded with a torch and then it took a weekend of body work to get it looking good again since I burned the paint and warped the metal a little. I wouldn't use foam to seal anything up it tends to absorb water. I did spray foam in for sound deadening though.

This is 6.5" of lift and 36x12.50 tsl's.

 

[jmop]

yeah I welded it. I made sure that the the seam was rewelded. so the fender is welded to the panel. I just didnt weld up all the slits that I made.

 

[nhrocker]

Anyone in the Maine/New Hampshire area done this mod? Some help and a welder would be great in the future once I'm ready to cut it up!

 

[xjj33p3r]

Would a bunch of silicon be the solution to leaks? I'm trying to figure out the best way to get this one small hole covered up that the welder couldn't reach to. I'll end up using that expanding foam once I've closed all the small holes

 

[nhrocker]

Also, if I only cut up to the pinch seem for now, will I really gain enough room to make it worth it?

 

[xjj33p3r]

Yea, you will. Whenever I cut to the pinch seem, like I had originally planned, it made it easier to cut above it since we cut the seam into two easily removable pieces. It's hard to explain, but you can always cut more. So if you find that it's not worth it in the end, just cut an inch or two more.

 

[nhrocker]

Here's my plan. I've got a Daystar budget boost coming since I needed new coil spring isolators and leaf bushings anyway. I also have some TJ flares coming that were already trimmed to come just to the crease in the body without mounting on the doors, I think. I want to try to install all the stuff myself to save money, unless it would be safer to have the suspension done professionally? But in the end I would like to be able to fit 31s. Even if I don't cut the pinch seam, do you know if I'll have enough room? I figure this way I can add a lift and keep the bb so I'll end up with a larger lift when I can afford it.

 

[xjj33p3r]

Installing it yourself won't be hard, just take your time. And if you do end up putting those tj flares on, then you should have enough room to fit the 31's

 

[nhrocker]

For permanently mounting the flares, how would you suggest I fasten them?
And with PB blaster or something similar, should I be able to got the shackles off? It's a 95 with 182,000 miles and a lot of winters.

 

[xjj33p3r]

You can drill them in with sheet metal screws. Just drill and screw them in. Not too difficult. For the shackles, you'll need to buy a breaker bar and have someone help you. I've got a 96, and when I changed out my suspension, I used a huge breaker bar, and my dad to hold the nut in place.

 

[nhrocker]

How big of a breaker bar would you suggest?