Front fender trimming/ rebracing?

ok, i plan to trim my front fenders on my mj soon. first, just trim them even with the top of the bumper. then perhaps later, trim the portion under the flare or possibly relocate them up higher.

however, i would like to some how incorporate a fender brace, since the original one will be gone since the lower portion of the fender will be cut. i dont like how the fenders are really flimsy once they are cut. any ideas?

thanks

I moved the stock brace up and tacked it on. It was still pretty flimsy, but when I bolted the TJ flares on it stiffened it up a lot.

Try trimming the fender as follows:
1. Take the flare and draw a line from the inside on the fender.
2. Draw another line abotu 1/2" below the original line
3. Cut along the lower line
4. Make incisions every so often (not too often) to allow easier bending up of the 1/2" so that it can follow the first line
5. Don't cut off the lip portion of the flare... make sure that it fits the original line as you bend it up (as it bend a bit and kind of hold it against it and do a semi trilal fit)

This makes it all pretty sturdy and you don't really have to use the original braces anymore

I put the fender support back on after I trimmed. Not the horizontal support that goes to the bottom of the fender but the triangle-shaped one. I also re-used the metal rails with the bolts on them to mount the flares in the new holes after moving the flares up. I had to cut the rails to fit the new shorter flares, but t hey did a good job of stiffening everything up. I re-used the brace in the top middle and just bent it to the new hole. The only part that is flimsy at all now is the back of the fender near the door, and I'm going to fab up some kind of support for that real soon. The rest of it is very stiff still.

Kejtar said:

Try trimming the fender as follows:

5. Don't cut off the lip portion of the flare... make sure that it fits the original line as you bend it up (as it bend a bit and kind of hold it against it and do a semi trilal fit)

Click to expand...

im not following, need some more explanation.

i guess ill figure most of it out, once i tear into the project, i was just looking for a few ideas.

jeepmj_tj said:

im not following, need some more explanation.

i guess ill figure most of it out, once i tear into the project, i was just looking for a few ideas.

Click to expand...

OK, I'm talking here about TJ flare..... when you take the flare in hand, you'll see what I mean: the flare is flat, with a lip.... some tend to take the lip and cut it flash with the side so that it's easier to put it on, but that lip being at 90 degree angle to the flare acts as a reinforcement..... now the fender itself when you cut the sheetmetal, and bend it inside, also reinforces it, and it's just a bit of extra work to make sure all fits nice and tight