Trimmed the fenders front and back and still rub 31's with 3" lift

Thanks to a great right up from www.rocklizardfabrications.com i was able to trimm my fenders no problem. I had already taken a sledge to the back of my 98 xj to take care of the first spot that rubbed (the back of the bumper).

Dont worry i cleaned it up later!

Next i trimmed the front and i achieved plenty of clearance! I pounded over the metal lip that sits half way in the wheel well also. I then taped it off, roughed it up, and painted my exposed metal and my sledge hammer job with rubberized undercoating. I took it down to flex it up and now it rubbs on the front of my rear fenderwell about ?10 inches up from the bottom.
I cut all the way up into the spot welds as described.

I want to find a way to remove more sheet metal with out seperating the to sheets in the unibody. Has anybody tried to cut, and reweld spot welds? or weld back in place metal? or am i just being a sissy and should hack away?? I realize i could lower my bumpstops and easily fix the problem since it happens when i stuff about half of the sidewall of the tire up into my fenderwell. However I want all the flex i can get.

Any pictures or ideas would be great. :wow:

Ohhh shoot i just noticed my spring pin..... I am never going to live that one down. I swear i was trying to decide weither or not to include my overload spring before i cut. Also i know i talked about flex and then i have a tight band on my leaf packs however i just threw the lift on a month or so ago and that is temp untill i can come up with a better system. I dont want them walking into the tire for some stupid reason.

Modifying your bump stops so the tires don't hit anything.

Wow that picture of the back of the back looks like %^&**^% I am going to add a few more pics to try and redeem myself. LOL It actually isnt even noticable and that one edge isnt sharp even though it may look that way.


The front turned out fairly nice.


And please dont blame rocklizards for the sledge hammer usage that was my very own idea!! :confused1 LOL

I know i can modify my bumpstops in seconds but i havent determined how much uptravel i will loose? If i would have modified from the get go i wouldn't of even had to trim but i would have lost a lot of articulation!Thank you though i may actually be at that point????????????????? Especially if we are talking minimal gain vs. more extensive trimming
I am hoping for everyones vote so far we are at 1 vote to add bumpstops.

Also i am going to order some edge molding to cover up some of the wreckage...LOL

Limiting Straps and bumpstops.

have you measured your actual lift, really doesnt appear to have 3"

I dont remember the stock measurement and now i dont have a flare to measure to.??? UNFORTUNATELY i went with a 3" rough country lift and it sagged in the back. I then added .75 shackles so i would assume it should atleast be 3"s what were you thinking less or more????? I sure wish i wouldnt have tried to dodge a SYE and grew some nuts and went bigger. I am dieing to do a long arm!! bad idea right with only 3"????? wait please dont get off topic we are at 2 votes for bumpstops and none for more trimming Thanks

4.5 backspacing would have been perfect

I do not intend to hijack this thread bit, I sincerely believe it is relative. I bought a '92 Limited from a good college kid. It has a 3.5" RE installed. It is trimmed majorly (most with his efforts. alot with mine in the rear). It needs bump stops in the front. It is used and appears to have after market stops but it is hammering my front fenders and cutting the tires.

I am a GM convert and a slow learner so please be easy.

Honestly that don't look like 3" lift. Like mentioned bumpstop. I run about 4-5" more bumpstop up front and 4-5" more in the rear than stock.

I'd trim the rear more, do the slit and fold method betwen those pinch seam welds.

Hmmm give me a spot to measure to besides the flare and i will check and see. If i remember right i checked it and it was. How about the sharp body line above the tire to the center of the hub. I will go measure it right now and post in about 10 minutes. Also since we are only talking three inches i should mention that is my driver side and as with most jeeps it is about a 1/2 inch lower on that side. ??? i dont know its a jeep thing. As far as the actual lift type i can promise you it is a 3" Rough Country lift i bought it and installed it. Weither it actually lifted it 3"s well lets check and see...........

F9K9 is it hitting on the bottom by your feet?? How cut is cut? Look at the bottom of your front fender....... How many bolts are there?? Originally there is two bolts mine is down to one. Hope that helps. I have trimmed one before with out removing the flares and we gained a good chunk of room however at flex it would still hit for sure. Did you bend the straight edged metal over. There is actually two spots by your feet that could cut your tires???? I am not a pro just trying to help.

Look in the FAQ section and at the bottom you will find the "dirty" method for measuring lift height from the axles. Try that to see where you're sitting.

25" Passenger side 24.5" Driver side.

This was using a level help up against the point in the fender that sticks out not in. (hope that makes sense) and then measuring from the center of the hub straight up to the level of course leveled. ???? What do you guys have??? Any stock rigs out there that can help???

I just saw your reply if my measurement doesnt work i will measure the dirty way when i get back from a pepsi run!!

9.5" dirty method on passenger side front (i held off on the pepsi)

What is stock ??????

Never mind i just looked it up 6.75 give or take a .5" so i am right in there????????????????????????? Maybe a little shy

I'm also curious about trimming the rear, I just trimmed the front and added tj flares but I'm still trying to figure out how high I can cut the slots in the rear. There is the lip that comes out from the body on the rear outer fender that is about as high as the inner fender. but they arent tight against each other. could I cut through the lip right up to the body and fold it in? or would that cause seperation?

heres what I do have done though. http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrowse.asp?folder_id=1857624

I'm still stock but am going to lift it soon. I got 33's waiting and am thinking I will need 4.5 at min or else I'll have to bump stop. I can't afford lockers so being able to keep all 4 tires on the ground would be nice.

Here's a quick pic of my '95 rear fender work. I replaced the flare with MJ rear flares.Then I raised the flare, cut way past the welds, rewelded the fender all the way around and cut the rear off even with the taillight. I also extended the wheelwell and removed the indentation in the wheel well. I have 33x10.5's in the pic with 5" of lift and can stuff 36" tires with rear MJ bumpstops and still have some room to spare.

Here's the front raised flares and cut openings. I'm raising the flare another 2.5" in a couple of weeks.

You also might find that redrilling the rear sping perches to move the axle forward 1/2" should cause the tire to stuff in the center of the wheelwell and allow more room.

Now we are talking!! That is where i am planning right now only it is hitting in the front so i need to move the rearend back which would help with rear approach angle also. (a little) Slit the rear and fold........... I like it! Can it be done clean? I am actually planning to say screw the flares and order about 3 replacement glass for the mirrors. LOL

Mutant Xj if you take a look at my pics you will see where i placed the tape. The stuff below is where the metal is not attached i cut all of that just into the spot welds. Hope that helps.

Re welding the inner fender to the outer body. Is the other option i am pondering since it is not like a have a ton of room in the rear of my fenderwell at full stuff. I have a miller matic 175 and i am not afraid to use it however was that a major &^$# ??

Ohh ya i almost forgot nice work on your flares TNT and thanks for the advise