Fender Trim AND Rubicon Rear Flare Install, 2000 XJ

Hey everyone. Me and a couple friends did some work this weekend, and I figured Ide show off my one friends XJ alittle. Ive seen plenty of TJ flare installs on XJs. Some look good...some not so good. Ive also seen lots of questions about how well TJ flares cover and fit etc etc. Ive never seen Rubicon flares used in the front. Im sure its been done, I just never saw it.

Anyway, my friend Mike did all the work on this. And in my opinion is one of the cleanest trim/flare jobs Ive seen. My friends jeep is an 2000 XJ, 4-door. We installed an RE 4.5 superflex kit, .75" spacer in the front, 8.8 rear, SYE, Tom Woods shaft etc. His tires are 33x12.5 mounted on Crager 15x8s which Im sure you all have seen 100 times.

Some things to point out before I get to the pics... The coverage is perfect. We RETAINED THE INNER FENDER PLASTIC. I see a lot of ?'s about that as well. Plans for the rear are standard TJ rear flares. Also, the goal was to make this look nice. His jeep is a nicer jeep, and there was no reason to make it look hacked on.

Pics...

Removed


Bumper cap trimmed


Masked for trimming


Trimmed..you'll see what the tabs are for




How he kept the inner fender. Also, the fender brace was left in place, just bent and curled up behind the fender. Keeps it from being too flimsy since a good bit of it is gone.


Started making the flare fit




Most people cut the front of the flare off over top of the bumper height. We decided to make it fit. Mike did a great job with this. Just finishes off the bumper end cap area nicer. Here is his bracket for keeping it tight to the bumper.


AND...here is the finished product. Ill let the pics speak.












Comments welcome!

Justin

Re: Fender Trim AND Rubicon Rear Flare Install, 02 XJ

Here are the coverage shots...





Head on


We did some light wheeling at Rausch Creek on Sunday. His jeep is purdy, but not a trailer queen or a web wheeler. It was his first time out with it. We bump stopped him about 2" (2 hockey pucks) and he didnt really get into the fenders or flares too bad. He isnt afraid to wheel it hard.

Justin

Re: Fender Trim AND Rubicon Rear Flare Install, 02 XJ

Definatelty one of the cleanest fender mods ive seen. Nice work

Re: Fender Trim AND Rubicon Rear Flare Install, 02 XJ

All of the 02's I have seen already have those fenders, Dana 60's, and a turbo V12!





































































Production of the XJ ended in 01!

Re: Fender Trim AND Rubicon Rear Flare Install, 02 XJ

great job and pix...awsome job dudes

Re: Fender Trim AND Rubicon Rear Flare Install, 02 XJ

yeah, production ended, but they were still sold in 02. it's just an 01 he bought new in 02 probably.

the flare idea is SOLD to me I'm gonna do that on my comanche now....i REALLY like that.

do you think you could do those flares all the way around? I think i'll try for 4 identical ones...

Re: Fender Trim AND Rubicon Rear Flare Install, 02 XJ

Jess said:

All of the 02's I have seen already have those fenders, Dana 60's, and a turbo V12!
Production of the XJ ended in 01!

Click to expand...

Actually its a 2000. I was talkin to a buddy about his 02 TJ, hence the typo. It was after I posted it, and I cant edit the title...so I left it be. Guess Ill try to get it changed to help with searching and to not have 40 people tell me production ended in 01.

Thanks for the compliments on the flare. Mike did a good job on them.

jeepcomj: I wouldnt suggest doing the rear rubi flares all the way around. They measure something close to 5". We are going to install the regular TJ rear flares in the rear of the XJ soon. Ran out of time on saturday to finish it up.

Justin

Re: Fender Trim AND Rubicon Rear Flare Install, 02 XJ

looks nice, I like the gloss finish on the Rubi flares. I did something similar with standard TJ rears on mine:

http://www.noahandersson.com/WeekendCampingMay2007/photos/photo25.jpg

That looks good xj-grin! Nice clean install! Thats how we were gonna cut the front, but figured we would try to keep it. Worst came to worst, we could still lop it off if it looked bad. Quite a few folks are using rear TJ flares. Me included. But in the front, they dont cover all the way. Atleast not for me. And there are just too many cops in the area that like to pick on things like that every so often. My buddy was already pulled over for bumper height. Cop didnt say anything about anything else, but it made him nervous.

J.

bumper height? wtf? there's a regulation bumper hight or something?

wow, those flares look great! almost look factory

i'm lost on the L shaped brackets , how did you put them in ? what size bolts etc ..

Bolts are all 1/4". And the washers are fender washers to help spread the load of the bolt some. The "L" bracket is pop riveted through the flare then bolted to the bumper end cap. So the rivet goes through a washer, than the flare, then through the "L" bracket. Then the other side is bolted to the flare. He installed the bracket to the bumper semi loose, then riveted the flare to it, so when he tighted the bolt to the bumper cap it pulled it in nicely. This is only on the front corner tho... All the rest are just straight through the fender from behind.

Yeah...bumperheight law in PA. Its retarded. XJs are considered station wagons. It says so on the registration where it has "SW". Max bumper height for that classification is 22"!!!!!! Thats so stupid. There is a "grey area" where you can say the XJ is a multipurpose vehicle. That makes the max heights 26" in the rear and 24" in the front. You cant get it registered as a truck unless you put a bed on it...blah blah blah. They can get you no matter what.

Also, if you put a drop bumper, there is a spot in the police manual that says if the bumper is modified to measure off the bottom of the frame or original bumper mounts. If you were to actually sit down and read a police law guide that the cops carry with them, you'd get sick from all the BS stuff they CAN get you for. Most cops just dont bother because they realise its stupid as well. haha.

Justin

dude, 22" is less than stock with some big tires on it...

that's CRAP.

hahahaha, put a mattress on it and try to title it as a truck...

very clean

Where in PA are you?

jeepcomj said:

dude, 22" is less than stock with some big tires on it...

that's CRAP.

hahahaha, put a mattress on it and try to title it as a truck...

Click to expand...

haha!

Im in south eastern PA. My buddies are from the West Chester area, and Im near coatesville.

J.