Hi guys, newbie here. So my wife got cut off coming out of a parking lot (or so the story goes from her account), she said she was going about 5 mph and hit the side of another car. The fender seems to just be bent back, almost like a fold. I have a amber side marker on the way, and I'm thinking I can just pop that dent in the end cap back out. I'm also planning on removing the bumper and bending it back into shape. What would be the best way to tackle the fender? Heat? hammer? I'm trying to do this myself if I have all the tools. Any help is appreciated, thanks

 

Don't waste the time find another at a junk yard and pit it on.

That's a pretty hefty dent and being it's pushed straight back it won't come back out very easy.

Black89

 

JY really would be your best bet. It doesn't look crushed though. I would take it off and put a block of wood under the dent and go to town on it with an assortment of hammers.

 

5 mph? that looks more like 15-20 mph.

As others said your best bet is probably to get a replacement, you might be able to beat it straight but it will take allot of work and it will likely be difficult to do without damaging the paint. A fender should be pretty cheap at the Junk yard and you might even be able to find a matching one.

That bumper's toast. It would take a ton of work to get it right and a new one will only run you about $20, probably even cheaper at a junk yard.

You'll need a new end cap ($5) too and probably mounts ($5-10).

Bumper: http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,ca...,parttype,1340

End cap:
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,ca...parttype,15198

Bumper Mounts:
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,ca...parttype,12236

You could also get a new fender for about $50 but you would have to paint it to match, you can get pretty close with Dupli-color but a body shop will probably charge you $200-300 to paint it if you want a perfect match.
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,ca...,parttype,1380

Marker Lamp ($5):
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,ca...parttype,11720

Headlight Bezel ($18), You might be able to fix the old one with epoxy if it isn't too bad:
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,ca...parttype,12578

 

Yeah, good luck with the bumper... Unless you have a MAPP torch you're not going to beat that thing straight.

 

Thanks for all the help everyone, and dmill89 for all the direct links. I'm going to try to hammer out the fender using sthon's method, and if that doesnt work I'll try to find one at a junkyard. Shipping is killer on the bumper, I'm going to try to source that somewhere locally too. Thanks again.

 

Here's a place with free shipping. Don't know about quality though. Maybe someone here does.

http://www.jeep4x4center.com/jeep-bu...herokee-xj.htm

 

Junkyard will be your best bet for the fender.
And imo, it looks like a perfect opportunity to get rid of the paper thin factory bumper and put something on there that has a little strength.

 

x2. Never hurts to upgrade. http://www.olympic4x4products.com/Fr...4-2001-XJ.html Has some reasonably priced simple bumpers

 

My ex's fender looked exactly like that, I couldn't get it. Just get a different fender

 

MY Jeep looked like that but a bit worse when I bought it. Look what I did to it in my sig pic to get it right. First, don't forget that you probably crushed your vacuum canister and will need to replace it (it is mounted inside the bumper). Secondly, the mounts for the fender are definitely bent so you'll need to straighten them. I agree that your bumper is shot. You are trying to save a buck and I get it so my advice is to pull the bumper and tweak away as much as possible. I've used wood posts and hammers and sets of various vice-grips, etc to get it close-ish but be understood it won't look 100% with this method. If you're good, most won't notice though. The fender is probably toast, but go ahead and fiddle around. That doesn't cost you anything. You may get close but black or dark paint is unforgiving and the reflection will always be off. Your best bet is a JY fender.

s