Hah. Nice you have a picture of the ding and the rock that did it! Thanks for the pictures too. Gives me an idea of how to trim it up. Not much room to work in the back without it coming apart so I might just trim up the front and leave the back. The pre-drilled holes will be useful If I decide to get some kind of different fender flare on there or build my own.

 

So I have a question that might sound dumb but o well. Well I have been thinking of trimming mine but I still like the flares so its a toss up. So my question is does it lose strength when you cut them and become flimsy and what about the edge wouldnt it be sharp? Just wondering.

 

Its all just sheet metal but I doubt it has anything to do with body strength.

Yeah, It will probably be sharp after its cut but you can probably tap it with a hamer or sand it down so it's not as sharp and paint it.

 

Depending on how far you take the front up you will have to re tack weld the fender support brace. If you don't your fender might be a little flimsy.

 

I figured it wouldnt really mess with stenght to much but hey it doesnt hurt to ask right. So I know its all opinion but how far do most people really trim them?

 

Depends on application/personal taste. Mine are only going up 1.5"-2" Just along the first bend angled out. If you plan on big tires and flexing and really hard off roading you will probably want to go pretty high. Best thing to do is just go to the cherokee pictures section and look at other people's jeeps and see what you like.

 

I did the cut and fold in the rear and left some of the original flare in the front. You can see in my pics how it looks.

 

@ grn99

Nice work on trimming the fenders of your XJ! Perfectly matches those lifts and tires... Sweet looking ride....