i want to have peoples opinions on xj tube fenders, not ones that stick out but sort of a dove nose looking fender. i began building my new front bumper last night and bent a tube to mock up for tube fenders to see if i like it or not

ideas?

 

REALLY depends on the shape... Got any picture of what you have in mind?

 

i took some but it you cant really tell what i have in mind from the pics. i was hoping to get some ideas from you guys because i always seem to build something then see something a little different that i like more LOL

 

So you want to dove tail the nose? Cause if you just dove tail the tube, I'm afraid that it would not look good. I would run tubing from your rear bumper to your sliders for the rear(along the fender line) then same with the front. Run it fairly close to the body so that they do not stick out to far, then get some sheet steel and fill the small gap from the tube fender to the stock fender. A friend of mine did that to his and it looked pretty good. Just my thoughts. Hope this helps ya out.

 

I think I get what you mean. I'm not thinking of a true dove nose because if I did that it wouldn't be street legal. Ill post pics later of what I'm planning on doing.

 

Heres a pic of what i am thinking of doing and what i have going so far.

the blue is where the second tube will go (roughly) and the red is where the sheet metal will cover so it doesnt look like crap




ideas/opinions?

 

looking really good man. For the bend at the front fender by the bumper, I would bend it in towards the bumper and weld it to it. Just make sure that you don't block the head light tho. That's my thoughts, but it's looking great man.

 

Sweet man great work so far. I personally really like this tube style bumper on the right, but it is kind of large. The Jeep belongs to rweaver138.

 

i put a little kick out type deal in the upper tube of the bumper, im not too sure if i like it but its there to protect the lights that im putting on the front.
the front isnt as narrow as i thought it would be but it did bring the front end in about 5-6 inches total. now i just have to figure out what to do with the grill.

then its on to plating the frame rails, then finishing the cage, then the 4 link then putting a dana 44 in the front, then getting my wheels done and putting the new tires on it, and my buddy might give me his dana 300 transfer case so ill be twin sticking it then ill have to make some tube doors for summer




heres what i ended up doing. ill fill in the gap with sheet metal



:

 

nice fab work what kind of bender are you usein?

 

a jd2 bender, no hydraulics just lots of leverage

 

i have my bumper for sale still along with the leaf springs.
200 for the bumper 40 for the leafs or trade for some doors

im going to make half doors

 

all the parts are sold except the rear bumper.

Since the last update a lot has happened.

the gf left me so that gave me a lot of spare time so what better to do than relive stress and build the jeep at the same time.

at the moment the rear axle is a ford 8.8 with a truss, triangulated 4 link and coils all installed in the rear end.

my goals were to build a 4 link with good anti squat and triangulation but not have to cut holes in my floor for the upper links.... not easy



first i pulled the 8.8 out and drained the gear oil out, then cut off the old brackets and sway bar mounts off the old rear end. i was lazy and used our old fork lift to pick it up since i had no one to help me at the time




after all of that i made some lower link brackets out of 3 x 1/4 flat stock and drilled 3/4 inch holes in them for the bolt holes. im using 1.25 inch ruffstuff chromoly heims at one end and rubber bushings at the other to keep costs down. it will have plenty of flex still this way.

lower link mounts



i got those mocked up and tacked on then burned those on.

the next day i started on the truss. i used 2x3 .188 wall box tubing for the truss and the plasma cutter to trim it to fit over the housing.

 

I started on the links and the upper link mounts after i finished the truss.
i purposely left some holes in the truss since it gets driven in 3ft deep water at least weekly when it is running and you cant keep water out so you have to give it a way to escape when it gets in.



tacking up the sleeves for the bushings...



then the hiems went in. pretty simple stuff, just slide the bung in, weld it up and screw the heim in AFTER you weld it immediately to prevent the threads from shrinking too much, dont weld with the hiem in place or you will melt the bushing piece in the heim.

 

the tubing in the pics mounted to the upper links were for mock up only, it was 1 inch .065 tubing, cheap disposable stuff, not what is actually used.

i used 2 inch .250 wall dom with 1.25 inch heims for the lowers and 1.75 .120 wall with 1.5 .120 wall tubing sleeved inside with a 3/4 inch heim for the upper links.
people will say that a 3/4 heim is too small for uppers but when i was little my dad and his friends used to be into sand drags and their sand car had 20 inch wide paddle tires on it and 1000 hp v8 and the links on the rear of the car were 3/4 inch heims threaded into the tube using a nut welded to the end of the tube. they never broke. im talking 1000 hp and rev it to 8000 rpms and let go of the trans brake and run like hell down the drag strip at ove 100 mph, the way i see it is if a 3/4 heim can hold up to that then they will serve their purpose as upper links on my xj since they wont be getting hit by rocks.


ill post the rest later when i get more time and take more pics within the next few days.