Cut below the welds then slice vertical between the welds and fold it up.

 

Cut them you will be glad you did.

 

Will I have to cut much?

 

the way i found it easiest to cut is when you take off your flares, you will see a lip.. just follow the contour of the lip and that way you can relocate the fenders if u want to. it really is very simple, just scary to think youre taking a blade to ur jeep! haha

 

And I take it that the lip is below the spot welds in the back? Do you see where I'm rubbing in the front though? I forgot to mention that's the main area. It's the bottom back area of the front tires, and it only rubs when doing sharp turns (can't pull into parking spaces or parallel park).


Thanks

 

So where should I cut for the bottom area to eliminate the rubbing?

 

yea i think u rub in the same places i do. i have 4.5 with 32s and at full turn i rub on the back side of the flare going to do some trimming of the plastic back there and then see how that is because i need new tires and want to get 33s next. at full flex i rub cuz the bump stops arent set right. but thats fine just eat up the wheel wells lol. ive seen the cut and fold afew times just be careful not to vut the pinch weld in the back or have it welded shut but the front i think u can cut very high up. i am going to do it eventually and cut the front bumper angeled and cut the side fenders flush with the front bumper like how this red one is

 

I just plan on barely trimming the overall fender. I like the idea of cutting and folding. That should be fine, right? Just cutting where the lip of the flare was, should be enough room from the weld in the back. So you recommend trimming the back to stop the rubbing? Can I remove that plastic back, and would that be good enough?


I'm doing some searching on the rear fender. I came across this picture, is the rear trimmed at all? Or was the flare just removed?


I don't want to have to weld anything. I don't even think I need to much trimming, if at all any. Just remove the flares and make it look nice. And eliminate the rubbing on the bottom when I turn.

Thanks

 

yea i will probably cut and fold but it doesnt give u that much more room but maybe u just need alittle bit, and anything helps i guess. yea for the rubbing on the front wheels in the back part of the fender i think that would help because thats where i rub not flexed at all so im probably just gonna cut that corner off anyway lol

 

As far as I know, I'm not rubbing or anything in the back. I just want to make it look nice and match the front trimmed flares. I also won't be doing a lot of off roading. 33s are my winter tires.

Quick question, I came across this guy's build thread - https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f46/my-jeep-43022/ I figured my question will get answered faster here than that thread, but what fender modifications did he do? It looks like there are still flare mounting holes, but looks like he's not rubbing with his tires.

 

It looks like they may have moved the original flares up and re-mounted them with sheet metal screws. The fenders were definitely trimmed though. If you're still searching for a pretty good how to here's a good one: https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f51/cu...-fenders-1718/

You can do the fronts the same way but there are no pinch welds so if you wanted to you could just trim along the fender flare line.

 

That's perfect! So it looks like I don't have to weld or do anything besides cut and fold. And can I pretty much do the same thing in the front? Or I was thinking of cutting right above the lip where the flare is in the front. For the front, since I'm rubbing on the bottom area when I do a sharp turn, how do I eliminate that? Remove the plastic guard that covers the well?



Thanks!

 

Just finished working on it.












I like how it came out. I'm washing it tomorrow, since it needs to be detailed inside and out. I'm also planning on picking up some bed liner spray and going over them to just protect it and give it a little look. Might touch it up some tomorrow and smooth some edges or something. I can turn a lot better now, although when my wheel is turned the entire way, I'm rubbing against my quick disco swaybar. Not sure how that'll work out over time.

 

cutting and relocating the flares is the way to go, removing them and cutting the fenders looks sloppy IMO

how my XJ looked:

 

That's not bad. I was thinking of going to some bushwackers down the road anyway. I've always liked the cut fender look though.