The times that I have really taken my XJ to the limits the front tires have rubbed on the fenders (3.5" RE with 33s)

SO I decided instead of trimming the fenders and getting these sharp edges that I would roll my fender lips or in this case the edge of the fender where the OE fender flares use to mount up.

Before:



After

 

its pretty simple to do

1. Since you will be bending back the lip, you need to bend along a straight line, because the wheel well curves, find the straightest path



2. cut along this, since I used a hacksaw I didnt get the prettiest lines


3. bend those tabs back


4. bend the rest back.


5. enjoy the extra clearance


ps. if you want to save the paint, a good tip is to get a little torch and heat the area a bit, and then bend it immediately this sometimes will help the paint bend also and not crack, my paint was already messed up due to tire impacts, so I didnt care.

I am going to go back with a wire wheel and clean up the area and paint it.

 

another thing, apparently my Jeep had been involved in an accident sometime in the past as I found about a pound of bondo on the passenger side behind the door.

the whole little area was molded bondo, if I hadnt rolled the fender I probably would have never noticed, the guy was a pretty good bondo sculpture. but Im glad its gone

 

Looks nice. I think your bump stop has seen better days though.

 

haha yea, poor thing has been abused

 

Looks good!

My rear bumpstops are gone.

 

looks good

 

yea the back is alright, the front is the problem

the last time I rubbed the rear was when I gunned it coming out of a ditch and caught some serious air

 

Looks good.Thats a really nice looking XJ.

 

thanks man. its what I call a 20 footer, any closer and you see all the ripples and scratches,hahaha

 

i call mine the 10/50. she's a perfect 10 from 50 yards away. haha

 

I was in the same boat, I didnt want the sharp edge from cutting. I ended up cutting mine all the way around and putting some black trimming on it.


Yours Looks like it came out pretty good, and Im sure yours was way easier lol

heres mine

 

Yea I was really hesitant to cut it off, first I didnt want the sharp edge, but I also thought the rolled edge would add some rigidity to the fenders

I also knew for damn sure that I wouldnt be able to cut that straight of a line. haha

 

I did my fenders the same way back in January (flares were already gone anyways).. I just wish my rear quarters were as solid/rust-free as yours look to be! haha. I've since had to roll the back on the front fenders a little bit more as my tires had flexed into them a few times and bent them pretty good lol. Now it's trimmed as far as I'd wanna go..

 

trust me... it wasnt a straight cut! The angle grinder fixed that problem though lol My airsaw was being a PITA at the time, so the cut was all over the place.