FG Jeep

I have a set of V2 Naiper flares i'm in the midst of installing. The front was a breeze. The rear however has turned into a project. I've read through the instructions and also the online write up on BC 4x4. The instructions make it seem as if you can just cut and fold the rear. There is no chance you can make that work for the forward section of the wheel arch opening closest to the door. On the BC 4x4 instructions he mentioned he had to do some welding to get the wheel opening large enough. He shows a final picture but it is very unclear approx how far to cut and the best way to tackle this. I don't have a problem with cutting it out and welding some 18 gauge in there to seal the arch up. I just don't know how big of a can of worms i'm opening by cutting it out that way.

I was wondering if anybody else has installed these on a 97 and newer and had some pointers on the best way to fit the rear flare into place at the door end.

NorCalJeep

Never heard of these flares? Can you show pics what you need to do?

FG Jeep

Well I ended up cutting out the outer skin to match flare opening put some cuts in the inner skin and folded over and formed it the new wheel arch with bodywork hammer. I then mig welded it all together. I then took some 18 gauge steel I had laying around and cut out a some pieces that and bent it at an angle. I then welded my 18 gauge angle over my first repair and it pulled it all together.

EXJAY01

Can I check out some pics if you have them of the install.

DirtRoadXJ

http://www.bc4x4.com/pv/xj/napier-flares/

FG Jeep

The bc 4x4 write up is a great start. But you'll notice on the rears it's gets a little vague for near the door. I read through it a few times and I still wasn't sure. So I just started cutting. After a while my opening was correct but I needed to weld the steel up to close up the gaps.

NPx

Hey, hope you got this worked out okay. The rear opening does require more work and can be a little tricky since the fold line doesn't follow the body line exactly. The cut & fold method usually works fine for the rear flares and usually doesn't need welding. In the BC4x4.com write up, Lars used the front flare as a template to locate the cut line and they turned out fine. He didn't use the back fender flares for a template and ended up having some problems.
Let me know if you have ideas on how the Install Guide could be improved in this area or if there is anything I can try to help with.
Thanks, Doug

FG Jeep

Well from my experience with the one side I've done so far I can't see any way to fold the lower forward section by the door flare out of the way. It has to do with the wheel arch curving in to meet the lower forward section of the rear quarter. Upon trying to fold it over the opening was way to small still. This causes a big problem because the flare mounting holes line up with door opening gap. The only way to have enough of the rear flare over the door to secure it and line up with the door gap was to open up lower quarter more. But by do that you create a nice hole in the process. At that point you need to fold either the inner or outer skin whatever you left over and weld it back up. This worked for me but it was way more work then I bargained for. I have a 98, I don't think I made any mistakes when mocking it up. It is pretty darn clear which flares are for the door and which are for the quarter for the left and right. One thing I noticed is that in the instructions I had the rear pictures appear to be of a pre97 xj. Both my xj and the one pictures on bc 4x4 are 97 and newer. I'm wondering if there was a slight change tithe wheel arch in the production run. I can send you pics of what I had to do to make it work.

FG Jeep

I wanted to make it clear that I'm not bashing these flares in any way. I think they are awesome and the best looking/performing flares out there. I think the install instructions could use some work though.

NPx

I appreciate you taking the time to offer feedback and we are always interested in ideas on how to improve what we're doing. Pictures were used from both body styles in the Install Guide but the rear fender flares are very different for the two body styles. If we had shipped the wrong fender flares they wouldn't come close to fitting on your '98 XJ. We would be interested in seeing your pics. It'd be great if you can email (link in sig) the pictures and your ideas of how to improve the Install Guide. Thanks, Doug

FG Jeep

Sure thing I will snap a few tonight.

steiner

I'm also really interested in seeing your install pictures. I just ordered a set of these for my 99 XJ Classic. I hope to see them in the next week or so. I have heard a little feedback about the challenges of mounting the rear flares but I welcomed the challenge because these are clearly much thicker and stronger than the Bushwackers. Any pics you have of the install would be great though...hopefully I can use the challenges you faced to better prepare for the project and avoid any welding. Thanks

FG Jeep

I've been really swamped with stuff the last 2 weeks. I did snap some pics last night finally. Unfortunately if your flares are the same as mine I don't see any way to avoid welding. It is the only way to mount the door half on the door.

steiner

Thanks for the thoughts. I'm gonna give Doug the benefit of the doubt until I see how my install goes. I believe that if he says you shouldn't have to weld, then they can probably done without welding anything. I may eat those words later, but I'm going to give my install my greatest level of attention and care to try and prove him right...it is clear that a lot of design work went into making these flares perfect so I imaging there is probably a way to do them perfectly. I'll try to take step-by-step photos of the process to share with the community if my install goes well. -Steve

FG Jeep

I ended up doing the left side differently then the right side. I had to spend a ton of time on the right side outer skin to shape it and get it looking right since it s very visible with the rear door open. On the left side I cut out a section of the inner wheel well. I then cut and folded the rear over the opening created. I then welded the folds to the inner wheel well and then welded my own panel on top to really give it some good strength.

Doing it this way you could possibly seam seal the whole opening shut and avoid welding. But I would not call that a good way to do it since it is in the wheel well getting covered in water, muck, whatever. Also the outer skin by itself is really thin. Probably to thin for the inner wheel arch area with the abuse it takes.