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Trailer flares

Old Nov 22, 2017 | 10:21 AM
  #1  
Ozark Mountain Ranger's Avatar
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Default Trailer flares




So I'm bored out of my mind on Thanksgiving vacation and pick up a Northern Tool Catalog in my parents basement. As I'm scrolling through the pages I come across these trailer fender flares and quite a few variations of them say Jeep Style. They are steel so I imagine they can be welded on. My question is as anyone considered using something like this as a fender flare as opposed to paying $350 + for the popular plastic variations? I imagine it cannot be difficult to trim the flare to the line of the body and welded on.




The page from the 2017 Northern Tool spring and summer Master catalog. Quite a few different sizes of flare most of them Steel
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Old Nov 22, 2017 | 10:28 AM
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Not a bad idea at all... start with something prebent and edge rolled already. It sure would add more of the old style jeep fender line wouldn't it? Would I be guessing right to say that the one you show is like "E" in the catalog?
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Old Nov 22, 2017 | 02:04 PM
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I am trying hard to imagine what it would look like....


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Old Nov 22, 2017 | 03:36 PM
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Haha good one dexy!! Op you do know how wide trailer fenders are right? Freaking huge. I mean yeah you can trim them and stuff, but you also have to determine what your time is worth. They might be cheaper at first l, but by the time you get everything right you will probably have spent a whole mess of hours on it
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Old Nov 22, 2017 | 06:53 PM
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Originally Posted by Martlor13
Haha good one dexy!! Op you do know how wide trailer fenders are right? Freaking huge. I mean yeah you can trim them and stuff, but you also have to determine what your time is worth. They might be cheaper at first l, but by the time you get everything right you will probably have spent a whole mess of hours on it
True, but you could likely buy one, and split it lengthwise, and have one for each side.

The one he's talking about is 8" wide, leaving 4" per side for contouring.
The dual axle one is 10" wide.
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Old Nov 22, 2017 | 07:11 PM
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Originally Posted by Ozark Mountain Ranger
They are steel so I imagine they can be welded on. I imagine it cannot be difficult to trim the flare to the line of the body and welded on.
Have you ever welded sheet metal? It's not really a beginner project. So much easier to just drill and pop rivet.
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Old Nov 23, 2017 | 06:56 AM
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Originally Posted by TRCM
True, but you could likely buy one, and split it lengthwise, and have one for each side.

The one he's talking about is 8" wide, leaving 4" per side for contouring.
The dual axle one is 10" wide.
That was my thought too. With a good Jigsaw and a couple blades, one pair could be split into four flares in about 30 minutes. But they also make these same fenders in plastic if one would rather have plastic.

Last edited by Bugout4x4; Nov 23, 2017 at 07:03 AM.
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Old Nov 23, 2017 | 09:56 AM
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I really like this idea. Most are 16ga which isn’t too bad if there only 4” wide or so. It would be easy to weld them to some 3/16” so they look like Hooligans or Rusty’s metal flares. With a grinder and cutoff wheel you could cut them in half easily. The trick would be getting the closest radius to our fender openings, especially the rear. Not much room for error there. But you could cut the edges, reshape and bend them and re-weld them. Definitely a good starting point.
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Old Nov 23, 2017 | 11:25 AM
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Originally Posted by Bugout4x4
That was my thought too. With a good Jigsaw and a couple blades, one pair could be split into four flares in about 30 minutes. But they also make these same fenders in plastic if one would rather have plastic.
Originally Posted by zr2toxj
I really like this idea. Most are 16ga which isn’t too bad if there only 4” wide or so. It would be easy to weld them to some 3/16” so they look like Hooligans or Rusty’s metal flares. With a grinder and cutoff wheel you could cut them in half easily. The trick would be getting the closest radius to our fender openings, especially the rear. Not much room for error there. But you could cut the edges, reshape and bend them and re-weld them. Definitely a good starting point.



Pfffttt.........amateurs...............plasma cutter was what I was thinking (or maybe bandsaw).


The mentioned methods will work, just take a lot more time.....LOL. That's why I don't use them anymore.


.

Last edited by TRCM; Nov 23, 2017 at 11:28 AM.
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Old Nov 23, 2017 | 11:35 AM
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Originally Posted by TRCM
Pfffttt.........amateurs...............plasma cutter was what I was thinking (or maybe bandsaw).


The mentioned methods will work, just take a lot more time.....LOL. That's why I don't use them anymore.


.
Absolutely easier with better tools like you mention. lol But know what is kind of cool about this source as a starting point? The original Military Jeep wheelwell shape is the only "Vehicle maker design shape" they copy. In either plastic or metal, how could we be so lucky that these are already shaped in the Jeep design as an option? They really would be a very inexpensive start to work from already shaped correctly.
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Old Nov 23, 2017 | 11:46 AM
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Originally Posted by TRCM
Pfffttt.........amateurs...............plasma cutter was what I was thinking (or maybe bandsaw).


The mentioned methods will work, just take a lot more time.....LOL. That's why I don't use them anymore.


.

well yeah, if I had either one of those😃

i would love to get a plasma cutter but I’ve got to wait a while, too many other things needing my 💰
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Old Nov 23, 2017 | 01:04 PM
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I believe someone on here has made some out of the trailer fenders. They actually came out good.
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Old Nov 23, 2017 | 01:06 PM
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https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f58/sh...flairs-229399/


found it
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Old Nov 23, 2017 | 01:18 PM
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Thanks for the link. Those came out pretty good. I think I might try welding them to some plate, then bolt them through the fender with some bracing.

My napier flares have been repaired a lot over the years. They still look okay but I want something like the hooligans or rustys
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