Chopping Rear fender

[xjrugger]

On my 88 4 door i have cut plenty of fender, but now i am going to chop at the rear. That little piece that is in between the rear tires and the taillights seems very vulnerable, i see a lot of members have cut it off, but is that piece there for any structure or rigidity or can i cut it and have no problems? Its my DD so i need it to be right. Its that piece under the gas door with the trim on it.

 

[Pat]

there is some structure there. do not just cut at the top of that area. make a cut (horizontal) a couple inches up from the very bottom of the body there. then make vertical cuts at each corner, and fold the 4 flaps you now have into a box. your new lower edge is the body line about an inch below the taillight. i used sheetmetal screws to hold it together at first, then had it welded up. looks good, no probs here.

HTH.

Pat

 

[Starboard M]

:gee: Pat, do you have any pics? My feeble mind can't picture this

 

[ChuckD]

http://home.comcast.net/~cdutke/qtrpan/qtrpan.htm

http://home.comcast.net/~cdutke/qtrpan2/qtrpan2.htm

 

[Big Red]

Looks good Chuck, nice clean lines. I'm going to do that on mine soon. It is a vulnerable spot to wack. I bet the impact would crunch the rear window when you bang it on rocks.
Troy

 

[xjrugger]

does look good, ill follow that example. It just seems that much damage could be done in that area so why not eliminate the problem. Thanks

 

[Pat]

:gee: Pat, do you have any pics? My feeble mind can't picture this

unfortunately I don't have any online pics of that...I had a feeling that wasn't a very good description! I did mine differently than Chuck, either way will work, I think it's just personal preference. Although, it looks like he has a flat plate up there above his little 1" flaps. I didn't have to do that because my flaps were a few inches longer and fully covered the area...

basically that rear section is a three dimensional V with the ends boxed (one end is in your wheel well, and the other is facing your rear bumper). cut the bottom of that V off, about +-2" above the very bottom edge. now you can look up inside the body structure. next, on each edge of the "pointless" V, make a vertical cut up to that body line about an inch below the taillight. thats 4 vertical cuts there. now fold your ends up, then the flap closest to the gas tank, and finally the flap closest to you (like closing a cardboard box). fasten how you like, I think welding is a good idea.

once you get in there and do it, I think it will become more obvious...

Pat

 

[xjrugger]

will do

 

[Big Red]

How many people out there have done this mod with good results/bad results, please post your comments. I'm getting ready to Durabak my ext and want to decide whether to cover this area, or cut if off to eliminate body damage. I plan to do the harder trails in Northern California like the Rubicon, Fordyce, Barrett Lake, Swamp Lake, etc. Please post your experiences with chopping off the lower fender behind the rear tire and before the bumper.
thanks..Troy