Close up photos of trimmed fenders?

[madmike283]

Hey guys, I'm at 4.5" on 32s with no trimming/stock flares. I've read the threads and write-ups, so I'm not looking for how to do the trimming. I'm interested in seeing some close up photos of the completed job. Most all of the pics look pretty good, but they're from a distance.

I'm planning on running 33s in the future and I know I will need to trim at least some. This afternoon I removed the driver's side flares just to get a better idea of how mine may look. The thing I'm afraid of is cut/folding the rear and how to make it look nice. This is a very clean '01 dark blue and still want it to look great on the street. I understand the door trim for the front and I'm ok with that. How do you make the rear look good as the fold under won't have a slim profile to let the door trim slide over the edge.

Any close ups of some nice and clean jobs? Thanks.

 

[VAhasnoWAVES]

you fold it over and keep the lip. here is mine when i finished it. i also bed lined the side at the time.

its not super close up, but you can see that i kept the first lip of the fender. no door trim needed unless you stop at the pinch seam and dont fold it.

 

[rokk99]

Just did mine this week. This is as about as much as you can take out of a 99 without cutting up the inner fender and welding new metal in for more clearance.

http://s1046.photobucket.com/albums/b466/rokk99/

 

[rokk99]

sorry, new here and had to post to photo bucket before i could embed the images

never mind, that didn't work...

 

[madmike283]

you fold it over and keep the lip. here is mine when i finished it. i also bed lined the side at the time.

its not super close up, but you can see that i kept the first lip of the fender. no door trim needed unless you stop at the pinch seam and dont fold it.

Right, you did the typical slits in between the spot welds up to that seam and then folded all those little pieces under? I just don't see how you end up with such a clean edge without having to cover it with something. Any closer photos from the side? Looks great from the photos.

 

[VAhasnoWAVES]

you work slowly and fold all the pieces over evenly. they true key is to make all of your relief cuts the exact same length. and like i said... work slowly. i then tac welded the corner of every flap down. since i had it all down to bare metal to weld i used a little bit of bondo that i used to fill in the relief cuts and hand sanded it help make a crisp looking edge.:shhh:

id take pictures for you but its dark. may break out the mag light if you ask nice enough.

 

[madmike283]

lol, I won't ask you to do that but I'd be happy to see them if you were so inclined.

Did you fold them with pliers/crescent wrench, or did you beat them over with a hammer/mallet?

 

[VAhasnoWAVES]

used a piece of flat stock i had lying around. it was really hard to apply enough pressure though. i used a hammer and worked slowly. haha.

 

[stumpXJ]

Another option instead of cut and fold, if you want to do a little more work. I have a thread on it somewhere around here..

 

[madmike283]

Another option instead of cut and fold, if you want to do a little more work. I have a thread on it somewhere around here..

Thanks, yeah I saw your thread a little earlier. That's way over my ability, but thanks for sharing.

 

[sunburned]

 

[bails85]

stump the backs come out beautiful. i just did the old slit and bend on mine and i really dont like the way u can see the flaps either. but how the hell r u supposed to bend the slits up without chipping the paint i worked very slow and as soon as i touched it with a mallet or wood the paint started to flake.

 

[VAhasnoWAVES]

i would have LOVED to do what stumpXJ did, but i had only given myself 2 days (off from work) to get it done. cost was under $100 for the wheels, disks, filler, etch primer, and bed liner. since my vehicle is from Va and has absolutely no rust i wanted to take it all down to bare metal, etch prime it, and line it. it was labor intensive, costs me about 10 hours of work each day. but it was worth it to make it look good. i plan to open up the wheel wells more and make 35s look small like my 31s did so i was content with the cut and fold knowing that i would remove it all sometime down the road.

right now, 33s look proper. should be doing a shake down run with them this weekend.

if you dont want to venture into the cut and fold, you can simply cut the lip back to the pinch seam until you feel it is a must to trim more. you could probably remount your stock flairs too if your worried about it looking good or being legal. it shouldnt be a problem with op to 33s.





sunburned: are those 31s? i dont think 33s would fit trimmed to that lineup front. at least with how much my tires stuff they wouldnt, especially at full lock.

stump the backs come out beautiful. i just did the old slit and bend on mine and i really dont like the way u can see the flaps either. but how the hell r u supposed to bend the slits up without chipping the paint i worked very slow and as soon as i touched it with a mallet or wood the paint started to flake.

i would be it has something to do with the condition of your paint. mine bent fine. but i worked super slow. spot weld the tabs down and play with a little body filler to make it look crispy fresh. worked for me. but im anal about looks.

 

[sunburned]

All those pics of mine are with 32's on 15x8 wheels with 4.5" BS and a Rusty's 3" lift. When flexed, the tires would just barely tuck inside the fenders, which worked out great.

Now with my 35's, I'm gonna have to trim at least an inch higher plus bumpstop more because my fenders got destroyed on the last trip out.

 

[austinaubinoe]

Another option instead of cut and fold, if you want to do a little more work. I have a thread on it somewhere around here..

Could you link me to your build, I cant find it.

Thanks.

 

[j33pownr]

My flare rubbed through the paint so i had to paint to begin with so I didnt mind that my paint chipped during the folding process. I would assume yours will too. I fixed it with an orbital sander and some flat black paint.

Final Product

FULL SIDE SHOT 4.5" lift with 33x12.5

 

[REWSTER]

like others say keep the lip on there, my plan was to bedliner the lower body line and over that lip

here is the front

door trim molding worked to make it look good

 

[madmike283]

Thanks guys. I guess I'll have to see a couple in person to get a real good idea of how it will/can look.

 

[stumpXJ]

Could you link me to your build, I cant find it.

Thanks.

Sure, here ya go.

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1011630

I have done several XJs since mine, and it is KEY to use nothing thicker than 18 gauge. Any thicker, and its a BEAR to get it to conform right.

~ Stump

 

[xjtrailrider]

Here is mine on 35's. I can't take credit for the cut and fold, FitchVA did that when he owned it.