Flat fender / no fender

purpleTJchick

purpleTJchick

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2005
Location
Durham
Hey guys, I am toying with the idea of flat fender / no fender on the wrangler. the Wheels rub or get stuffed in the fender more then I would like so I was thinking about just getting rid of them.

I have seen some prices out there for prefabbed flat fenders and thought for that kind of money I could do something a lot more useful (like start on new axles, or get a winch) But I have not priced out what it would cost to attempt to make my own, or get someone to help.

Anyone who has fabbed some, how hard is it? what is the price wise for material? Is it pointless with my setup? (slightly mod, details below) What other factors have I not considered?

I have the dana 30 up front, 4.56 gears, RE 4.5 lift, no lockers up front, new HD trackbar, alumiflex tierod. running 35' mtr. And I am debating All new HD shocks snice I have to replace the rear anyways.
 
I did a pair from Metal Fusion Fab in the fall. Their builder's kit is pretty fair priced, in my opinion.

I had a friend who was willing to let me do the welding as a learning experience, so we did all of the work. The fit of the kit is excellent, you just have to take that leap of faith with the sawzall.

Here are a couple of pictures of the finished product.
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We ended up going a little different route from the standard install and we tied the new fenders into the old ones. I'm very happy with the results.

Jeff
 
purpleTJchick said:
Ok, do you have pictures of a straight cut option? I would like for my jeep to be somewhat good looking
edit, nice pics
Click to expand...

Not sure if you're talking about the straight cut fenders or of the other options from Metal Fusion, so I'll clarify how we differed from their instructions. (by the way, you can go to their site and download the instructions, to get an idea of what's involved.)

The standard instructions have you cut the fender along the area under the hood and leave a lip that screws down to the new fender. Instead of screwing down the old fender lip to the new fender, we tacked the old to the new and did some body work to cover the welds. We did the same thing where the old inner fender meets the new sides of the fender.

The Metal Fusion's basic design also uses bolts and tabs to hold the flat body panels on. We opted to fill the bolt holes and weld the panels to the frame. The result is a very stock looking finish, even though we used rattle can rustoleum to finish the paint.

Jeff
 
I am a fan of the $2 flat fender mod:

Before:
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During:
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After:
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This is RenegadeT's Jeep.

DK
 
After building some flat fenders for a friend, I would suggest buying some. I don't like the cut fender look, because it just looks like a project that was started and never finished. With a good bender and someone that knows how to use it building fenders would be pretty simple. Or you could bumpstop it correctly so that you don't tear up your fenders.
 
Flat fendered. zero cost and I love em this way.
 

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x2 on the cut fender look. I would like to have 1" tube cut and bent to run along the lip, but I am fine with how it is now.

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drkelly said:
I am a fan of the $2 flat fender mod:
DK
Click to expand...

x2

thanks to Danny and John for helping me fit the 36"SXs. I can't see spending the big bucks for tube fenders when you can cut what ya don't want out of the way.

I considered getting rid of the fenders entirely, but I liked the idea of keeping at least the innerfender for splash protection to the engine. Hood latching also came into play too, so the cutting began!

We're also lucky to live in a state that either doenst care or is very lenient about wheels sticking outside the flares. Sure, if I get stuck in a mudpit, gobs of goo are gonna rain down on me, gotta pay to play :lol:. The only other time water spray gets me is when I'm going low speed in a parking lot with the wheel cranked hard, otherwise it fine.
 
Sorry to post rob.... ulgyjeepoffroad and got4-lo can yall send me pictures of how your fairlead is mounted?
 
blue torch fab sells a kit for $175 if i remember right... you weld it all up yourself. if you know how to weld... it's pretty easy as long as you take your time and line everything up before you start running beads....

their kit does not include inner fenderwells though so you would either way to cut up your stock fenders to make your own inner fender lining or buy some sheet metal. i used a couple old washing machines i got from behind Lowe's for free

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Here's mine. They are home fabbed. Total cost was around $60 including consumables. It's hard to tell in the pic, but they are DOM tube. They weren't hard to do but it took me the better part of the day to get them to my liking.
ai118.photobucket.com_albums_o101_getstucksome_IMG_4262.jpg
 
We could only hope so!
 
hey purple chick, i'm planning on fabing my own on my yj project. the fenders i have are in good shape so i'm going to just use the inner parts of them and the flat part of the outer edge and do maybe some 1" tube around the edges after cutting them up.
 
Sounds like a good idea, can you take some pictures showing the progress? I am a very bad welder.... but I figure I have plenty of time to practice :)
 
No television show for you then:flipoff2:

Let me guess, URE opening day is when you have to have your jeep done by...

Lauren, dude, learn to get some variety in your wheeling. :shaking:
 
Lauren, on page 80 of the new edition of 4 Wheel and Off Road magazine, there's a full feature on the Blue Torch Fab flat fender kit. Though you must assemble yourself, it retails for $175.00.
 
I made my own using a lil conduit, bender, and a lil spot welding. Bondo'd them up and they look really sweet. I'll try to take some pictures 2morrow and post em up.
 
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