Steel or aluminum fenders?

BigClay

BigClay

Knower of useless ZJ things
Joined
Sep 24, 2008
Location
Winston-Salem
OK, I need new fenders for the TJ. Should I go with steel or aluminum? I know aluminum is lighter but won't it get pretty gouged with all the rocks and tight wheeling around here?
 
How often do you hit the fenders? If regularly, steel would be a little better. But are you talking fenders with a tube lining the outside or all formed sheetmetal?
 
Your fender looked fine to me. Just replace the lens and run it.
 
jeepinmatt said:
How often do you hit the fenders? If regularly, steel would be a little better. But are you talking fenders with a tube lining the outside or all formed sheetmetal?
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I try not to hit them often, but I have now crunched both on trees at Big Creek. I am looking at the Poison Spyder defender series, so it is not tube, but 3/16" plate all around
 
shawn said:
Your fender looked fine to me. Just replace the lens and run it.
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:lol:



20161023_103635.jpg
 
Not sure about material, but I would go with some of those higher clearance fenders and cut the hood.
 
This is a very biased attempt at comparison:
DeFender_Comparo-400.jpg

The tube is thinner, but is structurally totally different than a formed steel plate. I'm too lazy to figure it up (and it would be too involved with too many variables), but I would guess the tube on the outside would be only slightly more prone to denting, and overall less prone to major bending and deforming because its a full tube instead of effectively being c-channel. But both should serve just fine and be way stronger than factory sheetmetal. Personally, I don't like the lines of the off the shelf stuff. Its either too square (big 90 degree corner) or too contoured and doesnt give enough tire coverage. Heres the lines I used when I built some a few years ago:
alh5-googleusercontent-com__wdq7zt33iqa_tqi0adhaxli_aaaaaaaab79b54d57b64ac250390c300cf1dfda7fc-jpg.118765


More pics here:
TJ Hi-Line with Tube flares

I think something like that in bare aluminum would look great with a steel bolt on rub rail painted black or blue to match your jeep. Maybe MarsFab or somebody could build em up for ya.
 
CasterTroy said:
:lol:



View attachment 230219
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<shrug>

I have one that looked worse than that when I bought the Jeep.

Run it.

Metal Cloaks are fucking ugly.

But if you insist on wasting good money on some fenders, at least have the sense to buy something that covers the tire. Running fenderless only works on something that never gets driven on the street.
 
I had the same question when I was brainstorming mine.

After completing a DFMEA, outlining the desired MTBF, and fully vetting the load cases, I remembered that saying something is made from aluminum gets you more imaginary internet respect from dudes you don't know... So I went with that.
 
backspacing for wheels on my jk was around 3 inches never had to worry about hitting anything but tires for most part, now the xj it don't even matter
 
BigClay said:
I thought about that, but with no flare, I am thinking I would get assaulted with mud and rocks
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You will. I ran without flares for a while. Got tired of getting mud and rocks on everything inside. Once I put the flares back on, I realized how much I had missed them.
 
I ran MC's on my LJ, they are pretty light for a steel fender. I cant imagine an aluminum fender would be that much lighter and worth the extra coin. They actually were lighter than the OEM ones cause they run an aluminum inner. I didnt run a flare though, just the regular overlines so that probably added to their lightness
 
Mine are steel. They are the DIY fenders from BTF. My welding skills suck, but I'm happy with them and they didn't break the bank like some of the other ones on the market. I never put the side marker lights anywhere, but the front turn signals I installed JK turn signals in the grill.

IMG_0104.JPG
 
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