Thinkin' pretty hard about some TJ rear fender flares

Stoopid Jeep

YJ Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 25, 2021
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319
Location
North Idaho
I acquired as decent set of TJ flares and am considering cutting the rear wheel wells ro fit them.
I know this has been done plenty but with yjs apparently loosing a bit of popularity, I am having a hard time finding a decent writeup.
My inclination is to scoot them back as far as possible leaving the front corner of the opening mostly untouched. This the way I have it mocked up in the pics.

My tub is nice and I'm apprehensive about cutting on it in the first place. I'd sure like to get it right the first time.

Anybody have any tips ot suggestions to do as clean of a job as possible?

A link to a writeup with lots of pics would be fantastic.

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I stopped at a body shop that happens to be owned by jeep people. The owner gave me some great ideas on how to make them fit without chopping up my tub any more than necessary. In fact they should fit with only minimal trimming to the wheel wells.
I'm stoked.
 
Well, the left fender flare is installed.
I didn't trim any of my quarter panel (yet).

On the back of the TJ flare, I cut the lip and alignment tabs flush with a sharp razor knife. That allowed me to move the flare wherever I thought it fit best.
I clamped it on where it looked good and marked the flare where the factory holes are in the body with a paint pen. Removed the flare and drilled it to match the YJ body.
I ended up adding 4 extra holes in the body (1 in each corner) to better secure the flare. **These holes will be visible if the stock flares are ever reinstalled**
I chose to set the flare a little lower than I could have. This required me to cut 3/4" off the bottom of the flare to keep it from hanging below the body, I just liked it setting a little lower.
Finally I shot any exposed red with black spray paint and reinstalled the factory splash guard.

I'll probably end up doing a little tub trimming in the corners, but for now, I have TJ flares on an un-cut YJ. I think that's pretty cool.
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Turns out you can install TJ front flares without cutting the panels too.
Same deal, I just used a razor knife to trim the back of the flares smooth.
After they're smooth, just clamp them in place and mark where to dill. Screw them in place and squirt a little black on any exposed panels that are peaking out.
Again. There are some holes that the factory flares wouldn't cover. That doesn't bother me.
I'm diggin' the new look.
Total cost, $50
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Bonus: the tires completely tuck in the new flares without touching.
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