Hey gang,
Well, this has been documented before so, I won't go into all the details of the install. If anyone is interested in these, and what it takes to install them, I'd be glad to help. It's not very hard at all. I will make a couple of suggestions if you're going to do it or, are thinking about it. The removal of the entire fender and splash guard is done, on all four fenders. The "splash guard" is the inner fender, for those that are not savvy.
If you've never had to remove those barbed, flat head, plastic panel clips and the like, here's what I suggest. Those can be removed using primitive tools, screw drivers, and whatever you can get that will wedge (must be a fairy thin, sharp wedge device) under the heads of them to pry them off. But, while it will cost just a few bucks, I'd head over to your local Harbor Freight tools and pickup:
1. Panel Clip Pliers
2. Search results for: 'Push pin pliers'
3. 5 Piece Upholstery and Trim Tool Set
While you may not use all these tools in the sets, I bought the set's cause I needed individual tools in them. What the heck, get the whole set, I'll eventually use each and all of them. Yeah, it's a few extra bucks but, I'm here to tell you, LIFE will be SERIOUSLY easier with these. You'll cut your removal of those clips and fasteners time, in half. The Push pin pliers will be used at a later date, when (not if) I need remove any of those four fender/flares for any given reason. If you don't use those, you will most likely destroy the clips (that are supplied with the fender/flares) and, you'll have go buy new ones.
OK, enough on the tools part. Now, for the main course. I'll make this short. We've installed a Teraflex Leveling kit. And, I sort-a goofed up and bought Hancook Dynapro 315 x 70 x 17 A/Ts, mounted on American Racing, Anson Off Road, 17"x8" x 4.25" back spaced wheels. Well, all is well, for the street. But, going off road, even light off road stuff, caused those 315s to scrub the tops of the fenders, especially the rear ones. I beefed up the bump stops with some hockey pucks and that stopped the scrubbing. But, I only had about 1.5-1.75" of free travel in the rear, before the bump stops made contact.
The most important point we had to keep in mind, with whatever remedy that was in store for us was the fact that, we LOVE the way this Jeep drives and handles. All this "Break dive and body roll" stuff, doesn't exist for us. The Jeep has an outstanding ride for us, and that's all that's important.
So, the remedy for scrubbing tires on fenders was to be chosen from three potentials.
1. A spring lift, around maybe a 2.5" - 3" which, entails all the stuff needed that has to be changed, in order for the Jeep to drive and ride, even close to factory handling.
2. Flattie fenders. Those would give an ultra amount of clearance for those 315s and, we'd keep the factory ride.
3. Loose a ton of money by selling the 315s (for whatever I could get for those brand new tires) and drop down to around 285 x 75 x 17s.
Well, I've read countless threads about numerous spring lifts and, the general consensus about ride AFTER just about any spring lift was that the Jeep rode "better". But, pinning down what the term BETTER meant, was like pulling teeth. And, a very large percentage of the folks ADMITTED that the ride of their jeep was MORE HARSH AFTER their spring lifts, no matter who made the lift and, almost no matter what the height increase was. So, needless to say, a spring lift was out as one of our remedies.
Next came the flattie fender/flares. Well, again, I read a few dozen threads on those. Many who responded to my inquiry about them were happy with their choices but, some weren't. In any case, THE WIFE, who also runs the major part of our two person marriage, was/is DEAD SET against any flattie fenders. She (and for the most part, me too) didn't want our $41,000 dollar Jeep looking like some Moab rock crawler. Not that there's anything wrong with that look, we just don't want ours to look like it.
As for dropping down a few sizes on tires and loosing a ton of money in the deal, well, two things. One. even with a chinsy leveling kit, smaller tires look hoakey on there. And two, especially on a JK, you need a larger tires to fill the larger fenders and, provide for a tad bit of extra ground clearance when off roading, depending on your off road capabilities and requirements.
So, that left us with one choice. The Mopar High Top Fender/flares. When I first looked at them, I was not liking the V-notch that lays between the top of the fender and, where the fender is attached to the steel sidewall. But, after looking at them on line and, at another posters Jeep on this forum, the CEO and I decided those were the answer. So, we called our local Jeep dealership.
Guess what, the parts guy said they were back ordered, 880 sets to be exact!!!!!!!!!!!! Whaaaaaaaaaaaaatttttttttt???? Are you kidding me? He couldn't believe it either. He did some checking and, called me back. He said they were not available, in the entire nation. Well, little did he know, we had already done some searching on our own and found them at Quadratech.
So, we ordered them up and, in three days, they were sitting in our garage. Now, the install, is supposed to be around oh, maybe three hours or so. But, I took a bit longer just cause I could and, I was doing other things while goofing around with them. When it's all said and done, the really good part to us is, they look almost exactly like the factory fenders. And that includes the look of the inside fenders too. You re-use those after a tad big of cutting and trimming. From the side of the Jeep, the average person might think the Jeep just has about a 4" lift on it. From the back, not much noticeable difference with the exception that, they cover those tire treads, almost perfectly out to the outer edge of the tire, like the whole tire/wheel/fender thing was planned. It wasn't.
But, looking at it from the front, is the most noticeable in change. And it's growing on me. It gets better every time I go look at it.
But in the end, we gained right at 4" of clearance for tire travel. I am ecstatic. We got to keep the factory ride, gained valuable tire/fender clearance needed and, keep the factory look to boot. I personally can't say enough good about this recent adjustment to our Jeep. I will say this, they're a bit pricey. But to us, being able to keep the factory ride, keep the factory look, AND gain the needed clearance for those 315s, was worth the price. Sorry for dragging this out but, I was just laying out the ground rules for our thought process. We love it.
Scott
Well, this has been documented before so, I won't go into all the details of the install. If anyone is interested in these, and what it takes to install them, I'd be glad to help. It's not very hard at all. I will make a couple of suggestions if you're going to do it or, are thinking about it. The removal of the entire fender and splash guard is done, on all four fenders. The "splash guard" is the inner fender, for those that are not savvy.
If you've never had to remove those barbed, flat head, plastic panel clips and the like, here's what I suggest. Those can be removed using primitive tools, screw drivers, and whatever you can get that will wedge (must be a fairy thin, sharp wedge device) under the heads of them to pry them off. But, while it will cost just a few bucks, I'd head over to your local Harbor Freight tools and pickup:
1. Panel Clip Pliers
2. Search results for: 'Push pin pliers'
3. 5 Piece Upholstery and Trim Tool Set
While you may not use all these tools in the sets, I bought the set's cause I needed individual tools in them. What the heck, get the whole set, I'll eventually use each and all of them. Yeah, it's a few extra bucks but, I'm here to tell you, LIFE will be SERIOUSLY easier with these. You'll cut your removal of those clips and fasteners time, in half. The Push pin pliers will be used at a later date, when (not if) I need remove any of those four fender/flares for any given reason. If you don't use those, you will most likely destroy the clips (that are supplied with the fender/flares) and, you'll have go buy new ones.
OK, enough on the tools part. Now, for the main course. I'll make this short. We've installed a Teraflex Leveling kit. And, I sort-a goofed up and bought Hancook Dynapro 315 x 70 x 17 A/Ts, mounted on American Racing, Anson Off Road, 17"x8" x 4.25" back spaced wheels. Well, all is well, for the street. But, going off road, even light off road stuff, caused those 315s to scrub the tops of the fenders, especially the rear ones. I beefed up the bump stops with some hockey pucks and that stopped the scrubbing. But, I only had about 1.5-1.75" of free travel in the rear, before the bump stops made contact.
The most important point we had to keep in mind, with whatever remedy that was in store for us was the fact that, we LOVE the way this Jeep drives and handles. All this "Break dive and body roll" stuff, doesn't exist for us. The Jeep has an outstanding ride for us, and that's all that's important.
So, the remedy for scrubbing tires on fenders was to be chosen from three potentials.
1. A spring lift, around maybe a 2.5" - 3" which, entails all the stuff needed that has to be changed, in order for the Jeep to drive and ride, even close to factory handling.
2. Flattie fenders. Those would give an ultra amount of clearance for those 315s and, we'd keep the factory ride.
3. Loose a ton of money by selling the 315s (for whatever I could get for those brand new tires) and drop down to around 285 x 75 x 17s.
Well, I've read countless threads about numerous spring lifts and, the general consensus about ride AFTER just about any spring lift was that the Jeep rode "better". But, pinning down what the term BETTER meant, was like pulling teeth. And, a very large percentage of the folks ADMITTED that the ride of their jeep was MORE HARSH AFTER their spring lifts, no matter who made the lift and, almost no matter what the height increase was. So, needless to say, a spring lift was out as one of our remedies.
Next came the flattie fender/flares. Well, again, I read a few dozen threads on those. Many who responded to my inquiry about them were happy with their choices but, some weren't. In any case, THE WIFE, who also runs the major part of our two person marriage, was/is DEAD SET against any flattie fenders. She (and for the most part, me too) didn't want our $41,000 dollar Jeep looking like some Moab rock crawler. Not that there's anything wrong with that look, we just don't want ours to look like it.
As for dropping down a few sizes on tires and loosing a ton of money in the deal, well, two things. One. even with a chinsy leveling kit, smaller tires look hoakey on there. And two, especially on a JK, you need a larger tires to fill the larger fenders and, provide for a tad bit of extra ground clearance when off roading, depending on your off road capabilities and requirements.
So, that left us with one choice. The Mopar High Top Fender/flares. When I first looked at them, I was not liking the V-notch that lays between the top of the fender and, where the fender is attached to the steel sidewall. But, after looking at them on line and, at another posters Jeep on this forum, the CEO and I decided those were the answer. So, we called our local Jeep dealership.
Guess what, the parts guy said they were back ordered, 880 sets to be exact!!!!!!!!!!!! Whaaaaaaaaaaaaatttttttttt???? Are you kidding me? He couldn't believe it either. He did some checking and, called me back. He said they were not available, in the entire nation. Well, little did he know, we had already done some searching on our own and found them at Quadratech.
So, we ordered them up and, in three days, they were sitting in our garage. Now, the install, is supposed to be around oh, maybe three hours or so. But, I took a bit longer just cause I could and, I was doing other things while goofing around with them. When it's all said and done, the really good part to us is, they look almost exactly like the factory fenders. And that includes the look of the inside fenders too. You re-use those after a tad big of cutting and trimming. From the side of the Jeep, the average person might think the Jeep just has about a 4" lift on it. From the back, not much noticeable difference with the exception that, they cover those tire treads, almost perfectly out to the outer edge of the tire, like the whole tire/wheel/fender thing was planned. It wasn't.
But, looking at it from the front, is the most noticeable in change. And it's growing on me. It gets better every time I go look at it.
But in the end, we gained right at 4" of clearance for tire travel. I am ecstatic. We got to keep the factory ride, gained valuable tire/fender clearance needed and, keep the factory look to boot. I personally can't say enough good about this recent adjustment to our Jeep. I will say this, they're a bit pricey. But to us, being able to keep the factory ride, keep the factory look, AND gain the needed clearance for those 315s, was worth the price. Sorry for dragging this out but, I was just laying out the ground rules for our thought process. We love it.
Scott