Motobilt High line fender installation.

In being laid up with a cast I finally decided to tackle my Highline fenders. I figured I could do them mostly sitting down. On my YJ I also have the motobilt YJ boatsides. I have run into a problem. I knew this when I bought them that some modifications would need to be made in order to fit them but I wasn't sure what those would be. Now I know and am looking for advice. The back sticks down about 3-4 inches below the boatside. Unfortunately the flare also sticks below the boat side. Do I just trim it up to the weld of the flare and deal with the rest? Also the front grill is about 1.25 inches lower than where it needs to bolt up to. I am thinking about just a body lift for the grill? I also had to cut the forward portion of the slider off where it bloted to the old fender. So I trim that off to shape and re-weld and bolt it back on for additional strength?

That's is one of the main reasons I went with the 0" Flare because I knew I was gonna have to cut it when I eventually boatside the TJ.

That 1.25" Height difference is weird... When I put my Fenders on a couple months ago the fit up was definitely not perfect to the grill but close enough that I was able to pry it to where it all needed to be. But I would say it was no more than a 1/2" at most. Figured either my grill was a bit bent or the fender was slightly distorted during the welding of it.

Since yours is the Aluminum, it should have enough flex that you can pry it down into position relatively easy.

SoopaHick said:

That's is one of the main reasons I went with the 0" Flare because I knew I was gonna have to cut it when I eventually boatside the TJ.

That 1.25" Height difference is weird... When I put my Fenders on a couple months ago the fit up was definitely not perfect to the grill but close enough that I was able to pry it to where it all needed to be. But I would say it was no more than a 1/2" at most. Figured either my grill was a bit bent or the fender was slightly distorted during the welding of it.

Since yours is the Aluminum, it should have enough flex that you can pry it down into position relatively easy.

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It will flex down but then that puts a curve on the top of the flat fender and also not reach the bottom hole.

kmboren said:

It will flex down but then that puts a curve on the top of the flat fender and also not reach the bottom hole.

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Well thats dumb.

SoopaHick said:

Well thats dumb.

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Yea. I just sent motobilt an email with pictures it shouldn't be that far off.

I had the same problem with my boatsides. I cut the fender up and moved the bottom up and rewelded it on.

RockChucker said:

I had the same problem with my boatsides. I cut the fender up and moved the bottom up and rewelded it on.
View attachment 177151
View attachment 177152

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Looks great. Unfortunately mine are aluminum and I don't have or know how to tig weld.

I’d take it to any of the local builders and have them fix it. Cutting it flush with the boat side and not moving the end piece up would be lame IMO

kmboren said:

Looks great. Unfortunately mine are aluminum and I don't have or know how to tig weld.

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If you can get a hold of a TIG welder that can do it it's really not as hard as you think if you have any tig experience.

Well after talking with motobilt and discussing some possible problems I discovered the side body mounts on the rear by the B pillar where collapsed some. Not sure why or how this happened but this might be part of the problem. I made some plates to place on top and welded them in. Passenger side is done now I need to do the drivers side. Hopefully this tilts the body down allowing the fender to line up more. Working with a bum leg sucks and is probably taking me 10x longer to do anything.

No idea how that kind of thing would happen on the way to church

mbryson said:

No idea how that kind of thing would happen on the way to church

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I’d blame my kid for that, if I were Kevin. 😂

Well got one side 100% done other than the cut and weld that will have to happen in the future at some point. I ended up buying all new body mounts as some of mine were toasted. It seemed to help a little with the fender alignment but still not perfect but close enough to get the bolts in. I also got the inner fender in as well and modified for the ORI towers. I got the driver side fender off but that is were I called it a night.

After I get the Drivers side fender on then both fenders will come off so I can cut and modify the hood and make my draw lines. Getting close and should be done and ready for the memorial run.