High-Fenders

[TJDukit]

Anybody ever use the pre-bent stuff from Jeeptubes.com?

I want to do high fenders on my TJ and drop back to stock springs to keep the 33's. Then do a MML, and flat skid. Trying to keep the TJ as family friendly as I can.

They've got tubes for fenders, tubes to add on to my sliders and tubes for bumpers if I wanted to go that route and all of it together would cost about $600 including the corner guards from Mt. Logan Off-road. Then I would really only need to buy the sheet metal and I'm sure a few other little things.

I could do the gen-right bolt on kit which is all fine and great for $1700.

The problem with that is I don't own a welder yet. So for about the same initial investment(not including my time) I could build my fenders and buy myself a welder finally.

I like the idea of the Jeeptubes stuff since I don't own a bender and if I were to buy one I'd have to go through that learning curve.

I'm pretty certain I'm going to go with their stuff but any input if anyone has used or seen their stuff used would be great.

 

[mbryson]

I used their rear TJ flare tubes on my quarter panels. I did have to make some customizations for my rig/flares but they worked OK.

From looking at the Poison Spyder stuff in my garage and the T&T stuff I won at Crawlfest, I might go with a vendor like that for just the workmanship. I won a Metal-something or other discount coupon that was for body armor. I've got everything I need, so I was trying to figure out what to do with it. I'm sure I could be persuaded out of the coupon. It's for $100 off their products... (looking at the crawlfest thread to find the exact name of the vendor)

 

[TJDukit]

I love poison spyder and T&T stuff. I just don't think I can squeeze any bolt on stuff into my budget and still get a good welder. From the looks of your pictures from Crawlfest the rear fenders look ok. I'm sure with the stretch and all it was a little more difficult to get them to match up well.

I'll have to do some more searching from my computer, everytime I find anything that has to do with jeeptubes stuff at work I can't see the pictures.

I've still got a couple months before I get home, so plenty of time to get this all figured out.

Thanks for the offer on the coupon though.

 

[morty]

http://www.jeepsunlimited.com/forums/showthread.php?t=418633&highlight=highline
Look at this does not get any cheaper

 

[TJDukit]

http://www.jeepsunlimited.com/forums/showthread.php?t=418633&highlight=highline
Look at this does not get any cheaper

I literally just finished reading that thread over on pirate. It's something to think about for sure for the front at least for a short term solution. The only problem with going that route for me though is with my last TJ I laid it on it's side a few times and smashed my fenders up a lot.

I guess if money dictates I could concentrate on the rears with crusher corners and to the front on the cheap for a while. At least if I do decide to go that route I've already learned a couple of little things not to do.

 

[gertsch]

A freind of mine just drilled new holes and made some mods to his existing stock fenders and raised them into a high fender kit like aev's kit it was pretty easy to do and it turned out rather well.

 

[RockChucker]

you might check out rokmen. their high line tube fenders are cheaper than genrights, and include inner fenders. i think with a 4 inch flare they are around $550

 

[eatrocks]

i just installed the AEV highline kit better the the genright and list is only 200 more and you get the hood

 

[anderson750]

I don't have the high line fenders, but I have a set of the T&T 4 1/2 inch flare tube fenders and the fit and finish are great on them. They come with all the brackets you need to mount them included and their customer support was great when I was having a couple of problems getting them lined up correctly (due to me not thoroughly reading the directions). They also give you about 1 1/2 inches of extra clearance behind your wheel.

 

[TJDukit]

i just installed the AEV highline kit better the the genright and list is only 200 more and you get the hood

The problem I have with the AEV kit, while it does look good it provides no protection. I can't justify spending $2K on it only to be scared of denting it up.

I think I'll probably end up just modifying my stock front fenders to raise them up and do crusher corners in the rear with tube flairs. Then I can save some money to get some good quality high tube fenders with a flair for the front. I'll just have to decide which fenders I want to do so I don't cut the hood too much when I do the stock fender mod.

My wife isn't a huge fan of me cutting up the hood but she'll get over it in time.

 

[GOAT]

Anybody ever use the pre-bent stuff from Jeeptubes.com?

I want to do high fenders on my TJ and drop back to stock springs to keep the 33's. Then do a MML, and flat skid. Trying to keep the TJ as family friendly as I can.

They've got tubes for fenders, tubes to add on to my sliders and tubes for bumpers if I wanted to go that route and all of it together would cost about $600 including the corner guards from Mt. Logan Off-road. Then I would really only need to buy the sheet metal and I'm sure a few other little things.

I could do the gen-right bolt on kit which is all fine and great for $1700.

The problem with that is I don't own a welder yet. So for about the same initial investment(not including my time) I could build my fenders and buy myself a welder finally.

I like the idea of the Jeeptubes stuff since I don't own a bender and if I were to buy one I'd have to go through that learning curve.

I'm pretty certain I'm going to go with their stuff but any input if anyone has used or seen their stuff used would be great.

I would take it to a local fabricator and have them make exactly what you want.

 

[TJDukit]

I would take it to a local fabricator and have them make exactly what you want.

Well I could do that but then I wouldn't be able to justify buying a welder with my wife.

With that said I've already got my welder lined up as soon as taxes come back it will be ordered. The way I figure it since this will be the true start of my fabricating it's a good idea to start out on something like this before I get into doing my own links and such. I'd rather make sure I'm proficient enough before I start toying with safety items.

I already know how to weld from all the classes I took in high school but it has been a while so I am a little rusty. Another thing is I want to be able to look at my Jeep and say "I built that". My last TJ was all bolt on stuff aside from a few brackets to weld in for the lift and that was great and all but I don't want to go that route on this one.

I know that going this route will be more difficult and time consuming than having someone else doing it or buying bolt on stuff but in the long run I will be much more proud of my end product. Even if there are some things I simply can't do and end up having to outsoruce.

 

[TJDukit]

I do want to say thanks to all you guys for the input. My final decision won't be for a few months so who knows how many more times my mind will be made up on what I need or want to do.

 

[mbryson]

From the above, I'd suggest getting a spare hood from someone even if it's slightly damaged and making the first hood a "trial"

 

[TJDukit]

From the above, I'd suggest getting a spare hood from someone even if it's slightly damaged and making the first hood a "trial"

I've gotten plenty of practice with cutting sheet metal and reading what has happened to other people when they have cut theirs I've already learned the lessons I need for cutting the hood. I'm actually not the least bit scared of cutting away a little sheet metal. I'm a firm believer in measuring multiple times and cutting a little less than needed the first time if i'm not totally sure.

 

[TJDukit]

Well it looks like I might have talked the wife into letting me buy the complete kit from gen-right(or at least the money is free for that much). I've really wanted to install this kit on a TJ for years but hadn't had the TJ and then didn't have the money. If I decide against the gen-right kit I'll just order front and rear high fenders from somewhere else.

The only kicker is I have to buy her a junker car to get back and fourth to school with since she is tired of driving my truck around and paying for gas. This also means I get my baby back from the evil clutches of the wife. She has been driving my truck around since I bought her the Jeep and she discovered she didn't like driving it.

This means I will not be getting the welder as planned but that's ok because I know I will be getting the quality I really want. I also don't have to worry about me trying to build something and being unhappy with it.

I'll probably order a spartan locker at the same time and just not tell her about it.

 

[Cascadia]

I loved my Gen-right hi tube fender kit I got. Everything lined up great andit looked great. The only issue was when I trimmed the hood there was always a little bigger gap between the grill and hood than the sides or than the stock look. It wasn't anything I did wrong, it's just how it played out. Take a look at my old build thread(Cascadia LJ Build) to see what I'm talking about. I have a YJ now and I'm looking for another set of tube fenders for it but I'm thinking about not going with a hi fender this time since it most likely won't be street legal. I'll probably go with a Smittybilt tube fender with no flare.

 

[TJDukit]

Those fenders look great. That is a pretty sweet build and I remember you selling the LJ a while back.

After running the numbers, I think I'm going to go with the Gen-right high fenders with a four inch flare for the front and smitty built corner guards with their flares for the rear. I've already got sliders so that frees up a bunch of money for some pro comp bumpers, a spartan locker and some tube doors. My wife really wants some tube doors to make her feel more comfortable off road.

I've run the pro comp bumpers on my old TJ and loved them and the price is awesome.

Hopefully everything will work out right and I can have all this done by the middle of April.

I already ordered a steering box skid. At least this thing will be pretty well protected so I can smash it around a little.

When I do finally get home I'll have to do a build thread.