Roll Your Fenders
After cutting my front fenders twice because of my 33’s flexing up into them, I was ready to cut them a third time. However, thanks to Eric (OOC), I got the idea to roll them instead. Not only would I get more clearance for tires, but I would lose the sharp edge that had put some cuts into the lugs of my tires.
Let me warn you, if you want t keep your XJ looking nice, my method may not be the best. But since my fenders were already wrinkled and dented, it didn’t really matter much to me. All I ended up using was a small 2×4, pliers, hammer, and some flat black paint.
Now you have to figure out how high you want to roll them over. Once that is decided, I started out with the pliers and bent the fenders back a little, all the way around. This gave the metal a little crease that would help me pound them over the rest of the way. Then I took the small 2×4 and held it on the inside of the fender lined up with the crease. Next I hammered the fender so that it bent over the corner of the small 2×4, while following the crease I had made along the fender.
Then all I did was sand away some of the chipped paint that was caused by the fenders being bent, and shot the area with some flat black paint to prevent rusting. I’m happy with the results…..and as a bonus, the fold has helped make the fenders more rigid and not as flimsy as they were before.
