Rebuilding rear inner fenders?

[N20Jeep]

has anyone completely rebuilt their rear inner fenders?

i see a bunch of threads where they only cut out half of the inner fender and left the rest.

just wanted to see if anyone knew of any builds that cut it all out and rebuilt the inners from scratch?

[BlueXJ]

No most require the inner fender shape for rigidity. I would not attempt to redo them myself.

[4.3LXJ]

What are your plans? Do they include full width axles?

[N20Jeep]

well, i was going to build a new frame out of 1/4" angle to brace anything i cut out.

i need to cut past the pinch welds anyways for clearence, and since i was going to be doing alot of sheetmetal work for the gastank relocation i figured i would combine both jobs and just redo everything.


ill try to get a pic and show you with paint my idea. but basically cutting out the entire inner fender, welding in a 3/16-1/4 angle iron frame around the opening, including welding the pinch welds to the angle, then building sheetmetal inners and having it all connect to the new housing i will be building for the gas tank.


do you think even with the angle/ sheetmetal welded in that it would compromise the strength enough that i shouldnt do it?

[N20Jeep]

should this be moved to a different section?

[4.3LXJ]

So how big a tire are you wanting to run?

[N20Jeep]

So how big a tire are you wanting to run?

maybe one day ill do 37's.

but for now im rubbing the 35 on the fenders since my rear axle sits a couple inches back. and id like a little more compression


i think it would be fine welding the angle framing to the pinch welds in place of the factory inners. but, i havnt seen anyone rebuild the whole inner, just the back half when comp cutting

[N20Jeep]

actually, here is a good idea of what i want to do. just saw this build page.

http://www.cherokeeforum.com/attachments/f46/46093d1303766977t-6ft-cheater-bar-1-4in-ratchet-posjeepxj-img_20110425_160732.jpg

[LizardRunner]

I'd use thick wall box tubing or thick wall round tube instead of angle iron, just for added strength. You could also use pre-fab steel wheel tubs (Jegs or Summit Racing style). It is my understanding of the Unit body construction that the inner and outer sheet metal should be connected for retaining the strength. I am sure Steve knows more on that than I do. I believe it is alway better to err on the overbuild side. That pic looks like a pretty good start to a strong build.

[4.3LXJ]

OK I see what you want to do. Generally, to run 37s you will need to run full width axles. I get the gas tank thing no problem. The way the fenders are made, you wil notice a joint in the middle of the inner fender. This is joined to a panel that runs vertically up to the window. If you run full width axles, then you only need to tube fender to this panel. The extra width of the axles plus the standard amount of reverse on the wheels move the wheels out far enough to clear the inner vertical panel. This saves you a lot of work, weight and does not compromise the unibody. I plan on running 38s myself and will pursue this plan myself. I have already measured it up for that with the current axle I have for the rear. The best combination for this is the 9" ford and HP D44 from a Ford pickup, a relatively cheap set of axles that will have the strength for those taller tires. If you go that route, you will save yourself a lot of work and have a nice combination that will pay off probably with less money in the long run.

[N20Jeep]

yea, after thinking about it some, im just going to redo the outer half of the inners. i mainly wanted to do the whole thing just for aesthetics, but the amount of extra work to make sure it looks good and is strong is just not worth it.

thanks for the replies though