Flat Fender Your Jeep

There are many reasons for cutting the fenders on CJ's and Wranglers, I have cut them off to get that little extra room for articulating (or because I have beat them up from trying to go a little to far). Some people just want the look of the old flat fendered Jeeps to go with different themes and packages that we have done for them. In any case there are different reasons for doing the job we are showing you here.

This CJ-5 will be getting flat fendered for a couple of reasons, as you can see it has a little rust and a large set of tires that need a little extra room to travel. Since the rust has gotten as bad as it has and the fact that this Jeep only really sees the trails, we figured getting rid of that unsightly cancer would serve a couple purposes. The fenders were getting weak from the rust and the fact that when we were out wheeling and kept hitting them with these tires it wouldn't be long before we couldn't salvage them so we went ahead and cut them.

1) To do this job we basically needed only a few tools to get started. We used a die grinder with a cut off wheel attached, a grinder and a couple of screw drivers for removing the turn signals from the front as well as a marker or chalk stick for marking before we cut.

2) With a marker or a chalk stick we drew out the approximate arc that we wanted and had room for. You want to make sure that your arc is going to clear the areas you want removed and not get into the fire wall.... i.e. Don't make your cut too far towards the passenger compartment.

3) Once you are confident of where you are going to make your cut it's time to get started. You will want to go at it slowly and have some cool water around to help keep the metal cool ( if you try to cut too much at once or too fast you will heat the metal up and the paint will blister). Cut the side off first and it will give you a nice visual of what it should look like when you are done. This will also let you see if you want to take a little more off or not (it is easier to make another cut versus trying to put metal back on if you have cut too far) so it is better to draw your lines a little lower than too high if you are not sure how much you want to take off.

4) With that done, work your way around the front. We found it helped to take out the turn lamps to give us a little more room to hold the tools we were using.

5) Once you have the first side done it is time to move around to the other side and get started. At this point you want to do whatever you can to insure that both sides are even and going to match when you get finished. If you have to measure it or stare at it until you eyes go blury (just kidding) do so. The last thing you want are two uneven fenders giving your Jeep a look like it as sitting crooked so again, check, double and triple check your lines before you start cutting on the other side.

6) Now that you have both fenders cut you are going to want to cut off any sharp edges or smooth up any lines that were less than perfect from the original cut. With a grinder you can easily and quickly shape those rough edges and clean it up for the final steps. Again make sure not to do too much too fast or you may heat up the metal and blister the paint on the remaining parts of the fender.

7) Under normal circumstances you would want to put some primer on the bare metal after cleaning it up to prevent any rust from starting. Once the primer is dry and ready you can take a little touch up paint and cover up the primer and put the finishing touches on the fenders. Reinstall any lights or anything else that may have been removed to do the job and you are ready to hit the trails again with a little extra room to move those tires or just a new look.