Project Overview:

Originally, I planned on putting on flares later during the protection and recovery phase of my project list. However, once I did a test fit of my new tires, it became quickly evident that I would need to move them up in my priority list, or I would be faced with some serious tire rub issues.

Before

After

Product Selection:

This one was pretty easy to choose. There are other fender flare manufacturers out there. Some are even less expensive. But I liked the way they looked, and I've heard plenty of positive feedback on them. (You don't get to be the #1 in your product without having good stuff.)

So I shopped around on the Internet and found the best price. Then I called up Quadratec and held them to their price matching guarantee. No problems. I ordered the flares on Tuesday and had them that Friday. Nice.

Other Notes:

If you want bigger tires - I mean much bigger tires - you need to be prepared to do some fender trimming. If you can't stomach the idea of cutting sheet metal, perhaps you should consider smaller tires. These flares don't necessarily add room for your tires, they just keep you legal by covering them.

As a reference, here are measurements of ground to fender height from stock, lifted and lifted with flares. The flares really don't add much height. The real gain is in the front and back of the wheel well opening to prevent tire rub.

Installation:

	Before I installed my lift, I took some measurements of stock axle and fender height. I wanted to get a frame of reference for just how much lift I was getting. To build the same frame of reference for this project, I'll be using the same stock average fender height of 30.5".
	After putting on my lift, my new fender height was 40.75" (average). That's a gain of 10.25"! Although I'm using fender height as a reference, it's really not the significant factor here. Most fender rubbing occurs at the front and back of the fender, not along the top. These fender flares take the most material from the sides of the wheel well, not the top edge.
	Once I had my lift on, I took my Jeep to a loading dock to test flex a bit. Just as expected, I had some serious tire rub issues. I never even reached full flex before it started, so some fender trimming was definitely in order.
	As soon as I got home I started pulling off the stock fender flares and door trim. Since the Bushwacker flares cover parts of the rear door and all of the back of the front fender, you have to remove the door trim as well. You could leave the front door trim on, but it would look stupid.
	There are brackets holding the rear bumper corner pieces on. To fit the rear fender flare on, I had to remove these. I drilled the rivets and pulled the bracket off. Then I removed the trim panels in the cargo area to vacuum up the other half of the rivets. (I didn't want them rattling around while I was driving.) Since the sheet metal underneath these brackets wasn't painted, I had to paint them later.
	Next I removed the front bumper corners and the chin spoiler. Although the fog lights are still down there (for now) this also helped improve my approach angle.
	Then according to the instructions, I marked the cut lines. Notice that all the cutting is in front of and behind the wheel well, not along the top.
	Despite what the instructions said, I had to cut a bit more material out. I cut off about 1/2" off of the top and a bit more off of the front and back. This kit is for pre-97 Cherokees, so I knew the instructions might be a bit off from what I actually needed to do.
	Once I had all the material cut away that I needed to, I held the new flare up and marked the holes. It's a bit tricky to hold it in place and mark the holes, so I only marked enough to hold the flare in place. I then drilled those, installed the flare, and marked the rest.
	Next I mounted the new fender flare. Since I still needed to paint the metal surfaces underneath, I didn't tighten it down yet. I just put it on to see if I was happy with the fitment. The front bottom edge hung down about 1" from the bottom of the fender. I figured it was because it was for the pre-97s. It may cause problems later when I install a new front bumper, but for now it's fine.
	According to the directions that came with the kit, you have to cut away enough material to fit this "dog leg" on. But that leaves you with very little material holding the rear quarter panal and the wheel tub together. That really reduces the strength of the unibody.
	This is a view from inside the cargo area, looking down into the space between the wheel tub and the quarter panel. As you can see, there's a lot of daylight shining through there. What's really stupid, is that the "dog leg" is designed to cover the gap between the wheel tub and quarter panel. But if you didn't install the dog leg, there wouldn't be a gap! So I decided not to install it on the other side.
	I wanted to keep dirt and water out of the gaps between the body panels. So I picked up some expanding foam and filled them all liberally. The foam cures hard so you can cut off the excess. I'll keep any eye on this area to make sure I don't start getting any excess dirt or water in there.
	With all the cutting, grinding and gap-filling done, I did a test fit of the rear fender flare.
	After I cut the front and rear fenders on the right side, I matched them on the left side. (With the exception of the dog leg portion on the rear fender.) Then I smoothed everything out and masked it all to paint it. I used trash bags instead of newspaper because newspaper is porous and can actually transfer paint onto the covered area.
	I painted each fender with some rust inhibiting primer and satin black. Nothing fancy. Just enough to keep the rust away. Again, I'll check these areas later down the road for any signs of rust. If I have to, I'll take it to a pickup truck shop and have some bedliner sprayed in.
	At this point, I needed to attend to the areas on the quarter panels where the rear bumper corner mounting brackets were. Since the brackets were riveted on and then painted, there was no paint under them. I wasn't looking to make a show car here, I just wanted it to look decent and prevent rust. I prep sanded with 320, 450 and 600 grit sandpaper.
	When I was done prep sanding, I masked the tail lights and cleaned the area to be painted thoroughly. The whole bottom of the quarterpanel that the bumper corner used to cover was poorly painted. So I decided to paint the whole bottom section.
	Using some paint that I had left over from my dash and door trim project I painted the sanded area. The primer is clear, so it's very easy to blend the paint. I put on 2 light coats of primer, 4 light coats of the color-matched paint and 2 light coats of clear coat. I didn't sand between coats at all. And I barely even waited for each coat to dry before applying the next coat. I would have to remove the rear flares later to cut, buff and wax the paint.
	While drilling the holes for the left front flare, I had the scare of a lifetime. I pulled out the drill bit and a clear, unidentified fluid startd pouring out of the fender! I almost soiled my armor. I immediately stuck my face next to it to smell if it was gasoline. Luckily, it wasn't. Long story short: the window washer fluid reservoir is sandwiched between the fender and the engine compartment bay wall. I actually drilled two holes in it to mount the front flare. I was very disappointed that the installation instructions didn't warn about this. This was way too scary to omit. Luckily, the self-tapping screws that hold the fender flare on seemed to plug the holes in the reservoir.
	After all the measuring, cutting, sanding, foam-filling, sanding, masking, painting, leaking and test fitting, I finally got all four (six, actually) flares installed. The end result is a lot more room for the tires at the cost of some structural integrity of the unibody, the risk of water and dirt inside the fenders and quarter panels, and a potentially leaky wiper fluid reservoir. That's the price you pay for running bigger tires, I guess! I also don't like how the tires are hidden inside the flares a bit now. Wheels with less backspacing would be good, but I think I'll fix it with some wheel spacers down the road.