Full Size Jeep Network

Hi,
Hope everyone is staying well, just thought I would share the current project I am working on and maybe give us something else to talk about.
My 1977 Cherokee "S" W/T had the usual fender flare rot in the rear flares and the front flares were kind of banged up so I cut them all out . First I drilled out 10,000 spot welds then I took the sawzall to the rear wheel wells and no more ugly fender flares. I then rebuilt the rear wheel wells with 18 ga. galvanized steel and added a reinforcement strip of 18 ga. steel to the inside of the front fender. This greatly stiffened the fenders and also gave me a solid foundation to attach the new 16 ga. flat fender flares I was going to build. I wanted to create a flare that was similar to the factory flares yet offered better clearance and a more sporty look. I also wanted a turned down and folded over outer edge. So I doubled over the 1 5/8" turned down edge and sandwiched a 1 1/4" x 1/8" thick strip of steel bar stock in it.
Take a look at these pics and let me know what you think.

Looks good. Maybe better than stock.

Howzabout a pic from farther back?

Wow thanks, that's a big compliment. I wanted to design something that captured the true Jeep style of old, yet gave it a new fresh look. My pics are so close in because I have to crop them really bad to get them to load. I can't figure out for the life of me how to shrink the pics down so I don't have to crop them so much.
Here's another pic ,

Got the home computer tech (wife) to show me how to shrink the pics down so I don't have to crop them. For me, working with steel and building custom engines is much easier than operating a computer. LOL
Here are a couple more pics from farther back.

That came out really nice!

Thanks Stuka, I have all four flares done and ready for primer. The pics are of the first one I built and trimmed to shape, I finished the last one today, I got faster as I went. The first one took me two days to figure out the design and angles that I wanted and by the last rear flare it took me half a day to build it from scratch. The doubled over edge w/sandwiched bar stock in it is so stiff you can rock the whole jeep back and forth with the flare and NOTHING moves or flexes.

Wow, those look really good. I bet when they are painted the uninitiated won't have a clue they are not 'original'. Nicely done.

I like them--I like them A Lot! Did you use a Stretcher to make the corners and how'd you do it with the compound angles of the flare?

Thanks for the Positive input to both will e and rocklaurence, I was shooting for an authentic Jeep look, but out of heavy gauge sheet steel, not plastic or fiberglass. More tire clearance than stock flares was a must in the design process, but maintaining some sense of a factory look was also important to me. Also, a very important aspect of this design that I failed to mention is that they are bolt in, meaning they are easily removable and also infinitely adjustable for how much you want them to stick out over your tires from 1 1/4" to as much as 5" if you have put wider axles in or are using wheel spacers for more clearance. What you see in the pics is set at 3 1/2" which is about what factory flares are.
Also, on the doubled over edge, which forms a 1 1/4" x 1/8" channel that the bar stock lays in, to eliminate the chance of corrosion after each flare was completed I washed it out with degreaser and flooded it with 2K Epoxy Primer until it was oozing out of every crevice and after that was cured I shot a thick bead of 3M Heavy Bodied Epoxy Seam Sealer and smoothed it into the open edge of the channel to bring it to 100% sealed.
As far as how I achieved the shape and style of the flares, I appreciate the interest, but I am not willing to divulge my metal shaping process at this time but I did do it all myself, no fabrication shop involved. I will try and get a pic of one of the rear flares installed maybe this afternoon. I don't have a shop, I do all of my work outside as you can see in my pics and its been raining the first half of the day here.

Making any to sell?

I would like to, but I need to fine tune my build process a little bit and also source a good supply of 16 ga. sheet steel. Not all sheet steel is created equal and what I mean by that is I got some 16 ga. sheet from one place and I could hardly bend it just a little on my metal brake. I got a few sheets from another place and it bent smooth and clean. As you probably know, aftermarket STEEL fender flares for full size Jeeps don't exist, but they will when I stream line my process a little more.
Here are some pics of the rear left flare that I took a few minutes ago.

Wow! I hope you dont loose interest and market these Flares.

Looseing interest in custom Jeep parts isn't one of my strong points. LOL
I started sourcing steel today and I have given much thought to my build process and how to stream line it without sacrificing strength or quality.
These will be "MADE IN USA" so they have to be the best of the best in strength and quality.

I would be in for a set! Please post when you are set up for sales!
Spectacular work! You did a GREAT job of capturing the factory look!!

Thanks for the positive interest and input, Steel flares for our FSJ's are long overdo. I am getting things pulled together and I will post when I start production.

These look really great! I agree with SJTD, these may look better than stock.

Thanks for the great compliment, to be honest I have been looking at doing this and chewing on it mentally for about 1 year before I started cutting and bending some steel to see what I could conjure up. I even surprised myself because all four flares came out exactly matching , right and left, on the very first run, no botched first attempts.

I would also be interested as well. These look awesome.

THERMOQUAD wrote: ↑Sun Mar 22, 2020 10:14 am I did do it all myself, no fabrication shop involved. I don't have a shop, I do all of my work outside as you can see in my pics and its been raining the first half of the day here.

I’m not easily impressed. Bravo to you!

Any more updates on this? I might be interested.