Because I decided to do this project without a lift kit I needed to do a lot of fender cutting. The main reasons for this was to be original, affordable and I can fit the tyres without a lift so why? Luckily because of my custom radius rods the tyres fit in without rubbing the back of the fender wall (where you feet are). Unluckily the wheel sits to far forward now and rubs on the battery tray area on both sides.

First up I took the front air dam piece off and cut below the bumper.

I then cut what I thought needed to be cut out of the fender. This is what it looked like with the 27mm longer radius rod and no cutting. Then the first cut

Although after that cut I found the tyres would rub the top of the fender. So I measured the shock absorber travel and measured up the fender how far I need to cut.

 

With this amount chopped out the tyres fitted and only rubs on that battery tray area. But because I chopped the flared out part of the fender off the tyres were now sticking out about 55mm. This requires rubber flaring to fix. My brother used this stuff on his 4runner and I quite liked it. And at $13 a meter its a steal of a price.
Using short metal "tech screws" and a hole puncher its a simple job of just holding in place and screwing it on.

I thought while I was at it I may as well set up some mud flaps. And why stop at just rubber flaps when you car go the whole hog and chain them up


using 12x3mm aluminium with some pop rivets and small chain I held the mud flaps away from the tyres so they won't get caught up and ripped off.

The rear clears alright, but does need bump stops to stop the tyres hitting the top of the fender.

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Written by Thomas Paine