Took an angle grinder to the XJ today!

"yamahog" (yamahog) 05/24/2014 at 20:01 • Filed to: RedneckEngineering

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A few months ago, I picked up some 31" MTs for the XJ. Between my lift and removing most of the plastic trim (fender flares, bumper caps, wheel liners) there wasn't any rubbing on the road, but this is a mud truck, so she needs a little more room for flexibility on the trail. I also threw in some new wires since I did all the spark plugs last week.

I realized once I got underway that I didn't take a formal "before" picture, but I've posted some !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

Step 1: Tape off stuff you don't want sparks flying onto.

Step 2: Use a metal cut-off disc on your angle grinder to hack awaaaay at the front fenders, the back ones have to be !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! due to pinch welds. Wear eye protection, gloves, and long sleeves. This picture shows the results:

After all that, I ground down the rough patches and took it to the car wash before applying the adhesive trim. Woo, flexing on the tiny little curb! Much more space now.

After adding adhesive trim to the fenders for a nicer finish, a small photo shoot:

Muddin' tomorrow!

whoarder is tellurium > yamahog 05/24/2014 at 20:43

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Looks really nice, and retains an OEM look.

Your boy, BJR > yamahog 05/24/2014 at 20:54

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This blue thing. What is it? Another XJ?

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > yamahog 05/24/2014 at 21:03

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Wear a face shield, not goggles. Cutoff wheels and grinding disks can shatter with out warning. Earmuffs or plugs are a damn good idea, too.

yamahog > Your boy, BJR 05/24/2014 at 21:26

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Yup, my neighbor's 99. It's stock so it makes a nice contrast

yamahog > whoarder is tellurium 05/24/2014 at 21:28

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Thanks!

TheD0k_2many toys 2little time > yamahog 05/24/2014 at 21:58

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What year and how big of a lift? I can fit 31's on my 91 with no trimming. I also dont know how big of a lift it is on it tho...

yamahog > TheD0k_2many toys 2little time 05/24/2014 at 23:47

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Mine's a 97 with a 3" lift. Apparently in 96 they closed up the wheel wells a bit so my 31s just barely fit, but it was a little too close for comfort to me.

TheD0k_2many toys 2little time > yamahog 05/25/2014 at 00:49

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Oh gotcha. Also the MI rust has taken some of the fenders off for me :)

yamahog > TheD0k_2many toys 2little time 05/25/2014 at 07:38

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Haha yea :) somehow mine is pretty rust-free, but I'm glad I took off the bumper end caps because that's where the worst of it was hiding.

TheD0k_2many toys 2little time > yamahog 05/25/2014 at 20:34

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Thats nice! buy it from down south?

yamahog > TheD0k_2many toys 2little time 05/25/2014 at 22:25

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I think it's actually been a MI car its whole life, but the first owner babied it for 14 years so that helped.

TheD0k_2many toys 2little time > yamahog 05/26/2014 at 15:01

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Ah yes mine was off roaded its 20+ years

Garrett Davis > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 08/12/2014 at 09:06

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Too true, though I still haven't learned my lesson and I still just wear goggles. I caught a piece of dremel composite cut off disk in between my knuckles one time. It was about a centimeter long and buried itself deep enough that I needed someone else to fish it out with tweezers.

Extremely painful, and yet here I am still just using goggles. I'm an idiot.