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A Bit of Inner Fender Work

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The front inner fender wells of my Jeep are rust free, but the paint has slowly been wearing away from rocks dings and general road grim. So I decided to do a bit of preventative maintenance to protect them from future rust problems, but also to make the Jeep look better in the process. I’ve always felt that the inner front fender wells appeared a bit un-finished, and have long wanted to paint mine flat black.

So now was the time and I spent my Saturday deep cleaning the inner fenders, removing any tar and other chunks of grim, then hit it with my air compressor to blow out as much water as I could after the cleaning. I then let it sit for a few hours in the baking sun, then got to work masking off the areas within. With my rattle can ready, I hit the areas I wanted to cover with multiple coats – with plenty of drying time between each coat.

While the paint was drying I began my DIY project to make a new set of inner fender rubber guards, as mine were 18 years old and looked quite nasty – compared to my new paint job. This was an easy project – basically just laying the older inner fender rubber guards on-top of the new material I had and cut out to fit. A few hours later, I pulled off the masking tape and installed the DIY inner fender rubber guards I made to protect the engine compartment from mud and rocks.

I’m quite pleased with the results.

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DYI Spare Tire Bump

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After installing my new Dick Cepek Trail Country EXP 33×12.5R15 tires and Mammoth Boulder Gunmetal Gray 15″ wheels I found that I wasn’t able to get the tire pressed against the swing-away tire carried as I was able to with my prior tires and wheels. I liked having the tire rest against the swing away – as it helped with bracing the extra weight of the tire.

After a little thought I decided I could make a tire bump… but what to use. The first thought that came to mind was a hockey puck, but there’s not a lot of material to work with to accomplish what I needed. As I stood in my garage thinking about materials I could use and where I might find them –  I noticed the wife’s stake hammer hanging on the wall of the garage.

So I grabbed the wife’s stake hammer and took it to my Jeep to see if it may do the job for a tire bump, and it appeared to be a perfect fit for the job. Next I cut the mallet down the center using a hacksaw, and popped it in halves.

Next was the tough part… how to cut a circular shape in the material. I tried using my hacksaw, but the half-mallet just kept slipping around. I tried securing it in a vice, but that didn’t work either. I eventually decided that it may be easier to carve – rather than saw. So I grabbed a wood chisel and began scoping out the materials until I achieved the shape I needed to wrap the bump around my swing away tube.

I then finished out the shape of the curved with a Dremel to get a nice clean fit. Next I drilled a hole into the bump and my swing away tube. With the hole in the swing away tube – I popped in a rivet nut and mounted up the tire bump and spare tire.

It turned out great and looks like it it came with the swing away.

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Adding New Fenders to my Jeep

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Last week my new fenders arrive for my Jeep. In preparation of their arrival, I hit the tub bolts with penetrating oil every day for a week prior, the others that thread into the plastic backing nuts I hit twice – two days before the job. All the bolts came out fairly easy except one. The one that gave me trouble was related to the rivet nut spinning on the tub. I reached up from the undercarriage and placed some vice grips on it to prevent it from spinning and worked the bolt slowly an 1/8” inch back and forth, then hit it with penetrating oil again. I waited 10 minutes and worked it back and forth again about a 1/4” inch each time, hit it with oil again and waited for 10 minutes. I kept doing this and eventually it came out.

I then used my rivet nut tool to retighten the rivet nut that was loose. As I removed each fender, I cleaned up the area where the fenders attach to clean up the dirt and grim that had collected and clean up the paint. As I reinstalled each new fender, I added a nice helping of grease to each bolt to ensure the next time I remove the fenders – the removal process would be much easier.

It took me 1 hour on the troublesome fender, and 35 minutes each on the remaining fenders.

Best advice I can give to others planning to remove their fenders is… lots of penetrating oil, take your time and if a bolt does not want to come out – don’t force it. Instead take small turns back and forth and re-oil until it begins to come out.

I’m really pleased with the results!!!

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Half door dolly

Jeep Half Door Dolly

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Built this half door dolly this evening so I’d have a place to safely store my half doors and tube doors. I dropped roughly $35.00 at a hardware store for a furniture dolly and a piece of carpet, and the rest of the materials were laying around my garage.

Airing Down

Quick Air Down Tire Stem

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Rapid Precision Valve

This innovative, fast deflation tire valve allows you to quickly dump street air pressure to your preferred off-road pressure.

thanks to the Jeep Gear and Gadgets! Channel on Youtube for sharing this info and video.

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