Ever since I'd seen the bumper trim by Steakgoddess, I'd wanted to give it a try on my Rene. I just got some new wheels that required a little more room than was offered in the fenderwells, so it was a perfect excuse to get out the Sawzall, dremel, and hit the auto parts store.
Picture links:
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2062875/5
First step was to take the wheels off and examine the Fenderwells:
After removing the Fenderwells, I noticed that I had a lot of mud that had gotten up underneath the black fenderwell linings. I put the tires back on, drove down to the car wash and pressurewashed them clean. Pictures didn't look that bad, but there was a good amount up there. I don't like the idea of junk getting trapped up underneath, so I don't think I'll put them back in.
After washing them, I went home, relocated the windshield wiper reservoir, then painted the interior fender with some spray on bed liner from Auto Zone. The spray was in a spray can. I wasn't expecting too much, just something a little more beefy than spray paint. I was very impressed with the results- I'll have to take pictures of it.
Relocating windshield wiper reservoir:
This wasn't too bad. Removal required emptying the windshield wiper fluid out through the bottom holes. There is a pump and a sensor hole in the bottom of the fluid container. Both plug in to a rubber grommet.
I didn't have a big enough drill to make the same size hole in the new reservoir, so I just filed the hole untill it was big enough to accept the grommet.
The pump wiring required extension to reach the new mounting point.
Next... I trimmed. I used my cordless sawsall. I removed the entire plastic bumper assembly a la the instructions from the tech page:
http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=170
Cutting was easy, but requires a very steady hand- lets say I shouldn't be a surgeon :-p I taped off where I wanted to cut, so this allowed me to make somewhat straight lines!!
I wanted to get some lights installed to replace the stock fog lights, so I picked up some KC Highlights originally. I wanted to mount them on top of the bumper in front of the grill, but decided against it when I looked at the drilling involved. I took them back to the store and picked up some Hella rectangular driving lights and installed them. It was pretty easy, I attached the Hellas to the stock driving light wiring harness and mounted them on the underside of the bumper. They are lower profile, and I haven't hit that area of the bumper much ....yet. We'll see how long they last:
I added some of the door trim to take out the rough edges from cutting:
Liner texture:
All in all- NO rubbing with 31x 9.5" SuperSwampers. Not even on the sway bar.
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Frankenlift
Boulderbars
All J Tranny skid
31x9.5 SS TSLs!
Detroit Truetrac/Powertrax
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2062875