Genright or Motobilt highline fenders?

[SilverBullet]

Looking to do highline front fenders, and am in between the genright and motbilt fenders. Other than the genright fenders having the aluminum option are they worth the extra money? I’d be doing inner fender and all. What do you got and what do you prefers and why?

 

[Apparition]

Another option would be Crawltek.

 

[SilverBullet]

I

Another option would be Crawltek.

Id really like to keep a flare of some sort. If they had an option for like a 4” flare I’d be all over it

 

[Apparition]

I

Id really like to keep a flare of some sort. If they had an option for like a 4” flare I’d be all over it

No problem just wanted to mention them incase you were unaware. I figured that may be the case.

 

[Plumber1]

Genright

 

[Blake Stamper]

Genright and go aluminum, it costs more but you’ll probably end up like me wishing you didn’t get steel to begin with and then not only will you have to go through the pain of uninstalling all the work you did but now your new pretty steel fenders are only worth half what you paid for so you’ll end up spending more money than if you would have bought aluminum in the first place

 

[gogetter]

Another option is DIY highline fenders:
www.higherground4x4.com/Tech/Highline/HigherGround4x4_Highline_Instructional.pdf

Note: you may need to copy/paste the hyperlink in your browser to navigate to the pdf.

 

[Artsifrtsi]

There are also these... but not aluminum
https://undercoverfab.com/tube-fenders-/104-ucf-highline-front-tube-fenders-for-jeep-tjl.html

 

[Plumber1]

Genright and go aluminum, it costs more but you’ll probably end up like me wishing you didn’t get steel to begin with and then not only will you have to go through the pain of uninstalling all the work you did but now your new pretty steel fenders are only worth half what you paid for so you’ll end up spending more money than if you would have bought aluminum in the first place

So true when I got mine I ordered the steel front fenders. When they arrived I thought these things are heavy as hell, I returned them and re-ordered the Alum version and were much happier when the replacement fenders arrived.

From Genrights website

Aluminum fenders are a great way to save weight, only weighing 9.3 lbs each, compared to the steel version, which weigh 21.75 lbs. each! That's over a 24 lbs. reduction!

 

[NskLJ]

So true when I got mine I ordered the steel front fenders. When they arrived I thought these things are heavy as hell, I returned them and re-ordered the Alum version and were much happier when the replacement fenders arrived.

From Genrights website

Aluminum fenders are a great way to save weight, only weighing 9.3 lbs each, compared to the steel version, which weigh 21.75 lbs. each! That's over a 24 lbs. reduction!

Do you know what stock fenders weigh?

 

[PNW_LJ]

Thought I would bring up the aluminum version of the Motobilt highline, available in a 0", 2" or 4" flare.

https://motobilt.com/products/jeep-...cT9AF2i1mMuRnQxsxZFMSn0Rxo0Saub4jn3IQxXm8yZvB

For those of us that want/need a flare, this is the only option other than GR for an aluminum highline. Nemesis is a no starter IMO, if only because it only accepts an Optima battery, and their flares look like a clear afterthought.

 

[PNW_LJ]

Unlike the GRs which use a tube for the outer edge, these fenders have a right angle bend. This means the bend seen here cannot be 3/16" 6061 T6. I would assume they are probably 5052-H32. Not necessarily a downside, since as Blaine has previously stated here, the 6061T6 fenders are more than strong enough to tweak the tub when hit.

The Poison Spyder aluminum fenders that were discontinued in 2017 had a similar design, that was prone to cracking from normal use (pics below).

Forum posts from then say it was happening mostly on the passenger side of the 3" tapered model. They were surface welded to the back side of the fender which annealed the aluminum and changed its heat treatment.

 

[PNW_LJ]

I reached out to Motobilt, and asked whether their fenders were redesigned to fix the cracking issues of the Poison Spyders. This is the response I got:

"Welded both inside and out unlike other mfg’s. Our design is similar but different. We have a specific area and tooling designated to MFG our aluminum products to keep cross contamination from happening. We also use a combination of pulse GMAW and GTAW to help with heat. To my knowledge there have been no issues with our design or weld process. We not only use a specific material, but a specific filler wire to mitigate cracking. That being said, nothing is bullet proof. This is also 3/16" thick aluminum."

I lack the understanding to tell if this will or will not help with the cracking issue. Does someone more knowledgeable have some insight?

@mrblaine @AirborneTexasRanger

 

[AirborneTexasRanger]

I reached out to Motobilt, and asked whether their fenders were redesigned to fix the cracking issues of the Poison Spyders. This is the response I got:

"Welded both inside and out unlike other mfg’s. Our design is similar but different. We have a specific area and tooling designated to MFG our aluminum products to keep cross contamination from happening. We also use a combination of pulse GMAW and GTAW to help with heat. To my knowledge there have been no issues with our design or weld process. We not only use a specific material, but a specific filler wire to mitigate cracking. That being said, nothing is bullet proof. This is also 3/16" thick aluminum."

I lack the understanding to tell if this will or will not help with the cracking issue. Does someone more knowledgeable have some insight?

@mrblaine @AirborneTexasRanger

Using GTAW or pulse GMAW has very little to do with controlling heat when compared to the welders ability to actually weld

 

[jjvw]

Using GTAW or pulse GMAW has very little to do with controlling heat when compared to the welders ability to actually weld

Is this a similar example of hand-waving that the new Savvy is employing to distract from their questionable (re)designs?

 

[PNW_LJ]

Using GTAW or pulse GMAW has very little to do with controlling heat when compared to the welders ability to actually weld

Gotcha, thanks.

Does using this special filler wire and welding inside and outside help with this?

 

[AirborneTexasRanger]

Is this a similar example of hand-waving that the new Savvy is employing to distract from their questionable (re)designs?

Probably, but keep in mind that not all fab shops are created equal. Meaning that their intent is to be better but the skill level isn't available. In my experience, welders/shops that aren't held to established industry standards for structural, pipeline, pressure vessels, etc. are mediocre at best. There are exceptions to this & I'm not trying to call anyone out.

Gotcha, thanks.

Does using this special filler wire and welding inside and outside help with this?

Yes, the filler metal must be compatible with the base metal & the intended application. Welding on both sides can make the joint stronger, but unlike steel, aluminum welds are significantly weaker than the base metal.

 

[mrblaine]

I reached out to Motobilt, and asked whether their fenders were redesigned to fix the cracking issues of the Poison Spyders. This is the response I got:

"Welded both inside and out unlike other mfg’s. Our design is similar but different. We have a specific area and tooling designated to MFG our aluminum products to keep cross contamination from happening. We also use a combination of pulse GMAW and GTAW to help with heat. To my knowledge there have been no issues with our design or weld process. We not only use a specific material, but a specific filler wire to mitigate cracking. That being said, nothing is bullet proof. This is also 3/16" thick aluminum."

I lack the understanding to tell if this will or will not help with the cracking issue. Does someone more knowledgeable have some insight?

@mrblaine @AirborneTexasRanger

I am somewhat appalled at the complete lack of any intuition whatsoever as to what you expected them to say.

Oh, well, you see, we designed our stuff to crack and we have done nothing to mitigate the failures we see in other product either through design or manufacturing practices.

Seriously, what the fuck did you expect them to say? That and there is nothing we can say or extrapolate one way or the other as to whether or not the fender is or is not sound. If we say it will crack, 10 shitheads whose rigs haven't left their driveway since the fenders went on will jump in with pics that show theirs are perfect. If we say they are good to go, someone will post up something bad just to prove everyone wrong. For someone who has been on the internet as long as you have, you sure forget how this works pretty easily.

 

[inkedrose]

Looking to do highline front fenders, and am in between the genright and motbilt fenders. Other than the genright fenders having the aluminum option are they worth the extra money? I’d be doing inner fender and all. What do you got and what do you prefers and why?

Motobilt has aluminum now too. Motobilts are cut back so you have more room behind the wheel as well. I just went through similar debate but non highline. Ended up with Genright just because I liked the way the edges roll instead of fold. Don't think you can go wrong with either

 

[Mike_H]

Is this a similar example of hand-waving that the new Savvy is employing to distract from their questionable (re)designs?

Their whole answer was a non answer. They may have well said, “Trust us, we know what we’re doing, no further questions”
Come to think of it, it sounds a lot like the answers given by Bender when he was active for a short time