A long-standing debate on every Jeep forum is how various fenders affect clearance at full articulation. Hopefully today I will answer a few questions.
Intro:
This comparison is on my LJ. There are things about my Jeep that are different. Some of those differences will affect the results while others won't. I'll go over them here quickly so everyone can understand what we're looking at.
(If you want to skim over this section, my Jeep has 37" tires, a 4" lift, and a 2" stretch in the front.)
* I do have a 2" stretch in the front. This will affect results slightly since the tire is positioned away from the rear fender arch, if the tire was in the stock wheelbase position there may be additional interference. Only the OEM fender was negatively affected by the wheelbase since it's cut higher if the tire was 2" rearward (I noted this in the results but I would not take this into account for any real-world comparison.).
* 37" Goodyear MTR tires. These tires are inflated to 25psi. For each test I installed the fender with the axle dropped and raised it until the tire touched the fender.
* Geometry. I have a 3-link front with track bar. This positions the axle slightly different than stock. For this test the axle is under articulation.
* 4" Lift. The Jeep is set up for a 4" lift equivalent over stock. At ride, the frame is at 22" the axle is at 18". The test is set up to simulate a 11" shock with 4"-down/7"-up bias.
* 65" WMS Dana 60 axle. The first point of interference on every single test was the fenders. The wider axle seems to have put some favor in for MetalCloak and the position the tires contact, I'd expect worse for OEM width axles. The last difference here is that the Ford style knuckles may scrub a bit different than TJ 30 knuckles - this only effects the turning tests.
* I left removable/flexible flares and inner-fenders out of the tests since it can be argued they'd either be removed for wheeling or be able to be pushed out of the way.
* To be fair with the alignment of each fender I aligned them flush with the bottom of the tub. It may be possible to cheat a little more height out of some.
* All of these fenders were bought with my own money, no special prices or parts were given to me (and yes, I do wish I could return some for a refund...).
Comparison:
OEM: 4.5+1=5.5" up travel - Does not allow for turning / not tested to allow for turning.
(This fender is slightly bent in the front, it doesn't affect these results.)
Jeep clearly designed this fender to work best with the stock wheelbase. With my stretch I'm able to get 4.5" of up travel, if I was running a stock wheelbase I'd be seeing 5.5" of up travel. With some cutting I'd guess I could be seeing even more.
The issue I could see with cutting and using a flare such as MCE is the area in the arch behind the tire at full lock under full articulation. With 37s it hits before full lock.
MetalCloak Arched: 6" up travel - Does not allow for turning / 5" up travel to allow for turning.
MetalCloak actually surprised me a little here. It is a full 0.5" better than OEM.
(@jjvw you can see in this picture that the hood covers up the dirty area. The clean area is what sticks out past the hood.)
MetalCloak surprised me once again with the turning test and consequently I must say absolutely fails at their own claims of being able to run 37s. Their rear fender arch fails to clear the 37" tire even with the 2" stretch. There is no way this could work with a stock Jeep unless you add massive steering stops, combine that with the massive bumpstop extensions and you end up with a miserable Jeep on and offroad.
MetalCloak claims that these fenders have the clearance of a highline, so let's compare to:
Genright highline with 3" flare: 7" up travel.
The tube hangs down on these and is the effective limit, this seems to be a common trait among all highline fenders.
In the turning test the tire hits the top and the back at the same point, again 7".
Conclusion:
Knowing what to look for when choosing the right fenders for your Jeep is important and the marketing from some companies isn't helping.
Intro:
This comparison is on my LJ. There are things about my Jeep that are different. Some of those differences will affect the results while others won't. I'll go over them here quickly so everyone can understand what we're looking at.
(If you want to skim over this section, my Jeep has 37" tires, a 4" lift, and a 2" stretch in the front.)
* I do have a 2" stretch in the front. This will affect results slightly since the tire is positioned away from the rear fender arch, if the tire was in the stock wheelbase position there may be additional interference. Only the OEM fender was negatively affected by the wheelbase since it's cut higher if the tire was 2" rearward (I noted this in the results but I would not take this into account for any real-world comparison.).
* 37" Goodyear MTR tires. These tires are inflated to 25psi. For each test I installed the fender with the axle dropped and raised it until the tire touched the fender.
* Geometry. I have a 3-link front with track bar. This positions the axle slightly different than stock. For this test the axle is under articulation.
* 4" Lift. The Jeep is set up for a 4" lift equivalent over stock. At ride, the frame is at 22" the axle is at 18". The test is set up to simulate a 11" shock with 4"-down/7"-up bias.
* 65" WMS Dana 60 axle. The first point of interference on every single test was the fenders. The wider axle seems to have put some favor in for MetalCloak and the position the tires contact, I'd expect worse for OEM width axles. The last difference here is that the Ford style knuckles may scrub a bit different than TJ 30 knuckles - this only effects the turning tests.
* I left removable/flexible flares and inner-fenders out of the tests since it can be argued they'd either be removed for wheeling or be able to be pushed out of the way.
* To be fair with the alignment of each fender I aligned them flush with the bottom of the tub. It may be possible to cheat a little more height out of some.
* All of these fenders were bought with my own money, no special prices or parts were given to me (and yes, I do wish I could return some for a refund...).
Comparison:
OEM: 4.5+1=5.5" up travel - Does not allow for turning / not tested to allow for turning.
(This fender is slightly bent in the front, it doesn't affect these results.)
Jeep clearly designed this fender to work best with the stock wheelbase. With my stretch I'm able to get 4.5" of up travel, if I was running a stock wheelbase I'd be seeing 5.5" of up travel. With some cutting I'd guess I could be seeing even more.
The issue I could see with cutting and using a flare such as MCE is the area in the arch behind the tire at full lock under full articulation. With 37s it hits before full lock.
MetalCloak Arched: 6" up travel - Does not allow for turning / 5" up travel to allow for turning.
MetalCloak actually surprised me a little here. It is a full 0.5" better than OEM.
(@jjvw you can see in this picture that the hood covers up the dirty area. The clean area is what sticks out past the hood.)
MetalCloak surprised me once again with the turning test and consequently I must say absolutely fails at their own claims of being able to run 37s. Their rear fender arch fails to clear the 37" tire even with the 2" stretch. There is no way this could work with a stock Jeep unless you add massive steering stops, combine that with the massive bumpstop extensions and you end up with a miserable Jeep on and offroad.
MetalCloak claims that these fenders have the clearance of a highline, so let's compare to:
Genright highline with 3" flare: 7" up travel.
The tube hangs down on these and is the effective limit, this seems to be a common trait among all highline fenders.
In the turning test the tire hits the top and the back at the same point, again 7".
Conclusion:
Knowing what to look for when choosing the right fenders for your Jeep is important and the marketing from some companies isn't helping.
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