do you have any pics?

 

No, I was too busy wheeling. Get off my sack. A stock 4 door with a good driver is a totally capable rig. Lines just need to be chosen properly.

I'll make sure I get you some pics of the other totally stock sahara that came on our last run since I'm reasonably nodded now.

 

zing...

I am glad to hear that the 4-door is that capable since I am about to pick one up.

But to the OP, cut them! Better to try cheap and risk saving the money that you were going to spend, and then be able to spend it on something more BA. Especially since if you mess it up, you can just buy new ones which you were willing to do anyway.

 

I would say it entirely depends on what kind of limited off-roading you do...If you're looking at mud deeper than a few inches a suspension lift would benefit you more. If you're doing dryer rocky outcrops/dirt trail just get the flat fenders and larger tires.

As for the trimming that you do not want to do, but everyone suggests, there is a reason they are suggesting it. Flat fenders are going to cost @ least $400, probably closer to $500. If you're unwilling to cut a piece of plastic I don't know how willing you will be to spend 6 hours on an install that would involve more technical skill than using a cut-off saw. Install would be another $50-100 if you were going to pay someone to do it.

Come to Oregon and run some of the gravel/dirt logging roads...You'll want a lot more than speedbumps.....Like new kidneys and an IFS set-up.

 

X2

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk.

 

I appreciate everyones input. But I wasnt looking for whether I should buy flat fenders or chop the stockers. I was just trying to decide if I should lift it or flat fender it. I'm not going to chop my fenders. I have seen some really nice fender chops, it's just not for me on this jeep.

Given my situation I was curious as to which option was better in all of your opinions. That's why I joined this forum.

Once again, thanks for your thoughts/opinions.

Sidenote:
I've taken my stock height sahara jku (with rubi tires) on some challenging trails. It did well, it also scraped... A lot.

 

Very easy to get a quality job on cutting the fenders. If I can do it so can everybody else. I used a 4.5" cut-off wheel and a dremel tool to make the cuts. No need to use the door edge trim, just use a palm sander to smooth the edge after cutting. To cut and sand each fender only takes about 20 minutes. The time is in taping the fenders to get the line that you want.

 

OK, no trimmed fenders.

A lift is going to help you with all of that weight that you've bolted on. The stock wheels will look small with even a 2.5" lift. I think it comes down to what size tires do you want. If your staying stock you may want to just get a slightly higher rate spring to help with all of the weight that you've added.

 

I would say lift. The flat fenders are nice and i might get some myself eventally, but even a small lifts makes the jeep look so much better in my opinion by getting it off the ground, especially with a 4 door.

 

A real easy path is just doing a 1" Body Lift. They are useful to have around no matter what your future path is, take less than an hour to install or remove and will give you options no matter what your future path is. People such as planman and wayoflife have used them on and off with there rigs, inexpensive and versatile.

Not so long ago installed flat fenders, ended up removing my 3" springs for a couple reasons, one being it just looked roller skaty with more clearance than necessary and replaced them with a 1" body lift. Couldn't be happier and have all sorts of options doing something larger than 35s.