[matsonian]

Originally Posted by Firekite

Back on topic:

Fenders arrived today at the office. I need to get them home and unbox them. I'm planning on getting together tomorrow afternoon with a few friends and starting the process.

Looking forward to it!

[UltimateCC]

I just lost my yj to a roll over but looking for a LJ now and as soon as I pick one up a full set of f/r and rockers will be ordered ...can't wait

[techna]

Got mine today too. It looks like they will have to stay in their boxes until Sunday though as it looks like I will have company for the weekend. As much as I love the Jeep, when given the choice I'll take the company of the girlfriend with the soft, curvy, squishy parts over the one with the hard, angular, metal ones every time.

Firekite,
Did you order rears too?

[CCJ]

Originally Posted by techna

Got mine today too. It looks like they will have to stay in their boxes until Sunday though as it looks like I will have company for the weekend. As much as I love the Jeep, when given the choice I'll take the company of the girlfriend with the soft, curvy, squishy parts over the one with the hard, angular, metal ones every time.

Firekite,
Did you order rears too?

I swear if neither of you get this done by Monday I'm gonna crap bricks.

[Deacon]

Looks like the fronts only for me, at least for now.

[CCJ]

Originally Posted by Firekite

Looks like the fronts only for me, at least for now.

Ok, I'll allow it.

[Deacon]

Well, it's storming here, and for whatever reason my ISP seems to be having a hard time, so I'm posting this from my iPhone. I was just going to say that I did the install today, and it's complete. Aside from some inner fender item placement issues on the driver side due to differences between model years, everything went very smoothly. I'm very impressed, actually. Until you see them in person, you don't realize hoe nice they really are and how much attention to detail there is. Pics and full write up to follow, and the next major wheeling trip to break them in is on the 17th and 18th at Long's Ranch near Marble Falls, TX.

Hopefully my Internet connection is back tomorrow. Now, though, I sleep...

[CCJ]

Internets work yet? Do I need to get in your server? LOL

[0blcktj6]

Originally Posted by CCJ

Internets work yet? Do I need to get in your server? LOL

x2 I've been dying to see this writeup!

[Deacon]

I don't know that the complete write-up will be done today. I didn't get to sleep until after 3:30 AM and have spent most of today sleeping or watching the Cowboys lose.

[0blcktj6]

Originally Posted by Firekite

I don't know that the complete write-up will be done today. I didn't get to sleep until after 3:30 AM and have spent most of today sleeping or watching the Cowboys lose.

PICTURES, PICTURES, PICTURES!!!



I have been waiting forever to see a head on shot of these with a 12.50" tire so please indulge me!

edit: and don't feel bad..the Jets lost too...

[Deacon]

Well, I went ahead and stayed up late to finish this. I hope it helps!

OK, so this is the write-up of my experience with the install of the MetalCloak arched fenders with 6" removable flare on my 2006 TJ (which started out life as an X). For reference, I talked my buddies Jeff and John into helping out, and we did the work in John's backyard shop, as he has a much, much bigger toolbox than I do, and air tools are always handy to help things go faster, especially in hard-to-reach areas.

Both Jeff and John have much more wrenching and fabrication experience than I do. John has a CJ7 he's building into a monster crawler, and he's got the Gen-right tube fenders for it, so he's done this kind of thing before, whereas I have not.

For reference, one thing I thought was very cool is that MetalCloak gives you the cell phone number of an engineer to take your calls during install in case you run into problems. I ended up having to call him once or twice, and he was responsive and helpful. This is a bit of customer service I think is a little above and beyond the call of duty. In other words, if they didn't offer it, I wouldn't really think to expect it. It's a very nice touch and a clue that if I end up having some sort of problem down the road, I feel like I can rely on them to address whatever it may be.

The instructions are in the form of a downloadable PDF from their web site. They were mostly pretty descriptive and helpful, but for someone like me, the occasional order to "mount the widget" isn't as ideal as specific steps required to do so. I'm a little slow on the uptake, I admit, but still. Also, the pictures, while better than only text, are very small. I realize this helps keep the whole file down to a trim 325KB, but still, it would be nice if maybe there were a version you could download that had much larger resolution pictures, even just 800x600 would be better. That said, there was little that was too difficult for even me to figure out when you took what they said, looked at the little picture, and then stood there squinting at the Jeep, deep in thought. On those handful of occasions were it didn't seem to click immediately, there was usually a brief "OH! Ok, I got it." moment after just a bit of thought.

Overall impressions were that this system is very well researched and thought out, and it's very well made. By that I mean that everything slotted right in, fit right the first time, and everything felt and seemed solid. To quote John, "They went on a ****LOAD easier than the Gen-rights. I'm serious. You have no idea. Does this guy make stuff for CJ's?" I did have some problems with the fitment of items on the driver's side inner fender, as apparently on my 2006 model there were some variations from their shop TJ regarding the vacuum pump, windshield washer bottle, and horn. Thankfully, though, they were solved fairly easily by simply marking and drilling a couple extra holes, easily done on the aluminum inner fender. We also took a spare scrap of aluminum and bent it over at an angle to make a bracket for the water bottle. The passenger side with its fuse box and air box and such went on without a hitch.

All necessary hardware was either included in the package or were re-used from the Jeep itself, though those were just the bolts that secure the fenders to tub and grill and the clips that go on the battery and accessory/ABS tray brackets. They included quite a few extra nuts, bolts, and washers, which was nice, as it sure beats the hell out of coming up a few short (including the ones you accidentally drop and never can seem to find again). The only thing missing was an allen key of the right size to fit the fender flare bolts. I guess this is a minor thing, but it would've been nice to not have to dig around for one that happened to be the right size. The fenders package includes the battery tray, accessory tray, and the inner fenders, and for John with the Gen-rights on his CJ, they made the whole thing. Now he laments that MetalCloak doesn't make them for a CJ! He doesn't have any inner fenders on his, and he doesn't like the idea of driving it like that. As for the battery tray (we installed the passenger side first), he stuck it on there and said, "Oh, ****, they just go right on there." He seemed puzzled that he didn't have to do anything to it to make it fit right

Alright, so let's get it on with the pictures. I'll take some more when the weather clears up (we've gone from drought all summer to now getting record levels of rain this weekend). If there are any pics missing, let me know. I took a total of 130 pictures, so there may be something there for you that didn't make it into the thread. All the pics are clickable, as they link to larger resolution versions.


PACKAGING

The boxes arrived from MetalCloak courtesy of UPS from northern California to south Texas, and all the parts arrived intact and unscathed. Both boxes fit into the back of the Jeep with the back seat out and angled up onto the spare (I have BESRK's rear bumper/carrier), but they got a little bit squished in the process. But still, nothing major:




I was very glad I didn't have to wade through a sea of packing peanuts or chisel my way through that spray-in foam stuff. It was just thoroughly wrapped in a couple of layers of that dense white foam sheet stuff (whatever you call it) and then bubble wrap. It seemed to have done the trick.





If you order the optional flares with the fenders, they fit them together from the factory (including some anti-seize to help keep the stainless steel bolts from galling) as part of their quality control process to make sure everything's right before they ship it off. This makes my life a lot easier, since I don't have to find out something's wrong as I'm in the middle of putting everything on. Here they are in the box:





And the whole contents of the package, including a box full of stickers. One note on the stickers: the red hexagon logo stickers were fairly large. I'd like to have one or two thrown in that were the smaller version, like the ones stuck on the boxes, as they would fit better on my windshield where I plan to put other vendor stickers (and my NRA member sticker).



Overall, the packaging was well done, the box included everything I needed (minus printed instructions), and nothing arrived damaged.


INSTALLATION

Here are a couple of quick "Before" shots, to give you an idea of what we're working with here:





And one that includes Jeff starting in on removing the various pieces from the inner fenders:



For reference, in case you didn't already know, the factory flare extensions will need to come off. I never really liked them anyway, and they'll have to come off to install rocker guards regardless. It's dirty under there...



I was pretty amazed at how quickly and easily the stock fenders came off. That's what I love about Jeep The accessory tray (which apparently holds the ABS stuff for you people with that option) is held on by a bracket which you need to kind of work to get out as you remove the factory fender. You won't use it again, so don't worry about it:



The windshield washer bottle was unplugged and set aside. Careful, when you disconnect the hose it'll start a fountain of windshield washer fluid draining out. Slide a cap over it or tape it off (or just empty it into a container). Everything else we zip-tied to the bars that run from the tub to the grill.



On the passenger side, I had a custom wiring loom running to the headlights and the giant wiring for the winch that was all tied up with the fuse box and wrapped/zip-tied around other stuff, but it was still pretty easy and simple to take everything out. For the batter tray, it helps to have a long extension for your 10mm socket to get that little chuck/holder thing off. Which you'd know if you've ever changed your battery, unlike me.

Note that you can keep your stock air box. You do NOT need to go spend more money on useless-at-best snake oil--err, a "cold" air intake. The stock box bolts right back down to the new inner fender.







There's some sort of sensor box thing that's connected to a little hose and held in place under the battery tray. For whatever reason the holes didn't line up right on the replacement battery tray bracket that came with the fenders. We ended up making it work at an angle. No harm no foul, I guess.

[Deacon]

Continued...




The bracket for the battery tray fit effortlessly...almost like it was made to fit



Getting the fender itself on there is really a two-man job. Three is nice, but not necessary. Someone's got to hold it while someone else threads in the bolts. I don't have too many pictures of this process because we were thinking more about the fenders than the camera, but it wasn't difficult. Just remember not to crank down on any bolts until everything's lined up and installed. First you loosely affix the inner fender to the back side of the grill (next to the radiator), and then you lift the fender into place and thread in the bolts on the side of the grill and on the tub, with the inner fender on top. All the holes for the inner fenders and the fender body itself lined up perfectly the first time.

For reference, if yours came with flares attached, go ahead and remove them before doing this, as it makes them a little lighter and easier to manage.

Here's a shot of Jeff installing the factory hood latch before everything's actually bolted down:



The stock airbox bolts back down to the inner fender using a straight/flat bracket (included) and uses the factory bolts.



The fuse box bracket bolted right down with no issues, either. Everything lined up perfectly. By the way, I took this opportunity to degrease and clean up the fuse box bracket and battery tray. I even hit the battery tray with some rattle can engine enamel to help put off corrosion a little longer, since there were some parts that were worn to bare metal under there. It sure looked pretty, but it's hidden under the battery.











Here's a good side shot of the inner fender, and you can see John's running the fog light wiring down through the hole in the inner fender placed in about the same spot as on the factory fender, so all the wires can stay the same size, a thoughtful touch. You can see how it's cut out for the shock tower and frame, but in my case I've got a 1" body lift, so there's a small space there.



All clearances and spacing were spot-on with the exception of the arched tube itself, which touches the hood in a small spot where the rear welds are. Apparently it's necessary for clearance or something, but it'd be really nice if it were an quarter or even just an eighth of an inch further outboard so as to give it a little space so it doesn't wear down the paint and powder coating where they meet. It's not something you really notice, and it doesn't look wrong to a passer-by, but it's still a problem. Talking to the engineer about it, he said some TJ's touch, some don't (gotta love a Jeep), but since mine does they're going to send me a couple small pieces of self-adhesive stainless steel foil that goes on the lip of the hood at that spot to keep it from rubbing away at the paint and exposing the steel underneath. Good customer service, once again.













By the way, notice that little round plastic plug next to the stylized M logo in the front of the fender? That's where their new LED marker/blinker lights solution goes. I've got it on order, but apparently they're tweaking production issues, so they weren't ready to come with the package itself. I don't know what it looks like, yet. Personally, I'd much rather lose the M cut-out and put a larger blinker light there, maybe a 2" amber LED (or clear LED that lights up amber, even). I don't know what, if anything, I'll end up doing for a side-facing indicator.

And that's pretty much it for the passenger side. Up next, the driver's side!

[2006_Sport]

looks sick firekite. I like it

[Deacon]

DRIVER'S SIDE

Here's a shot from underneath where I'm holding up the inner fender while John bolts it to the accessory tray bracket. It's the last shot of the inner fender in the condition it came from the factory.



Here's an overhead shot of the problem: the holes and slots just didn't line up right for all the driver's side stuff for my model year. The windshield washer bottle had two places for bolts and a tab of plastic off the bottom that fitted into a slot on the factory fender, almost like a rudder or fin stuck on the bottom of a surf board or something. You can see where we tried making what we assumed was the tab slot bigger (it needed to be higher, not wider, but that was the easiest way). We abandoned this venture eventually.



The vacuum pump bracket didn't fit at all. The instructions say you just have to bend one of the tabs a little to get it in the right angle, but this must've been another model year variance, because mine didn't line up with the holes at all. No big deal, really. We just drilled two new holes and were done. Here are the before and after shots of the vacuum pump bracket drilling:

Before:



Marked for drilling:





After:




Mounted:








Now comes the windshield washer bottle. We futzed around with it for a bit trying to figure out how it was supposed to go together before calling the engineer on his cell and talking to him about it. He was confused and frustrated, because he'd just put together their 2005 TJ for the Pomona show next week, and everything fit perfectly, and yet for whatever reason my 2006 was different. Odd, but no big deal. We ended up just taking a scrap piece of aluminum and bending it at about a 90-degree angle and drilling a hole to go with the hole we drilled in the top portion of the inner fender. We ended up just snipping off the tab on the bottom of the bottle. Here's the drilling of the inner fender hole:



And the hole we drilled:



We used one of the holes already present in the inner fender to bolt the home-made bracket to the inner fender. Here are a few shots of the bracket and bottle installation:









There. Done! It went pretty quickly once we realized we just couldn't use the pre-existing holes. It was just, "OK, well, bust out the drill."

The horn bracket didn't line up quite right, either. There's a little finger tab off the side that's bent at a 90-degree angle that fits into a hole on the factory fender and is supposed to help hold it in place. The instructions point out where you're supposed to put it on the new inner fender, but the holes themselves were too far about. Not a big deal, just cut off the tab and bolt it down. Didn't need that little tab there anyway, really.



And here are some shots of it all put together:










Next up... Completion and initial conclusions!