I need to open up my fenders a little more and I was wondering if there was a difference between the yj and tj flares as far as the amount of opening they give. The rears look the same and the fronts look different.

What is the best swap?

TJ's are bigger. With the rears you get to cut about 3" and almost the same with the fronts. Don't know about the YJ, A common CJ mod is to mount YJ front fenders and then use the TJ flares on all four corners.

YJ flares are only a little bigger than stock CJ ones

The TJ's give ya much more clearance

If you line up the front of a YJ front flare with the front of a CJ fender you'll open up the fender opening all the way back to the inner liner. This is how I did mine. The YJ front fenders are longer than a CJ's plus the profile of the flare at the back has more of an angle to it than the CJ opening. At the rear the YJ flare is the same as a CJ flare (no tub trimming) but gives you a tad more coverage. The last time this came up I posted a pic of mine plus someone posted a pic of their CJ with front and rear TJ flares. That looked great and as mentioned above with the TJ flares you get a larger rear wheel well opening too. I'll likely switch to the TJ flares someday. That said I'd suggest the TJ flares from the start because you're not gaining anything in the rear with the YJ flares. Do a search for that thread, I wish I could remember who posted the CJ w/ TJ flares on it. Even showed the fender cuts to make them fit. Turned out sweet.

TJ flares work great in the back! that is what i use . http://groupfiles.aol.com/mybreep/jeep/mar31260EaO8H.jpg

I'm sold on using TJ flares in the rear, but I'm unsure about what I want to do with the front.

Thinkin' about flat fendering it......hmmmmm

Originally posted by Jeepinguy:
<STRONG>TJ flares work great in the back! that is what i use . http://groupfiles.aol.com/mybreep/jeep/mar31260EaO8H.jpg </STRONG>

You use a white box with a RED 'X' Wow...

Come Awn.. where's the pic <IMG SRC="smilies/question.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/question.gif" border="0">

I mounted the TJ flairs on my 79 CJ-7 with a glass body last week. The rear flairs were easy with some trimming of the tub. The front fenders got cut a lot and so did the flairs so they would all fit together and flat. The front flair has a high spot on it that goes close to the top of the fender. DON'T get carried away with the saw here or you will cut out too much. Other than that it was an easy swap both the rear were done in an hour and the front took about an hour each to fit trim and mount. It looks good and covers the tires better than the CJ flairs.
<IMG SRC="smilies/jeep2.gif" border="0">

One last thing the stock marker light socket will fit the TJ side light with a little force. You might have to add some wire also, but it will fit.

take off the CJ front fenders, hang some YJ fenders, add TJ flares, have a beer.
The TJ flares fit the YJ fenders better than the CJ fenders, and the opening gets moved a bit for clearance. Do a shackle reversal and lengthen the wheelbase a little for even more easy room.

If you got to run flares the go for TJ cause they look better. I say cut the fenders wide opened cant beat that, the best clearance comes with the help of a sawzall!! <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">

Here is my cj with tj flares.

http://www.noah.myjeeppage.com/images/jeep_dirt.jpg

Here is what I had to cut.

http://www.noah.myjeeppage.com/images/chopped_fender.jpg

Sweet Jeep, Newbie <IMG SRC="smilies/thefinger.gif" border="0">

TJ flares are great for the front of a CJ, clearance gained is dependent on how much work you want to do...
If you get frisky you can wack your inner fender well and push it back in and up several inches, requires welding but adds more clearance <IMG SRC="smilies/smile.gif" border="0"> I'm working on a 2nd set of fenders now, making them flat fender and pushing the flares/wheel well back even farther...but its pieces right now...

<IMG width=584 height=435 SRC="http://www.pirate4x4.com/ubb/uploads/fender_flares2.jpg">

M715

Is your shackle reversal causing your tires to hit the fenders. Or are you swapping in bigger meats?

Thanks for the note Cutter.

Nope even with the shackle reversal I still have a couple of inches clearance...I could easily fit 38s, but my next jump I'm looking towards 39.5s or 42s <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0"> Besides I had a couple of extra rusty fenders laying around i can attack...

Have fun with the bigger tires & fender chopping!! <IMG SRC="smilies/grinpimp.gif" border="0">

That's looks good! How wide are TJ rear flares? (as in how much tire sticking out will they cover?) Is the dealor the only source of TJ rear flares? Cost estimates?

Tim

The TJ flares are about 4 inches wide and I got mine at a Jeep swap meet for 100 bucks for a complete set. I think the guy might ship them I think one of my wheeling buds has his e-mail address if you want it.