I'm starting a link project and would like to get as much wheelbase as I can fit onto a full body. Staying street legal but not dd. I'm thinking of fitting TJ flares and cutting the sheet metal a little to stretch out the wheel openings.

I know it's probably not in the cards to shoot for 100" wb without full comp cuts, but what can be done? Are there any good examples of comp cutting but somehow staying street legal? Seems like covering the tread would be fugly. -- Bill

rocky road doesn't get a lot of good press on here, but I do think they have one of the best looking sets of mudguards. They're made by bushwacker and I think rockyroad might be the exclusive distributor for the samurai mudders from them.

I like the look of Bushwacker flares too, but they're intended for stock wheelbase. Don't see how they'd help.
-- Bill

Aside from mudflaps, I don't think you'll get bothered about tire coverage in California.
Travis..

Actually, it will be mostly a trailer queen in California. But I want to run a lot of paved mtn road in Colorado, and while recently camping there, my campground host got a $200 ticket for minor tread stickout (maybe 2"). Some people I know from Utah had a similar experience, and that's one of my favorite off-road states.

Unless someone comes up with a better idea, I'll choose between staying conservative on wheelbase & width OR "clip-on" fenders to an exocage installed only when absolutely necessary. Talk about ugly.

I'm really hoping one of you guys has a better idea.

-- Bill

i think if you folow the line of the stock cutout, the 6" bushwhacker would still follow your lines. How much do your tires stick out the sides that need covering?

It's not so much the width I'm concerned with as stretching the wheelbase when I link the suspension.

I'm sorry, my bad. I was thinking width and upper travel clearance. You'd have to do some custom work to cover the wheels. I havn't seen anything attractive in that department.

Bill, here was mine with TJ flares and 84" wb. Rear pushed back 1" to center rear axle in wheel opening with 35's. Front pushed forward 3", so as to use stock steering. Last picture was after one of my many rollovers. 3 barrel rolls with an endo at the end. Good side view though and you can see front shoulder harness's used in the rear seat area. Hope that helps ya some.

Here's how I landed after that roll.:laughing: You can lengthen the body to get the wheelbase and still use TJ flares. Here's mine when I first went to coils and a couple I did for others, several years ago. Look at my profile and threads started, to found the builds on them. Good luck, Bill.

I was thinking this morning on my way to drop off my kids at school.... the bushwacker uses rear jeep flares on the samurai kits for front and back. the rear is closed on both ends of the well. It used to be that you had to order 2 jeep kits to make one samurai kit.

If you look at the front flares... you can see them in Okie's post... the front of the flare is open, allowing you to scoot the wheel up quite a bit. If you put front flares in and cut off the front of your fender to clear the extended wheel base and you put a reverse set of front jeep flares in the rear with the cutout facing to the back, it would allow you plenty of clearance. You may have to put some flaps back there though, depending on how far out to the sides your wheels stick .

They started selling the samurai kits to rocky road with just the rear sets of fenders, so maybe they have a lot of fronts in stock and can sell you 4 of them... or maybe if you hooked up with someone looking for just the rears, you two could go in for 2 sets and they take the rears and you take the fronts.

and while recently camping there, my campground host got a $200 ticket for minor tread stickout (maybe 2").

So he was plated in Colorado? If so, they got a right to ticket him and make it stick...

HOWEVER...

What IS required is whatever the state YOU are plated in requires. So if Cali doesn't require flares or flaps, no other state can. Yeah, you *might* get a ticket from some dip-shit pig that never heard of the "commerce clause" or state sovereingtry might try, or some states have an "unsafe vehicle" catch all statute that they might try to bust your balls on. But as the basis, if your rig is legal in the state you reside/register the truck in, another state can not enforce their DOT/DMV requirements. If that was the case, everyone entering Balifornia on vacation would need to meet CARB requirements.

For example, NY has no lift laws at all OR tire coverage requirements unless the truck is plated as Commercial. Got passenger plates? Then the sky is the limit. When we go to Massivetwoshits to wheel, we get hassled all the time by the fuzz, as their laws are whacked. If you know your rights, they almost always back down, usually saying something to the effect, "I could give you a ticket if I wanted to." The few dumbasses that do, you go to court (I'd just give it to my lawyer and make them spend a lot of their tax dollars for them to lose anyway).

Even better, take the ticket and IGNORE them. Straight from the NYSDMV website, The NYSDMV does not record out-of-state violations committed by NYS drivers in other jurisdictions. The exceptions are alcohol-related violations, drug-related violations, and moving violations committed in Quebec or Ontario. Under special agreements, traffic convictions in Quebec or Ontario are recorded on NYS driver license records and carry points. Except for violations in Ontario and Quebec, points are not added to your NYS record for out-of-state violations.

If you do not respond to a ticket or fail to pay a fine for a moving violation that you committed in any state except Alaska, California, Michigan, Montana, Oregon or Wisconsin, the DMV suspends your NYS driver license until you respond to the ticket or pay the fine. If a driver from a state except these six states fails to respond to a traffic ticket issued in NYS, their driver license will be suspended until the driver responds to the traffic ticket in NYS.



Simply stated, respond to the moving violation ticket stating that the other states DMV/DOT requirements do not and can no apply to a auto legally plated in NYS and that is the end of it, regardless of what the other state says. If the ticket is a equipment violation, NYS says you can ignore it COMPLETELY, and nothing will come foul to you on your license and/or registation.

Further, I can run willy nilly in California, speeding and such, never pay the tix and get away with it, and vice versa.

Honestly, I feel sorry for the folks in states that have such outragous inspection requirements. Okay, I don't, but I sound sympathic.:flipoff2:

Bill, here was mine with TJ flares and 84" wb. Rear pushed back 1" to center rear axle in wheel opening with 35's. Front pushed forward 3", so as to use stock steering.

Yeah Robert, I previously printed some pictures of your car. At 84", that's the minimum wheelbase I'm considering. Now your car made me think. Those front TJ flares are mostly open at front, kinda like a comp cut. What if I took a second pair of TJ fronts and mounted them backwards on the Sami rear? That would give me something like a comp cut at both ends and perhaps allow for a longer wheelbase. I'd have to relocate the fuel tank and mess with the steering, but maybe I could get say 90" wb out of it and still be fendered. Pretty similar to what Baratacus was suggesting. I suspect it will be some time before Bender can get my car started, so I've got (too much) time to think about it. -- Bill

ps Baratacus. On my Rubicon I run cheapie 7" flares from Collins Bros. I think I paid $125 the set of four, and I have two sets of spares in my garage. Those Bushwackers are way too expensive for this project. If you EBAY search for TJ flares there are a number of inexpensive sets. Dunno if anyone will sell fronts only...I suspect they arrive in boxed sets from China.

My answer is one I thought I saw on here, I plan to visit Princess Auto ( not sure what you guys have) for the Trailer fenders, they are a heavy guage and if you get the ones for the Dual wheel you can shorten them or remove one end for comp cut.

Bill, I ran Sahara flares that were an inch wider. Someone sells a 7" wider TJ flare for a good price. And they hold up good. I'll find out the brand name if you want.


The red stretched Red Zuk above was for Reflexx, here on Pirate. He lives in California and you can pm him. Ask him what kind of job he got for me. This way you keep the gas tank in the stock location and have more cargo space.