cutting for 42"s

[Irork]

Hey guys. Im just about to order some 42" Iroks for the blazer.. and im sorta gettin gunshy. The truck has 6"softrides and a 2 inch body lift. It currently sits on 38.5 boggers and some moderate hackage of the front fenders... no rubs at all. BUT what im afraid of with the 42s, no matter what i do with my good friend "mr. sawzall" im going to be into the firewall pretty heavy. Do you think a couple hits with a big A$$ hammer will do the trick on the firewall enough to limit the rubs or will i HAVE to set the axle forward an inch or two?? Any experience or pictures would be great.

Heres a few pictures to show what im worried about..
this is before my first trim job... but you get the point

after the trimming

and the rear might be a adventure also...

 

[mudboggink5]

I currently have 41" iroks with 9" suspension with fender trim, and the tires rub the firewall at full flex. I would say if you move the front axle forward you should be ok.

 

[thatK30guy]

I'm gonna watch this thread. I'm building a trazer with 8" total lift and was thinking about 42's also.

 

[GEORGIA GABE]

Im running 42s with around a 3-4 inch lift... one inch body and about 3 inches from the 52s... before I was running a 4 inch lift with a 1 inch body and didnt really have any issues with rubbing the firewall.... just cut and hammer and you should be ok depending on your backspacing...
gabe

 

[thedrip]

I'm running 42s on 4" of lift, I can see any way to get around moving the axle forward without additional height or SERIOUS firewall-hammer surgery. My truck gets within a hair of rubbing tires on the firewall.

 

[boz42]

I am running 56's frt & rear & a 1" body lift. My front axle is 3.5" forward & I can still make my 42" tsl's barely kiss the firewall when fully compressed & steering at full lock. I also beat the firewall back w/ a 12lb sledge. How bad they hit can also be corrected by longer bumpstops.

I would say you will need to move the front axle forward & beat the firewall w/ a BFH.

 

[1BEATK5]

6" Skyjackers, lift shackle and trimming. springs are too stiff to stuff to firewall. they do rub the springs though.

 

[Irork]

Well, its been awhile since this was up near the top, but, the time has finally come to order up some 42's. So ive started back in on the fenders. Finished the rears tonight. The fronts have been done for awhile. Heres how they turned out. I took out roughly three vertical inches above the original fenderwell. and rounded out both ends. i dont think ill be rubbing much, but if i do there is still a bit to cut.

 

[badmix]

Clean cuts on the rears. Some of the best ive seen.

 

[cegusman]

Front is going to need more

 

[JohnDeere]

Is that Scooby-Doo in your front bumper

 

[mudboggink5]

WOW that is, it looks like scooby had seen better days

 

[muddybuddy]

im going to be running 42" iroks with about 7-8" of lift as well. front axle is about 3.5" forward so i dont think there will be any issue with the firewell. if you at least fun a zero-rate up front in the offset position you should be alright

 

[badmix]

<HIJACK ON>

WOW that is, it looks like scooby had seen better days

LoL..well, its no worse than my WV with the grinch strapped to the front.

2300miles , 8 days and some adverse weather.

<HIJACK OFF>

 

[Irork]

Thanks for the input guys. As for the front, zero rates are definatly in the plans! Im simply not going to lift it anymore, so if the 1"zero rate doesnt do the trick, ill be playin with the cut off wheel again.

 

[clarkjw24]

42" TSLs, 56" front springs, 2" body lift, and 64"s in the rear. The front doesn't rub but the rear still hits the wheel wells.

 

[blowedupmotor87]

Well, its been awhile since this was up near the top, but, the time has finally come to order up some 42's. So ive started back in on the fenders. Finished the rears tonight. The fronts have been done for awhile. Heres how they turned out. I took out roughly three vertical inches above the original fenderwell. and rounded out both ends. i dont think ill be rubbing much, but if i do there is still a bit to cut.

Sweet lookin Blazer! That's a really clean cutting job! A little bit of a hi-jack (sorry!): I hope mine turns out that well! How'd ya do it? Grinder or Sawzall and tape? Or...? Any tips you can give? Thanks! Good luck with the 42's!

 

[Irork]

Sweet lookin Blazer! That's a really clean cutting job! A little bit of a hi-jack (sorry!): I hope mine turns out that well! How'd ya do it? Grinder or Sawzall and tape? Or...? Any tips you can give? Thanks! Good luck with the 42's!

Thanks for the kind words. I tried to keep the stock look to the fenders so I went a bit further then most. I took a tape meassure and hooked it to the edge of the fenders and every 3 or 4 inches or so I put a dot with a sharpie marker. i measure up 3 inches from the fender. Once I had a dotted line I "connected the dots" with some black electrical tape to give myself a refference line. down at the bottom of the fenders I flared them out quite a bit. Close to 6 inches forwards and back from the stock opening.

I chose to use a 5 inch cutting disk on a grinder I made sure to "score" and nice clean line first before I cut all the way through (in the past ive just dug into the metal and they always seemed to come out crooked) With that line scored in, I went back over it and cut through the body panel. In some places the cut off wheel wasnt big enough to reach all the way through both the outside and inner fenderwell. In those places I just stuck the sawzall through the cut and finished the inner fenderwell off.

 

[Irork]

Heres some pictures of it all cleaned up.
and when i cut the fenders i cut off the mudflap mounts so i figured out some quickdisconnect flaps that are sure to keep the local police happy!!

 

[muddybuddy]

looks like you could easily fit 44's in the back, nice big openings. front might be a little tricky if its really flexy and you wana keep the inner fenders, thats the trickiest part