jscherb

Once a company licenses a design from me how they manufacture it is up to them; while the quickest and least expensive path to market for these fenders would be to manufacture them in fiberglass if a company wanted to create tooling to manufacture them in some other material that would be their decision.

BTW there are a number of ways to build/install fiberglass fenders to minimize any transfer of energy to the body. Earlier in this project I wrote about two mounting methods for the fenders, one of which was a breakaway mount so there could be minimal damage to the fender and to the body under impact. It would be up to a manufacturer to implement a breakway mounting if they thought it was worthwhile.

Erok

I love this look. Of all the fender trims, A is my favorite because the consistent profile on front, top, and back makes it match the style of the front flares. Kinda ties it all together.

But being able to choose the trim type is a nice option too. Keep it up! I have given up thinking of replacing my flares until these get released.

jscherb

Thank you.

I like A as well, but I figured some people might not like it because the front of the bumper is forward of the back of the fender.

I haven't quite decided how I'll trim them when I install the first set on my Jeep. Maybe I'll start with E, drive with that a while to decide if that's really what I want, and possibly trim them to A or something else after a while.

At this point there is no "until" . I don't know if these will get to market - right now I'm just focused on getting the design of the rear fenders exactly right, making the molds and molding a set for my Jeep. What happens after than I don't know at this point. If a company (or person) is interested in bringing them to market I'll be happy to explore that with them.

Four Low

Even if they don't go to Market ( my bet is that they will, like all your Innovations),
you've inspired the DIY people by showing it can be done, and providing detailed instructions.
Thank You !

Erok

Yep, and I don't mean to act like it's a given, but I've followed enough of your work to have seen how much of it does make it to market. Some of it's already on my Jeep

The learning experience is part of it too. Your explanation of how to make the mounting flange molds is really helpful.

Erok

True. Myself, I run a mid-width bumper front and rear and A would look perfect with it.

jscherb

With my earlier fiberglass projects I used to post very detailed steps on the process, but since I've yet to hear of anyone being inspired to do their own DIY fiberglass project I post fewer step-by-step details these days.

One place I've posted very detailed step-by-step instructions recently is about the conversion of a factory hardtop to modular (Converting a factory JK/JKU hardtop to modular - Expedition Portal). I've heard from one person that followed those instructions and converted his hardtop.

Thanks. Looking forward to the day when someone tackles their own custom fiberglass project, I'm here to help...

jscherb

I had to put some factory rear fenders back on for a weekend trip to Boston to do some cycling. The factory ones will come off as soon as I get home so I can begin work on the rear fender mold masters.

Erok

Thank you, sir.

I do have a fiberglass project on the horizon- I damaged my hard top backing into a low-hanging cedar branch. It buckled the rear left corner, cracked in a few places on the exterior edge of the corner and separated the lamination right where the left side of the tailgate glass meets the hard top. No water leaks into the cabin, so I've let myself ignore the problem. At some point I'll need to patch the corner to clean up the exposed fiber, glue back the delaminated parts (where the interior and exterior shell separated), and then sand and repaint the thing. I would never have considered this until I saw what you've achieved. It's still low on my list though...

Hell, I only recently learned that it's not fiberglass, it's SMC used in the Jeep's hard top. I know some people have used fiberglass repair kits, but I've heard SMC on SMC is the best way to achieve a long term fix. It just seems far out of what I know and I can see me making it a lot worse. On the other hand, I only intend to bedline the thing when I'm done, and from painting my own bumpers I know how much bedliner forgives bad sanding/tool marks.

jscherb

Below are before and after photos of a repair I made recently as part of the modular hardtop project, sounds like it may be similar to what you're facing - there were cracks and separation of the inner and outer shells. Yes the top is made from the SMC version of fiberglass and I do not recommend using ordinary polyester resin to do repairs or modifications. There is a way to use inexpensive polyester resin and get reliable results though, it's covered in detail in this thread: Converting a factory JK/JKU hardtop to modular - Expedition Portal