I'm getting ready to install Rough Country LED fenders (https://www.roughcountry.com/product...r-flares-99037) and I know the front liners need either aftermarket liners or can be cut, but all the installation video's I've found skip over/ignore the rear.

I originally ordered Hooke Road front/rear liners but promptly returned them after opening them and realizing WHY they were so cheap. So I decided to go with the 1 piece aluminum fenders from ACE Engineering in black powdercoat...

For the backs I just couldn't justify the cost as I have other mod's I'd rather do.

I would like to still have a liner in the rear so I'm wondering if anyone has successfully trimmed and reused their stock rear liners and has some tips on how to secure them once the stock fender is removed....I know I don't "need" them the way they are really needed up front, but I live in an area that salts roads in the winter, plus dealing with Mud when off-road and would really like something that's as easy to spray out/keep clean as the factory liners.

 

It's been a long time since I had rear liners. Originally I believe I trimmed my factory ones and used with Bushwacker fenders (per their instructions). Those fenders were a huge fail for someone like me and I eventually just did fender delete. I scrapped the rear liners at the time. I'd have to look at my jeep when i get home but I'd THINK would be a couple places you could still secure with Christmas tree push pins or the plastic rivet type even if you had to drill a superficial hole here or there.

On a side note, I've had those Ace front liners for a long time and they've been great. I got mine back when they were the first "affordable" option (all others were still $300+). These days there are a lot of options out there.

 

After unboxing the first set of liners I ordered and seeing just how "cheap" they really were I knew I wanted something 1 piece and aluminum...a lot of the options out there just didn't fit the feel/vision I have for the jeep until I came across the ACE liners...glad to hear they've stood the test of time, that was my main goal.

I know I could just get some rattle can bedliner and black out the back wheel wells but I do appreciate the ease with which the power washer knocks off the mud and dirt on the plastic liner...I'll give trimming a shot and see how it goes...just figured someone would have done it and figured it out by now but not finding much out there...guess its easier to just scrap them and go without.

 

Working from home today so I just ran out to the garage to look at mine. It's been forever since I had those liners in there so I can't recall where the factory ones attached. There's certainly 4 holes in the lower part around the pinch seam you can use for christmas tree push pins, and in the rear you could easily drill a hole into the back of the taillight cavity to secure another. the issue would be up at the top of the wheel well arch and how it would secure there. Kinda just depends on how that fender sits too. I'd think you'd be able to find a way. Given where you live, I think your concerns are legitimate. If you can't get them to work and have to go the bedlining route, at least it would blend in with the color of your jeep. The only real downside to no liner for me is there are a few more places mud can get caked up in there and it's a bit harder to clean out, but I steer clear of mud myself. Take some pictures along the way so we can see how it turns out!

 

Thanks for looking, I won't have time for a few days thanks to kids and spring sports to pull mine out and install the flares...I'm not interested in "mudding" by any means, but around here the soil has a lot of clay and silt so even just normal trail riding you're kicking up gobs of mud and once it dries it can be a real PITA to remove, especially when it gets in cracks and crevices where its hard to reach with the pressure washer.

I will see what I can figure out with the top of the wheel well, I think the existing attachments will hold it in fine on the back and sides...it's just that area at top, I can always just pop in a couple rivets as long as there's something up there to rivet them too

 

I do recall when I trimmed mine that the easiest method for me was using a grinder with a cut-off wheel. Boxcutter/razorblade was a bit tougher to control with the thickness of the plastic.

 

Yeah I planned to break out the Dremel but I do have an angle grinder with a cutting wheel if I need it. Looking at pretty much all of the aftermarket ones out there they either don't have any top of the wheel well protection, or the ones that do use a lip wrapping around the body panel and using 2 of the fender mounting holes at the top while relying on the fender to hold the rest of the lip in place...here's an example (https://www.gorhino.com/i-30506464-i...angler-jk.html)

Those would be about ideal, if it wasn't for the price tag and assuming that lip wouldn't cause the flares to bulge out too far.

Most of the other ones don't offer any top protection, and honestly if I'm going to lose that I'd probably just go with the blacked out bed liner option

 

$448 Comical. Depending on what you have to work with though, before making a straight cut you might consider if you could bend a tab up like that and just use a heat gun to mold the plastic there how you'd need it. That might be a bit of a stretch but something to look at when you get them off.

 

Yeah, I'm not sure how moldable that liner material may be...was thinking I could make a few tabs using something like this (https://www.amazon.com/ATOLS-Plastic.../dp/B091T368MK) ... I'll have plenty of scrap to play with from the front inner liners to see if it would work.

 

Or since the fenders are also thermoplastic, could possibly just leave a little overhang and plastic weld them together.

Personally I would have loved to just do a fender delete but went with these because I liked the look of them compared to the only other option I found which was the bushwackers you mentioned above... trying the keep the jeep street legal in a state with pretty restrictive laws (has to fully cover the tires, side marker lights, etc) so when I hand the jeep over to my kid in 2 years he's not giving them a free excuse to pull him over constantly at 16.