I was looking at the M.O.R.E. tube fenders and I was thinking, where do the fenders bolt to? if I hit a tree and very low speed, will it dent the side of my jeep? anyone out there with the riverader fenders hit anying and have any body damage?

https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/show...hlight=fenders

 

From what I can tell and have seen, yes. Steel fenders can cause body damage. I actually think Chrysler got it right with our plastic, flexy fenders. I have completely crumpled my factory fenders on rocks. I think if they had not had any flex (i.e. - if they had been steel) they would have definitely warped and damaged the body of the Jeep.

 

yes, they can and will cause body damage if hit. i have seen plastic xenon flares get hit and cause body damage. does this mean you shouldn't get them? not at all - they look great and idealy, you don't want to hit them anyway. if fender strikes is something that you expect, i would stick with the factory flares as they are soft enough to fold and bend or tear off as needed and without doing damage to your body. ask me how i know.

EDIT: the only exception to this are steel tube fenders that are attached to body armor like off road evolution makes. the body armor distributes the load of an impact across the entire body as opposed to a focused point.

 

yea, i wouldn't go steel fenders unless you have a HIGHLY modified rig. The i wouldn't hesitate from purchasing the Xenon flares as they give you more room for articulation and they look great to!

 

just a reminder, the xenon's are rigid and hard and will do body damage just like steel fenders. trust me, i have seen this on more than one jk.

 

I have xenons, rubbed them twice pretty good on trees. neither time did any damage to the body. seems for light impacts, they flex enough to keep the body ok. but during a harder impact, I would think WOL is exactly right that the Xenons could cause damage to the body as they are thick.

Typical impacts for where I wheel are rubbing tree stumps on the lower portion of the flares, they are very flexible in those areas. Of course, they will prob sag though.