24/10/08 - Cutting the wheelarches
In order to fit larger wheels you have to cut the wheel arches to stop them rubbing. My Jimny was already modified so I have not had to cut the wheelarches myself. However a number of people have asked how it is done and what needs to be done. Therefore I have put photos of mine below to show what has been done. The pictures are clickable to make them larger.......
This first picture is looking up under the front wheel arch towards the front. The outer part is the plastic arch and the inner part is the metal wing. The wheel arch liner has been removed. The inner edge of the metal arch has been cut back with tin-snips and is quite a ragged, exposed edge.
This picture shows the front arch from the outside. The plastic arch is cut back to the corner of what would be the vertical edge of the arch
 
And the rear one is cut the same.
Here is the inner edge of the rear wheel arch. Again the plastic edge has been cut back to the fold line and in this case the metal edge has been left alone.
This is the front wheel arch looking backwards inside. The liner is missing and the door hinge is exposed. The inner wing edge (on the left of the picture)Â has been beaten flat.
 
This is the rear wheel arch looking backwards.
The bottom of the front arches are a mess as the cutting removes the mounting points for the plastic bits, hence the ad-hoc bracketry.
And the inner part of the rear at the bottom
A general view.
A side on view of the front showing the arch cut line (and a dent in the wing!)
The same view of the rear wheel arch
Another view of the front.
