So I know a lot of you remove the inner fender liners, but what are the pro's vs con's of it? I imagine dirt has to get up in the hinge area and that would be hard to clean, also I live in Maine so salt and snow would get packed in there in the winter and rust it out which would suck. and if I cut them to cover that spot I feel like it would be worse because I wouldn't be able to get to it at all and whats left of the liner would hold dirt and crap in there> any thoughts on what I should do, or what you did? thanks!

 

Add bumper stops and leave them alone.

 

You should leave them. If not your fenders and doors will have stage 1 cancer in no time.

 

That's what I was thinking, so how would I go about keeping them when I trim the fenders?

 

I just trimmed the lining and used self-tappers to attach it in the wells. Refer to post #108 of my build thread for pics.

 

You don't trim the fenders. Add bumpstops.

Either that or you'll have to make something custom to mount them back to the fender.

 

I have to trim the fenders for bushwhacker flat flares, otherwise I wouldn't...

 

Thanks for the help!

 

I took them out in both of my xj's. yea you get a little dirt and mud in the hinge area. nothing a little soapy water cant get rid of. just make sure you keep them clean and nothing will rust

 

Well I was thinking that too, if I undercoat or bedline the wheel wells i assume it would be fine, but wouldn't I get huge clumps of ice/snow stuck in there in the winter? And that obviously isn't good for it even if it is under coated...

 

Also if ice got up in the hinges it could keep the doors from opening...

 

I sprayed my whole inner fender with bed liner in the front and back to help fight rust. just hose the wheel wells down good after wheeling and you'll be fine. as far as snow and ice goes I had some built up in there during the last snow storm but it didn't bother me to much. its not the snow that you need to worry about.. its the sand and salt. that's what will cause the rust quicker imo

 

what you could do is save a little piece of the fender lining and just use it to cover the hinge area. Ive seen a few people do that and they say it works well

 

Yeah that's what I'll probably end up doing

 

And you're right it is the salt that makes stuff rust out. One of the biggest reasons I'm so worried about this is that my dad has had a body/restoration shop for like 30+ years and I've worked for him for about 4 years and people bring there cars in all the time that looks fine but the underneath is completely rusted out, and rust repair is my least favorite part of body work haha.