JL Wrangler Rubicon Fender Gaps Filling Up with Rocks

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
As much as Cindy and I LOVE the new JL Wrangler Rubicon raised fenders look and how they provide much bigger openings for larger tires, there is one thing about them that we're starting to find pretty damn annoying. If you spend any time driving hard and fast across a sandy desert wash, you'll soon find that the gap between the fender and the body will start filling in with small rocks. Yes, I say "rocks" because they're way bigger than grains of sand and if you leave them in long enough, they start to dig into the paint. Here's a couple of shots to show you what I'm talking about.
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Here's another shot of me pointing at a larger rock to give it scale.
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We have been able to clear them out by pushing down on the fenders just a bit and swiping them out using a credit card. Hmmm, why does that somehow sound familiar? :thinking:

Anyway, just thought I'd share this tidbit of info for those of you who might be interested in knowing what we've been finding out. :cool:
 

JTCO

Meme King
Wow. Crazy. Wonder if you could put a thin bead of silicone in there without it looking like shit or turning yellow over time. Hopefully FCA will come out with a TSB with some kind of strip or something.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Wow. Crazy. Wonder if you could put a thin bead of silicone in there without it looking like shit or turning yellow over time. Hopefully FCA will come out with a TSB with some kind of strip or something.

We kind of suspected this might be a problem and we were disappointed to see it. I think Tony is gonna try running a small vacuum hose along the seam to see if that helps.
 

JAGS

Member
That's a bummer. And I ordered painted fenders too. Same thing happens on the JK, but less worried as I don't have paint fenders.

I'll want to address this before too much trail time. Thanks for posting up your findings from the weekend. [emoji106]
 

JLU_RUBI

New member
When I looked at a Rubicon mover a month ago I said this exact thing to my buddy. I said this is gonna be a problem. I'm thinking somone is going to come out with a rubber or silicone gasket that seals this area off.
 

KFLOHR

New member
They should make a gasket with a "T" at the top that would create a "fillet" look... Put it between the fender and the flare and call it a day.
 

Jasper

New member
I'm having same issue, I use a dental pick to pick them out.. I might try some black door edging in there to see if works.
 

Buster3479

New member
Is it more frequent than it's predecessor? I used to pick rocks continuously out of our fenders, but I've since given up except during the rare cleaning.
 

RockingK

New member
Oh no😳

Bummer, I know a fix will be coming, like many simple mods you have made over the years on many types of vehicles. Sad it takes you all to fix what FCA engineers should have figured out before releasing. Hmmm does that make you re-engineers?.
 

Pipebndr

New member
Fender Welting

Being that I used to do a lot of work on the 20s and 30s automobiles, the old timers new what they were doing to avoid rust. They installed fender welting for just this reason. I may play with this when my JLUR comes in. Black May look good on the white painted fenders or just the white welting to blend end. I attached a link to a supplier:beer:


https://www.bobdrake.com/fenderwelting
 

RMC2

Member
When I saw your email. I said what the hell, but knew exactly where you were talking about. I say a the vacuum hose might work, and on black fenders will blend in.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Being that I used to do a lot of work on the 20s and 30s automobiles, the old timers new what they were doing to avoid rust. They installed fender welting for just this reason. I may play with this when my JLUR comes in. Black May look good on the white painted fenders or just the white welting to blend end. I attached a link to a supplier:beer:


https://www.bobdrake.com/fenderwelting

Something like this is what I was thinking about trying. Thanks for posting up the link :yup:
 

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