How to Install a Bushwacker on a Jeep Cherokee

A Bushwacker is a brand of fender flare that you can install onto your Jeep Cherokee to provide added protection to the body of your vehicle. A Bushwacker -- or any Fender Flares -- is especially important if you are going to being doing activities such as off-roading, which will kick lots of dirt and water up onto the body of your vehicle. The installation process involves cutting exterior pieces of your vehicle. Make sure you are comfortable performing these modifications before beginning.

Adding a Bushwacker to your Jeep Cherokee minimizes damage to the body when driving off-road.

Instructions

1. Remove the 7mm nut right behind the front tire of the front factory flare.
2. Remove the 10mm nut inside the fender well of the tire.
3. Remove both 10mm nuts on both sides under the bumper.
4. Remove the front factory flare by pulling it down and away from the body.
5. Use adhesive remover and a putty knife to remove the "Cherokee Pioneer" emblem on the front left panel of your vehicle.
6. Start from the bottom of the front headlight and measure a horizontal line toward the fender. Mark the line at 5 inches from the front headlight and then draw a line from that mark upward to the third factory hole from the front of the fender.
7. Mark a line from the door seam toward the rear part of the fender. Measure in 5 ¼ inches from the door seam and make a mark. Draw a line from this mark to the third factory hole from the rear of the fender.
8. Mark a line from the third factory hole from the front to the third factor hole from the rear.
9. Use a reciprocating saw to cut out the bottom part of the fender along the three lines that you made in the last three steps.
10. Locate the sheet metal strut attached to the fender. Cut it with the saw.
11. Use the piece of sheet metal from the exterior of the fender that you just cut as a template and mark the inner sheet metal toward the rear of the front fender so that you can cut it in the next step. On a Jeep, the wheel well that you see on the outside is mirrored on the inside which is why you are using the template to mark the inner wheel well for the next cut. This will ensure uniformity.
12. Cut away the part of the inner sheet of the fender that you marked in the previous step.
13. Trim away your black plastic splash guard that was exposed by cutting the fender so that you can't see the overhanging plastic. Your wheel well was initially in the shape of an arc, what you did in the previous steps was widen the legs of the arc. When you widened the arc, you exposed more of the interior black plastic splash guard. Trimming the splash guard keeps it from being visible when you install the new fender flare.
14. Mark a line from the front bottom part of your cut fender to the grommet inside the front part of your wheel.
15. Cut along the line you made in the previous step and fold the flap in the splash guard in and under the front bumper. It is not advised to cut this piece of splash guard, as folding it in keeps the front of the wheel well from being exposed to the elements.

Attach the New Fender/Bushwacker

1. Place your new front flare onto the fender and mark all of the holes.
2. Drill the holes you marked in the previous step. You will use a 3/16-inch drill bit.
3. Attach your fender with the Torx screws provided. Be sure to put a rubber spacer between the fender and the body on each screw.
4. Repeat these steps for all four of your wheels.


Read more: How to Install a Bushwacker on a Jeep Cherokee | eHow.co.uk http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_8019587_install-bushwacker-jeep-cherokee.html#ixzz1XRIf34xe

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