Warrior Products Jeep JK Tube Fender Flares Installation

The Jeep JK Factory Flares

After nearly 70 years of production, one would think that the designers at Jeep would have perfected our beloved off-road vehicle by now. Well, take one look at the Jeep JK’s fender flares and you’ll quickly see that perfection is a long way off.  The flares are just plain ugly, bulky, heavy and are easily ripped off on minor trail obstacles. Maybe they were an afterthought after a Jeep engineer’s nightmare!
We did have some fun modifying them to a more acceptable state in a previous installment – Sawzall Surgery. So, after a couple of years and a lot pretending to love our modified plastic flares, it was decided that they needed to go in favor of stout, metal replacements. 
The problem we ran into was finding a flare that was good looking, functional and strong enough to take a fairly hard hit. We looked at aftermarket flares also made from plastic materials and were not satisfied with their construction or look. We then found more plastic and metal monstrosities that looked more like wings than tire coverage.  After a lot of searching and coming up empty, we finally stumbled across Warrior Products JK Tube Fender Flares. These look like something we’d be happy with and they are just now being released in the market.
We checked out Warrior’s Web site for more information on the flares and company and found a statement that intrigued us:  “At Warrior, our product design mantra is simple: Target a specific area of the vehicle; design a product that either protects and/or enhances the functionality of that area; construct the product concept with the best materials available; and then offer that product at the best value possible.  We’ve been doing so since 1992.” We like this mantra, and we also like the fact that Warrior products are Made in America!

The Warrior flares are well constructed.

It wasn’t long after reading a little more about Warrior that our decision was made on which flares to run on our JK Project. Soon after, we began the Warrior Tube Flare installation. The front tube flares are very well designed and look all business. Tubing construction is .095-inch Wall, 1.5-inch OD HREW, while mounting plates are 11 gauge HRPO steel and the top skins are 16-gauge HRPO steel; these flares can take some abuse. Our only concern is that these rugged fixtures are still mounted to the JK’s thin sheet metal.  So, the only real weak point is the JK’s sheet metal, so a very hard hit is likely to do some damage. And we mean a very hard hit. The flares are still very tough and sturdy! 

Yours truly, at 250 pounds, demonstrating the strength of the JK flares.

The design of the flares is beautiful, as well as proportioned and fitted for very large tires.  Their high-clearance, flat-fender design is exactly what we need and is what many JK owners are asking for. With these flares and minor trimming or bump stop adjustments, we suspect a mild three inch lift can accommodate 38-inch tires. A big concern for many, due to some state laws, is that full tire coverage is a requirement. With our 38.5 x 13.5 Pitbull Tires, our rears are legal in any state