Hey guys, we had the opportunity to blow off one of our front liners when we a hit a huge boulder recently 😅 So while installing the new one I figured I'd show you guys how we do ours. I've seen a few liners that just get butchered by the shops installing 35s on their customers Defenders. Also its one of the things we get asked the most. Sadly we didn't have great pictures when we were figuring things out so couldn'tdo a write up like we would have liked. But finally, here's a cleaner take on it the modification required to install.

keep in mind, trimming is more of an art form. Not everybodies will be the same and may require more or less trimming depending on their set up. But at least this will show you how to get started.

Our edges may look a little rough to you but thats because we use an oscillating multi tool to trim and called it a day. You can clean up the edges using a razor blade.


First we cut off the two vents marked with the X

This is what it will look like after cutting the vents off

Flip the liner over and trim this edge off between the red lines.

This is what it will look like after trimming the edge off

Now trim this edge off

This is what you'll have after you trim the edge off

Cut two slits as shown. DO NOT CUT FROM EDGE TO EDGE! Uou just want to make 2 cuts a couple of inches long. You'll then use a heat gun, heat the area between the cuts, and fold the crease in. Check out the following picture for a plbetter understanding.

This is what it should look like after folding the crease in.

Cut out the area marked in red.

Now move on to your bumper, after the trimming and modifications have been done (1.5" of trimming off and coolers have been relocated) locate the buldge and make another hole as circled. You can use a pick to make stab a hole in it or a drill bit. We use a pick as its easier.

Make another hole where the red dot is at.

Wrap a zip tie as shown around the bumper retaining bracket on the fender.

Use the holes and zip tie, to Zip tie the front fender liner onto the bumper. This picture shows how it will look installed.

For the top I use push pin clips to hold the rear liner to the front liner.

 

Awesome information!! Could you give us a quick rundown of components you are using to fit the 35s? I am running 33s on OEM 20s with 1.5 rod lift and have no clearance issues at all, and was thinking that 35s would require goin away from the rod lift and doing the more complicated a-arm lift kit. Thank you.

gary

 

Sure! 2 inch lift rod lift, coolers relocation using our brackets, and trimming is all that is required.

 

Sal, how stiff is the air suspension ride with 2” rods? Both on road and off road in ‘off road height’? Compared to stock? Trying to decide whether to stick with 32.6” tires and no lift - or venture into 33.2” with a 1”/1.5” rod lift or better yet - what I really love the look of - 35’s. I will be doing a lot of off roading but also some cross country highway trips to get to over landing spots. Also - Are you going to be coming out with a subframe lift? Appreciate any feedback! - Mike

 

Hey Mike, 2 inch lift rod lift feels like oem when in normal height but does feel uncomfortably stiff when in offroad height. If you go that route I'd recommend using it for going over obstacles. You'd want to use the normal height mode for most of the trail. With the 2 inch lift rods and 35s on normal height, your clearance will be better than offroad height without lift rods. We are currently developing a solution for the stiffness at offroad height though. I don't think we will do a subframe drop but we will be exploring other methods of lifting the suspension like a mid travel set up. I really want to focus on getting more flex out of the suspension first. Here's picture of what we are working on at the moment. We call it a strut collar which will help the airbag reach a 2 inch lift without over inflating and making it stiff. We hope to get more flex out of the front with this and keep the vehicle comfortable at offroad height. We will be testing it out a working prototype real soon.

 

Hey Sal, thanks much for the info I greatly appreciate it. What you’re working on sounds like it could be a great mainstream option. Getting any additional flex would be awesome. I already have a few things I have to get from you and now I see you have some more cool stuff on your site I can’t wait for like that tailgate rack! 👀 Thanks again! Mike

 

No problem! Glad you're liking our stuff!👍

 

Very awesome info.

Re: the strut extension, is it the white piece I've circled in red in your pic below? (I've only seen them with the black ribbed rubber dust boots on the front struts ... so unsure what's going on under the dust boot)

 

Yup! That's a 3d printed prototype just for test fitting. The actual production piece will be cnc'ed from 6061 aluminum.