This article covers the process of installing Jeep_? Wrangler_? fender flares onto a Zuk.

Tools and parts

Before you start this project you will need to locate some parts from various places.

Preparation

First, you must remove the old fender flares. I have an '87 Zuk, so removing the curved plastic flares was easy, just grab and pull and off they came. The fun part came next: removing the metal flare mount which is tack-welded in place. To remove the tack-welds you will have to either drill them out with a tack-weld removal bit or cut them off using an air-driven cut-off tool.

I found the tack-weld removal bits to be almost impossible to find here in Maryland and ended up getting one from a Snap-On_? tool salesman (read: expensive). The bit worked well at first but eventually dulled out and was too slow. The object with the bit is to find the little dimple on the flare mount against the body and drill it out. I eventually switched to using an air cut-off tool which made quick work of cutting out the tack-welds and left less to be sanded down after removing the flare mount.

When I removed the metal flare mounts I found about a ton of mud and other crap stuck between the body and the metal flare which had caused a lot of rust. You should take care of any rust before proceeding.

Using an air sander, I removed as much rust as possible and cleaned up the area. In a few instances I had some holes all the way through the body which needed to be fixed. I first tried my luck at Bondo but found out quickly that I am not a body man. So out came the MIG welder and using little pieces of metal from the old flares I welded in patches, sanded them down well and I now have a better fix than I would have with Bondo.

Next, using acetone, I cleaned up the area and sprayed on a primer and rust sealer to prevent the rust from spreading. When that was dry I applied the body colors that I wanted. Being that my Zuk is done in camo and I do it straight from a 16oz spray can--it made things all that much easier.

Assembly

Once you have finished removing all the flares, fixed the rust and painted the vehicle it is time to start installing the Jeep flares. As you will notice, on the Jeep flares there is a small ridge that sticks up on the inside of the flare (the area that goes against the vehicle). This is used on Jeeps to assure proper alignment and fit, but on a Zuk it is just excess that needs to be trimmed out of the way.

Once the ridge is removed, you can place the flare against the vehicle and size up where you want to install the flares. I used duct tape to hold the flares in place to measure up placement and while I marked the holes on the body for drilling. I started with the rear of the vehicle since most of the holes needed to hold the flare in place were on the inside of vehicle with easy access.

I used machine screws with nuts and lock washers to secure the flares. The trouble spots were the bottoms of the flares, which were in areas not so easily accessed. I used self drilling fender bolts for these areas.

Those of you who are still using the stock Samurai rear bumper with attached side marker lights will have to cut the rear of the flares to fit around the plastic housing of the light. I have a Rocky Road Crawler bumper--which does not have attachments for side marker lights--so I just went to the auto parts store and bought two three-dollar trailer marker lights, screwed them in place and wired them in. This was very simple. Since the lights use the vehicle?s body as a ground you only have to hook up the hot wire. At this point I decided to cut away the excess body material hanging below the marker light to make more room for wheel articulation and a cleaner appearance.

The rear flares fit nicely, look very clean on the vehicle and compliment its lines nicely.  The front proved to be a little tricky because of the lines of the Suzuki front end. I had a set of Wrangler front flares that I stuck up against the vehicle to see how they looked. They did look pretty good. Using them, however, would require a little more cutting of the Zuk?s body than I wanted to undertake in order to relocate the side marker lights and utilize the molded-in side marker light positions of the Wrangler flares.

I opted to go with another set of rear Wrangler flares up front. Installation is very much the same as with the rear, but you will have to trim about five inches off the leading edge of the flare to make it look right, as you can see in the pictures. I had to use more self-tapping fender bolts on the front end because there are a few more areas that are hard to reach to install actual bolts and nuts than in the rear; especially on the passenger side of the vehicle.

Impressions

Once you are all trimmed up, stand back and take a look at what you have done. (See the picture at the top of this story.) I am very happy with this installation. I am now 100% road legal and still have room to go with a wider tire.

Total cost of the installation was about $100: $75 of which was spent on the second set of fender flares from a junkyard, $15 spent on a stupid tack-weld removal bit that I later trashed and $10 on fender bolts and washers. And of course the most precious: time to do the job.

The hardest part in doing this was removing the old metal fender flares and fixing all the rust. Everything after that just falls in place to how you want to do it.

On the trail the fenders prove their worth by not being ripped off by trees and left somewhere along the way. They are very flexible and give way easily. Just don?t catch a tree really good and rip the whole flare off, which will probably rip out the screws from the flimsy metal used in Zuks.

--Jason Martin