What to Know About a Jeep TJ Highline Conversion
What to Know Before You Chop
Ali MansourWriter
What to Know About a Jeep TJ Highline Conversion
What to Know Before You Chop
Ali MansourWriter
We’ve preached for years that a low lift height is the key to keeping your ’97-’06 Wrangler stable on the trail. Years ago, fitting 35s on a TJ with no lift seemed almost absurd. These days, it’s becoming the norm. So, what’s changed? Instead of bolting on a lift kit to provide clearance for oversized rubber, people are moving towards modifying the TJ’s body. Specifically, they are doing what is commonly known as a highline fender conversion.
A highline conversion means you are essentially raising the fender location upwards. This can be done with aftermarket fender kits, such as the ones offered by Poison Spyder Customs, GenRight, TnT Customs, and American Expedition Vehicles, or you can modify your existing fender set for a low-buck DIY highline conversion. We’ve done both, and each has its ups and downs. The ultimate goal of moving the fenders up (typically around 31⁄2 inches) is to provide clearance for larger tires.
In most cases, a conventional highline conversion will allot room for 35-inch tall tires, with no suspension or body lift needed. For those willing to be even more creative with their body modifications, it’s possible to run up to a 40-inch-tall tire with no suspension lift. Before you go cutting away at your stock sheetmetal, there are a few things you should know.
In this article, we are uncovering some of the things to prepare for and what will need to be modified with a typical highline conversion.
Hood-line
We couldn’t write a highline article in good conscience without mentioning Chris Durham Motorsports at least once. Why? Well, he’s made a name for himself as one of the top executors of functional low-lift, big tire TJs. His system isn’t exactly a fender conversion but more like a fender delete. With a Chris Durham Motorsport setup, you all but remove the front fenders and replace your stock hood with a lightweight fiberglass hood. This setup has allowed Chris to keep his Jeeps ultra-low. Out back, Durham even offers rear fiberglass flares to give your tire room to cycle, while offering a factory look.
Stock-line
By now, you’ve likely figured out that a highline conversion has plenty of pros and cons. We feel it’s important to note that you can still have a completely stable and functional low-lift Jeep without hacking up your body panels. Running 31⁄2 inches of lift and 35s is extremely achievable with stock fenders, so long as you use bumpstops to moderate the suspension travel. The real challenge lies in running 37-inch and larger rubber, without trimming and moving body panels. Also, keep in mind that by modifying your Wrangler’s body but not the suspension, you don’t get any of the performance benefits (shock valving, heavy-duty control arms, flex joints, and so on) that are associated with a performance suspension system. You’ll likely spend the same amount of money modifying your body with an aftermarket highline conversion kit as you would a good suspension system. At the end of the day, we like a low center of gravity. You just have to figure out what works best for you and your budget.