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Metal Twister Thu Nov 12, 2015 2:43 pm

My thing came with a complete set of the raised pre runner style fiber glass fenders. They are still new and the fronts need the holes cut in for the lights.

While I like them Im thinking about maybe building Tube fenders instead keeping the fiber glass fenders for down the road sometime. Ive built several different styles of tube fenders for the off road Jeeps and I'm thinking something similar should work well on the thing. Might take a few minutes to get used to a different look but I'm thinking they could take the off road abuse a bit better than the fiber glass fenders. Has any body here done this before? I will attach a pic of a set I built for the front of a Rubicon. I will do some photoshop work and see how it looks.

Pros or cons?


Rev. Scott Thu Nov 12, 2015 7:45 pm

Personally, it's not for me; but I do like your quality and engineering. I look forward to seeing the results of your efforts. Do it!

Metal Twister Thu Nov 12, 2015 8:02 pm

Rev. Scott wrote: Personally, it's not for me; but I do like your quality and engineering. I look forward to seeing the results of your efforts. Do it!

LOL To be honest I really did not expect anyone here to be enthused about my inquire. I thought it might have been done in the past by some non conformist so it was worth a shot in the dark. It seems that with most Thing owners they are very original and the goal is to keep them that way. Or go totally off the chart with a Subaru or V8... If there are any in the middle Im having a heck of a time finding them. :D

Think I will press on with it and see what happens. Thanks

cecil Fri Nov 13, 2015 8:18 am

Well, I'm your middle of the roader. It's your car and you can do what you want with it, as others can do what they want with theirs. Win-Win!

FullFender Fri Nov 13, 2015 8:31 am

I think that would look pretty aggressive for a thing....do it. :popcorn:

rrankin Fri Nov 13, 2015 10:42 am

How do you plan on mounting the headlights? like the jeep in the picture? I'm interested to see your results...

Metal Twister Fri Nov 13, 2015 10:59 am

Headlight mounting is always a give and take. I could go inboard and mount them in the body much like the jeep. But Im a Hot Rod builder by trade and I'm used to seeing headlights up on top of fenders. I'm leaning more towards mounting the tear drop style self contained lights on top of the fender. By doing that I get a little more altitude for a better field of view coverage with the light, as well as keeping the body intact. Everything is reversible but who wants to cut holes if not needed? If I don't like the looks of plan A I can always fall back to the jeep look and cut up the body for plan B.

In looking it over I should be able to do it using the original mounting points. So no permanent damage if it needs to be reversed. If I fall in lve with them and need to go more aggressive in the future I will have a good idea if I like them enough to go bigger.




Oh, and all that I meant in the second post is that I understand where most fall in line here in terms of modifications. Its a good thing and I'm not complaining!

I really wish there was a sticky for Thing dual purpose On / Off Road Modifications or Thing Non Stock Modifications. While I totally understand keeping them original or close to it there are a lot of us that have modified rigs or they are so far gone its not cost effective to go back to original. The truth is there just isn't a good place to get us all together on our quest to our Things specific modifications. The Off Road group is just that. I'm interested in building a true dual purpose Thing using mostly VW components and custom accessories. I think I have some good and unique ideas that when started it will make this thing a bit different than we are use to seeing yet very functional. My hope to get started on early next month. Thanks for the input guys I'm really getting anxious to start on it.

Shoyrtt Fri Nov 13, 2015 3:08 pm

I saw a Thing recently listed on the IE Craigslist with raised tube fenders like you are describing. I want to say the car was green with an A-arm front. It also had the lights on top of the fenders. I liked the fenders, but the lights on top kind of made it look like an ugly dune buggy. I really like the look of the lights mounted in a tube bumper like these:







Take the turn signals off of this car and they almost look like tube fenders:


Ron Domeck Fri Nov 13, 2015 4:12 pm

If you want to see what the headlights will look like mounted on the fenders check out my pictures or our site http://kubeltreffen181.com

Metal Twister Fri Nov 13, 2015 4:47 pm

OK Ron you've peaked my interest but that is a pretty big site with a lot of pics. Where is your car? :lol:

Metal Twister Fri Nov 13, 2015 4:55 pm

Shoyrtt wrote: I saw a Thing recently listed on the IE Craigslist with raised tube fenders like you are describing. I want to say the car was green with an A-arm front. It also had the lights on top of the fenders. I liked the fenders, but the lights on top kind of made it look like an ugly dune buggy. I really like the look of the lights mounted in a tube bumper like these:



Oh I hear ya and they might look really goofy up there? We will see when we get to that point. I'm kinda of over the lights in the front tubes. Only because we've done that sooooo many times its getting old. LOL I think going fenderless makes them look like a buggy more than the light placement but we will see.


Besides that Im going to be running a set of the old KC rectangle lights that I had powere coated and converted to HIDs for off road use only. It could get cluttered quickly with the bumper and all the stuff but you may be right and end up going that way? Might be so much clearance I can hang the bullet lights down off the tube fender? Just kidding!

Ron Domeck Fri Nov 13, 2015 5:48 pm

Go to our site , go to photo gallery, page 5, Rons Thing. You can also go to my profile under my pics.

Metal Twister Fri Nov 13, 2015 6:12 pm

wonderful... Thanks.

Rev. Scott Fri Nov 13, 2015 8:10 pm



I've kept mine relatively stock, obviously drilled a few holes for accessories. I live in dirt and mud, and enjoy it every chance I get. If the car was mint, I would cringe...but do what you do to make it enjoyable for you. We THING owners are a funny laid back bunch.

Captain Spalding Mon Nov 16, 2015 3:32 pm

Metal Twister wrote:
LOL To be honest I really did not expect anyone here to be enthused about my inquire. I thought it might have been done in the past by some non conformist so it was worth a shot in the dark.
Yeah, too bad we Thing drivers are all such conformists. :lol:

Metal Twister Mon Nov 16, 2015 5:27 pm

Captain Spalding wrote: Metal Twister wrote:
LOL To be honest I really did not expect anyone here to be enthused about my inquire. I thought it might have been done in the past by some non conformist so it was worth a shot in the dark.
Yeah, too bad we Thing drivers are all such conformists. :lol:

Yeah, such a shame. Those conformist guys just don't get it. :D :roll: Talk about trolling... 8) But seriously my buddy just bought one and Id have a hard time doing anything to it. Its so beautiful with just shinny new wheels and a different color on it. But like me he got it that way so that's our excuse and we're sticking with it! :roll:

Ron Domeck Mon Nov 16, 2015 5:32 pm

Did you take a look at my Tan car to see if you would like the headlights on the fenders?

Metal Twister Mon Nov 16, 2015 5:42 pm

Yeah I did, I think its like anything else it takes some getting use to but I do like it and will try that look before anything else. is there any draw backs that you know of by mounting them up there? Vision interference / distraction or anything else? But you also have the hood mounted lights so maybe that is not an issue?

citroen Mon Nov 16, 2015 5:52 pm

here is a picture of brother Ron's thing with the lights on the fenders



Metal Twister Mon Nov 16, 2015 6:54 pm

Yeah I'm going to copy that! Thanks for the visual.



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