Rocker panels and nerf bars

[Mikel2]

Hello all,
This is my jeep's situation. I have a 3in body lift that I would like to take out, and downsize the tires from 38x12.5 (dry rotted) to 36x12.5, mainly to remedy some clearance problems in the rear. I have a pair of home made nerf bars made out of very thick steel tubing, welded to the frame, and I can't lower the body without hitting them. I was thinking maybe I could cut my rocker panels (which are rusted anyway), and make a pair of new nerf bars that would go into that area, the whole length, from the front quarter panel to the rear fender flare, making them look as if they were the rocker panels themselves (round tubing?). I don't want to re-mount my existing ones lower, because that would decrease my ground clearance. I want to keep my existing ground clearance (lowering the body won't affect that), keeping the center of gravety as low as possible, while keeping my ground clearance and articulation. Any ideas?
Thanks.

My jeep:
http://www.geocities.com/lrseriesii/pollito_4b.JPG

[porkchop]

I have to ask, if you take off the body lift and then go to a two inch smaller tire, won't you still have clearance problems? I am not sure of where the problem is, but this seems like it would cause more trouble then solve. I understand the dry rot thing though.

I think the nerf bars in place of the rockers would look nice if you used square tubing. That way it would sort of follow the body lines somewhat. Just my $.02

[Mikel2]

Hello,
With my current setup, the rubbing occurs in the lower side areas of the wheel wells, with a couple inches left in the top. I *think* downsizing 2in in diameter and dropping the body 3in would allow the tires to go deeper into the wheelwells during full compression. I need to do some testing, though smile.gif