Fender rolling methods?
Thread Starter
TECH Fanatic
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 1,326
Likes: 1
From: NW Houston/Nacogdoches, Texas
Fender rolling methods? I recently lowered my car with coilovers and got some of those super fat 315 GSD3's for the rear. I already did the BFH mod. So my fender lip still contacts my rear tires when cornering hard.
I really want to roll the lips up flat
(I don't want to use a fender roller b/c of $$$ restraints and I hear that they are mechanically incapable of rolling the lips completley flat)
So, guys, help me out with some ghetto methods of rolling my fender lips!
I've heard of:
1. Baseball bat method? Can someone explain this in detail?
2. Using Vice grips?? Explain this too, please...
3. Cutting lip into sections then hammering them up? ( I really don't want to use this method)
4. Some strange method of loading the rear and placing an object in b/w so the lips are pushed up under pressure?????
5. Take steriods and do forearm workouts for a year until I can lift my car up and bend the lip up with my teeth?
I would really appreciate any help you can give me. I really want to be able to have my suspension travel as freely as possible without contacting the lip. The offset of my Fikse's (46mm??, 38mm??? not sure...) puts the wheel/tire directly at the egde of the fender (especially with GSD3's) . I sometimes just (eyeballing it) think that even with the lips rolled or hammered or pushed completely flat, there will still not be enough clearance for my tire to tuck in or avoid contact with the fender lip.
I really want to roll the lips up flat
(I don't want to use a fender roller b/c of $$$ restraints and I hear that they are mechanically incapable of rolling the lips completley flat)
So, guys, help me out with some ghetto methods of rolling my fender lips!
I've heard of:
1. Baseball bat method? Can someone explain this in detail?
2. Using Vice grips?? Explain this too, please...
3. Cutting lip into sections then hammering them up? ( I really don't want to use this method)
4. Some strange method of loading the rear and placing an object in b/w so the lips are pushed up under pressure?????
5. Take steriods and do forearm workouts for a year until I can lift my car up and bend the lip up with my teeth?
I would really appreciate any help you can give me. I really want to be able to have my suspension travel as freely as possible without contacting the lip. The offset of my Fikse's (46mm??, 38mm??? not sure...) puts the wheel/tire directly at the egde of the fender (especially with GSD3's) . I sometimes just (eyeballing it) think that even with the lips rolled or hammered or pushed completely flat, there will still not be enough clearance for my tire to tuck in or avoid contact with the fender lip.
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 736
Likes: 0
From: Texas is home; Sasebo Japan for now :(
use a fender roller. i have the same tires and after months of banging the ******* fender lip and sraping/cutting my tires i had the fenders rolled with an eastwood roller (thanks to 01 red ws6) and i can once again have full suspension travel. its nice to be able to drive the car again like i used to 
beforehand i tohught it may not even cure the problem because of how the tire and fender lines up, but it did. they tuck up completely now. it didnt need to be rolled completely flat...
beforehand i tohught it may not even cure the problem because of how the tire and fender lines up, but it did. they tuck up completely now. it didnt need to be rolled completely flat...
Originally Posted by Slammed-am
1. Baseball bat method? Can someone explain this in detail?
You could probably do it with the car jacked up, weight of the car resting on the axle so the tire is in normal position. You could even raise one wheel a little higher than normal (higher than the other one) to achieve more clearancing, and to test how well you did when finished.
Glad you posted this question slammed-am, because I am in the same boat. I don't have a T/A, but I do have an SS. I've got 17X11 ZR-1's w/ +50mm offset and just ordered some BF Goodrich G-Force T/A KD tires. They are very fat, like the GS-D3's. I'm not sure which method I'll use to roll my fender lips, but the idea is scary, because no one wants to screw up their car's appearance. I'm waiting for my tires to arrive in the mail and I know the time for action is coming. At least with the Trans Am's, you have a wider rear fender well than the Camaro's, so you have a little more room to play with. I'm sure my tires will stick out a little bit, but the +50mm offset looks good. I hope more guys respond with methods, tips and tricks on how to successfully roll the fender lips.
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Teching In
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 38
Likes: 0
From: Marietta. Ga
Use the tool. I have 17x11 CCW's and 315 BFG KD's on all four corners. I had the same problem with the inner rear fender cutting the tire on hard bumps. A friend of mine has an '02 Firebird and had the same problem.
We borrowed the tool from a speed shop and rolled the fenders on both cars. If you are patient and take your time, it will look like it was done at the factory. We rolled the fenders almost vertical between about 2:00 and 10:00. I can't imagine getting them any flatter short of beating them with a hammer.
No more rubbing.
We borrowed the tool from a speed shop and rolled the fenders on both cars. If you are patient and take your time, it will look like it was done at the factory. We rolled the fenders almost vertical between about 2:00 and 10:00. I can't imagine getting them any flatter short of beating them with a hammer.
No more rubbing.
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Small sledge (hammer sized), duct tape, bottle jack, 3 2x4's.
I didn't use a heat gun because I wasn't worried about the paint cracking along the line. Had a shotty repair job from a body shop and it needed to be re-painted anyway. If you used a heat gun and it was'nt 30 degrees out like me, I'm pretty sure there would'nt be any issues.
I taped the lip and took my time with light hits from about 10 and 2 o'clock. I worked it flatter at 12 o'clock and tapered to nothing by 10 & 2. Made alot of passes. No big shots with the hammer.
I got the lip to about 70-75 degrees from the start point and stopped. The 325's were still hitting on hard launches.
Took the wheel off and put a bottle jack in the well with the base against the inside of the it. The sturdy part. Jack horizontal with the piston facing you.
I cut 3 2x4's long enough to reach the ground and go just past the edge of the lip but not to long that it hit the upper rounded part of the wheel well. I nailed them together. Slid the 2x4 post between the piston of the bottle jack and the lip. The 2x4 post was now resting on the lip, pivoting on the piston of the jack (piston is about 2" from the top of the post), and planted on the ground.
I started at 12 o'clock again and slowly extended the jack. Then repositioned
the whole set-up working my way in a sweep back and forth between 10 & 2.
As the jack extends the bottom of the post kicks out toward you. Simple leverage allows you to use your leg to old the post in or move it back and forth to work the posts pressure agains the lip independent of the jacks extension. Eventually the entire lip went completely flat.
I re-mounted the tire and could see I needed a little more. I worked the whole set-up some more from about the same sweep and put a small 1/4" mini flare on the lip. You have to be very careful otherwise you will end up buckling a real nice flat spot in your quarter.
No more rubbing.
I didn't use a heat gun because I wasn't worried about the paint cracking along the line. Had a shotty repair job from a body shop and it needed to be re-painted anyway. If you used a heat gun and it was'nt 30 degrees out like me, I'm pretty sure there would'nt be any issues.
I taped the lip and took my time with light hits from about 10 and 2 o'clock. I worked it flatter at 12 o'clock and tapered to nothing by 10 & 2. Made alot of passes. No big shots with the hammer.
I got the lip to about 70-75 degrees from the start point and stopped. The 325's were still hitting on hard launches.
Took the wheel off and put a bottle jack in the well with the base against the inside of the it. The sturdy part. Jack horizontal with the piston facing you.
I cut 3 2x4's long enough to reach the ground and go just past the edge of the lip but not to long that it hit the upper rounded part of the wheel well. I nailed them together. Slid the 2x4 post between the piston of the bottle jack and the lip. The 2x4 post was now resting on the lip, pivoting on the piston of the jack (piston is about 2" from the top of the post), and planted on the ground.
I started at 12 o'clock again and slowly extended the jack. Then repositioned
the whole set-up working my way in a sweep back and forth between 10 & 2.
As the jack extends the bottom of the post kicks out toward you. Simple leverage allows you to use your leg to old the post in or move it back and forth to work the posts pressure agains the lip independent of the jacks extension. Eventually the entire lip went completely flat.
I re-mounted the tire and could see I needed a little more. I worked the whole set-up some more from about the same sweep and put a small 1/4" mini flare on the lip. You have to be very careful otherwise you will end up buckling a real nice flat spot in your quarter.
No more rubbing
. 