Fender Rolling to Fit Larger Wheels

[Kirk]

Just got some 18's for my car - 18X10 in the rear with 275 tires. The car (2000 S) is lowered on Gemballa springs... I've got a rub problem with this setup. Wheels have an offset of 42, so they should fit good. It only rubs on hard bumps/dips and very hard cornering. Maybe not a big deal, but I want to get it fixed.

So... I'm going to roll the rear fenders to see if I can make a little more room. Any suggestions, recommendations, experiences or tid bits of helpful knowledge? I've looked into some of the fender rolling tools like what TireRack sells, but they'll only work with a stud spacing up to 120 mm, so they won't work on Porsches.

I'm well aware of the baseball bat method. I helped a buddy do this to his Honda and my Honda daily driver was also rolled this way. I ONLY want to do this to my Porsche as an extreme last resort.

I'll probably call my local Porsche repair shop and some of the local body shops and see what they can do. But I don't want to pay them $100 per fender just to roll it with a baseball bat! I hope someone local has a decent tool to do this right.

[blinkwatt]

What is this rolling method?

[yellowboxster01]

The body shop I work at uses a baseball bat. We just rolled the fenders on a Ferrari 348 with a bat.

[insite]

you can rent a fender rolling tool from tire rack. it bolts to the hub of the car.

[Kirk]

Originally Posted by insite

you can rent a fender rolling tool from tire rack. it bolts to the hub of the car.

The Tire Rack fender rolling tool bolts to a maximum of 120 mm stud spacing on the hub. I'm pretty sure that our Boxsters are 130 mm spacing, so it wouldn't fit. Correct me if I'm wrong. Hopefully I can find a shop that has a modified tool to fit Porsches.

[Kirk]

Originally Posted by blinkwatt

What is this rolling method?

Basically you put a baseball bat between the top of the tire and fender and then lever it and work it back and forth to smooth out the inside of the fender lip. With my friend's Honda it was pretty easy. If it's more difficult to do, then you pop open you're trunk, have some fat kids sit back there and actually drive the car back and forth with the baseball bat wedged inbetween the wheel and the fender. There are some write-ups on the Net on how to do this. Yes, it does sound very scary to do. Again, I didn't mind doing it to my junker Honda, but I would prefer to go a safer route on the Porsche. Like Yellowboxster1 described too, I want to avoid paying a shop to just go after my fender with a baseball bat too!

[CJ_Boxster]

Wont fender rolling demish value on any car except on a Honda CRX?

[racer_d]

A bat or some PVC pipe can be used to roll the lips. If available, find a portable heat source to warm the paint to prevent it from cracking. Rolled lips = greater resale value because you know the car was used "properly"

[jmatta]

I rolled the front fenders on my '73 911, using the baseball bat method, with great success. Just be sure the paint is warm and take your time. The results are very good. I run the same size rears on my '02 S with the exception of an offset of 47mm. I also run neg 2.5* camber , with no rubbing issues. My car is lowered with H&R sport springs, as well. Have your rear alignment checked.

[Kirk]

I FINALLY got around to rolling the fenders on my 2000 S. I went home for Christmas and picked up the necessary tool for this precision job - an aluminum baseball bat! I am glad to report that the whole thing was a huge success. I used a heat gun to thoroughly heat the paint before rolling and I got zero cracks in the paint on the surface. Inside the fender I tore up the paint with the bat, but I'm not really concerned about that. I probably made the paint too soft with the heat gun, but I was also pressing and rolling pretty hard with the bat. I got the fender lip pretty darn near flat!

I'm taking the car into a body shop tomorrow to get some side skirts installed, so I won't have a chance to test it this week. If this fender rolling didn't take car of my rub issue, then I'll have to go back and get an alignment again and get the rear camber pushed from negative 2.0 to 2.5 or so...

So if any of you guys want to roll your fenders, the baseball bat method does indeed work on the Boxster. Just take your time and use some heat to soften the paint.

Kirk

[dcporsche99]

Cant' wait to see the pictures!


EDIT: I was trying to imagine, but I could never have imagined this! It's actually a neat tool!! So here's a link for the others on "fender rolling" -

http://mazda6tech.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17&Itemid=1

[djomlas]

there are pleanty of how-tos on how to get this done, but the safest way is to get a rolling tool
i know that bmwcca rents them for free, and other places as well...much safer than a bat....

either way, make sure that you heat up the are in order not to crack your paint, they you did more damage than good.

and as for the value of the car...what the hell man?

[boxs2000]

Have you thought about having your alignment adjusted (more camber) to keep the rear from rubbing. I would try that first because I had my fenders rolled before on my GTI and it worked but it also made the lip weaker because the edge that was put on it for strength was rolled in and it warped after awhile.

[Kirk]

Originally Posted by boxs2000

Have you thought about having your alignment adjusted (more camber) to keep the rear from rubbing. I would try that first because I had my fenders rolled before on my GTI and it worked but it also made the lip weaker because the edge that was put on it for strength was rolled in and it warped after awhile.

I already rolled my fenders, I did that last night. But yeah you're spot on - if the fender rolling didn't give me enough clearance, then I'll get it aligned for more negative camber in the rear.

Kirk