Race cars have big fender flares because they look cool, right? Well, not quite. Sure, they look great, but the real point of flares is to make room for bigger tires.
Bigger tires make more grip, and more grip makes race cars faster. That’s why we’d ordered some meat for our LFX-swapp…
Sort of related, I have seen some pulled/stretched fenders on E46 M3s that looked factory.
Props for mentioning the heat gun aspect, if it's overlooked you're going to have a bad time.
Used the same rolling tool and a big heat gun on my old FC RX7 front fenders to make room for some 225/45 on SSR 17x8.5" rims (along with some bolt on spacers). Not the most fun project, but it looked cool afterwards. There are days when I truly miss that car...
Cutting.
Tools makers! Combine the lip roller and an english wheel to make something the takes this a step further and puffs out the fender surface for even more clearance. :-)
On my NA CSP build I rolled and pulled the fenders to fit a 275/35-15 A7 on a 9" wheel. It worked but barely.
When the new owners of said car moved up to 10" wheels (same size tire) they HAD to cut the fenders.
I appreciate the article, but need more information about pulling.
In my inexperienced head, I'm imagining fingers and biceps, but I'm guessing that isn't exactly the process ;-)
What tools are needed for the pull? Are any pictures of that process available?
RonB001 said:I appreciate the article, but need more information about pulling.
In my inexperienced head, I'm imagining fingers and biceps, but I'm guessing that isn't exactly the process ;-)
What tools are needed for the pull? Are any pictures of that process available?
This is how I did the front fenders on my Supra, but it certainly wasn't a pretty job. It works though, and that's all that mattered at the time.
Thing about metal though, you stretch it in one spot, it almost certainly shrinks in another spot. The trick is finding out how to get it to do what you're wanting. =)
Taking a fender with a right angle lip and folding it flat (carefully) is sometimes enough to give you clearance that you need. In the old coach built days they used to do fender lips like that, rolled over a length of hard wire (had to watch out for unlike metals setting up for electrolysis though).
One thing that many seem to overlook is when the interference takes place. A slight change in spring rate can fix a too soft ride resulting in interference and on live axle cars a Panhard (or Watt's link) can eliminate fouling. Of course if you are going for the Hot Wheels look with far more tire than you need for performance purposes, nothing but flares are going to do it.
Since I can't read the article, the answer seems to be pulling.
Rolling is just that, rolling the inner lip flat against the inside of the fender.
Pulling is when you're actually changing the outer contour of the fender to create more room.
I never thought about this topic as one versus another. I've always felt it depends on if you care about racing classes because sometimes you can't pull fenders, only roll.
& beyond that, I've always felt it best to start with a roll, then pull only if it's necessary. I have zero hesitation to roll any fender, but I'm super hesitant to start pulling on the metal.
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