Measuring carefully to package the widest wheels and tires within the stock sheetmetal and wheeltubs can only take you so far. That’s because every car has one little bit of sheetmetal that’s going to work against taking advantage of all the available real estate and bringing the wheels right out to the edge of the sheetmetal: the fender lip.
There’s a great deal of adjustment...
There’s a great deal of adjustment built into the Fender Roller; this is the standard position, which will work for most cars with a close-to-stock or a mildly lowered ride height.
It may not look like much, but that last inch or so of steel can represent some significant limitations on tire width—and maybe your driving style. Remember, tires aren’t static within the wheelwell as you drive; they’re moving up and down with the suspension and deflecting side to side in response to lateral loads. Your wide tires may fit in place as the car sits still, and maybe even under sedate street cruising, but you may quickly be gouging them against the wheel lip the first time you take a freeway entrance ramp at a little faster than recommended speed. You know that sound.
Historically the answer to rolling the fender lip up for more clearance and less tire gouging edges has basically been “get creative.” The baseball bat between the tire and the fender is one of several infamous methods, all of which have a modest success rate and high incidence of body and paint damage. You could just cut it off, but don’t do that. Not only will it create a sharp edge that you’ll need to deburr and sand to avoid nasty cuts down the road, but you’re also removing the strength of the wheelwell. We tend to not lean against our cars, but we like to know that if we did, the fender wouldn’t flex. The good news is there’s really no need to be a Neanderthal nowadays with Eastwood’s fender roller.
For those of you with slammed...
For those of you with slammed suspensions or small wheelwells, it’s as simple as reconfiguring the mounting flange to this position to gain several inches of clearance.
It’s a straightforward concept: create a brutally simple device that will work on nearly any car to gently roll the fender lip. But it took the bunch of car guys that make up the Eastwood crew to step up and design a product that can address all of the inherent issues with fender lip rolling and render other methods pretty pointless. Even better, it’s barely an afternoon project to handle a whole car. Count on maybe 20-30 minutes per fender, so perhaps two hours if you need to handle all four wheelwells. That’s not too bad considering the benefits.
We love this thing and will probably use it on every project car we build. Our only warning? Once you get your hands on an Eastwood Fender Roller and finish your project you may never see it again since every one of your buddies is going to be begging to borrow it for their own cars!
The mounting flange will work...
The mounting flange will work on most passenger car four- or five-lug bolt circles up to 4.75 inches. The Fender Roller comes with beveled washers that are designed to work with acorn-style lug nuts or standard lug nuts if you flip ’em over.
The forming arm is adjustable...
The forming arm is adjustable from a minimum of 14 inches to a maximum of 22 1/2 inches from the hub center to the edge of the roller. For most cars it’ll be necessary to have the suspension at some level of droop to gain enough clearance.
At the business end of the...
At the business end of the Fender Roller is a urethane wheel mounted on a Delrin ball bearing that rolls extremely easily even under load. You’ll be glad Eastwood stepped up with a high-quality bearing; it makes the job massively less strenuous. The angle of the wheel is adjustable to dial in the angle you want to bend the lip; a 45-degree angle is a good starting place though.
All set and ready to roll,...
All set and ready to roll, the Roller should look like this. For the EcoNova, we used the standard forming arm position with the suspension at full droop.
The Fender Roller may be set...
The Fender Roller may be set up, but before a single pass can be made we need to warm up the paint significantly. Choose your heat gun wisely though; we need more than a hair dryer power here, but not some industrial strength death ray that will burn the paint either. Eastwood recommends their Heat Pro Deluxe Variable Temperature Heat Gun Kit (PN: 43522, $49.99) that can generate between 140 and 1,100 degrees F.
It’s a good heat gun overall,...
It’s a good heat gun overall, but here’s the reason we opted for it: The rotary knob on the back of the gun makes it easy to dial in the heat range, and the LED scale on top lets you see exactly where it’s set.
Warm up the paint slowly....
Warm up the paint slowly. We went with a 400 degrees F setting and held the gun about 1.5 inches from the paint, focusing on the areas that will be seeing stress from the rolling. Also make sure to keep it moving so the paint warms evenly and doesn’t scorch. The actual temp needed is a bit of a guessing game, but go for something in the 120 to 140 degrees F range. Using a laser thermometer like the ones available from Harbor Freight is a great way to get it exact.
Now comes the fun and slightly...
Now comes the fun and slightly nerve-racking part: actually working the Roller back and forth. We say nerve-racking because the pressure from the Roller will naturally flex out the sheetmetal a bit as you work—so make sure you keep the paint warm. It’s even better if you can recruit a buddy to keep the paint warm while you form. Most cars don’t have perfectly round wheelwells, so expect to work a section at a time (4-6 inches at most) and readjust the Roller as needed. The pressure adjustment bolt can be turned to apply gentle pressure to form the lip a little at a time. Patience pays here to save paint and sheetmetal damage; don’t get greedy.
It’s a good idea, in general,...
It’s a good idea, in general, to bend as little of the lip as you can get away with. The EcoNova’s wheelwells are quite long and much of the arch doesn’t even interfere with the tire, so we really only have to pay attention to the top portion. Along the same lines, only roll the lip as much as you need to clear the tire during travel and deflection. If you don’t have to roll the lip flush to the body, don’t. That just increases the odds that you’ll crack the paint or deform the quarter.
Luckily, thanks to careful...
Luckily, thanks to careful measuring (the backspacing for our wheels was worked out by Boze’s Zak Kingsland—see “Fit More Tire!” Apr. ’12) we only need to roll the lip upward about 50 degrees from level. Some cars with more rigid or thicker lips may need to make small notches in the lip to help with the rolling.
If you do need to go flush...
If you do need to go flush to the sheetmetal, or do final work on the consistency of your roll, Eastwood also has this really useful Fender Finisher (PN 11537, $49.99). Warm paint is also important with this tool, but be cautious not to get it so warm that an impression can be left from the tool. If you’re really lucky and don’t need much room, the finisher may be able to handle the whole job for you with the wheel and tire in place.
Now we’ve got all the clearance...
Now we’ve got all the clearance we need to drop the EcoNova with a performance suspension and get rid of that god-awful stance from old stock springs and our lightweight E-Rod LS3 drivetrain.