Rolling a Fender Lip Tire Rubbing FixFender Lip Roller Tool
-Alan Arnell
Learn from me. What you don’t know will hurt you! Several years ago, I bought new rear tires for my non Bel Air, 1957 Chevy, Model 150, 2-Door Sedan. I wanted to make a statement and give the car traction at the drag strip, so I put on P265/50 R15 tires. The new tires on the car looked about as pretty as a speckled pup under a red wagon. The day bought the new tires, I drove my car home striking a pose by wearing shades, setting down low in the seat with my arm out the window. Every time a car drove up next to me, I made eye contact to confirm that my car was bitchin looking wearing her new shoes. Little did I know!
I was so happy, until I made a right turn at an intersection. Uggg! The left tire was rubbing. With a fake smile and creased brow, I slowly drove home with my tail between my legs.
In the driveway, I gave the car a once over to I noticed, that if I only had ⅜ “ more room on both sides between the outside fender and the tire, I would not have a tire rub. I looked up in the wheel wheel and saw that the fender had a fender lip. I’m not Einstein, but I quickly decided that offending lip needs to be bent up and back to make room for my new tires.
Do not use what I did as an example, please! I jacked up the car to take the wheel off. At least I use a jack stand. Then like a fool, I took a pair of water pump pliers and bent the lip back. I have been told that God looks after fools and that day was no exception. The lip bent back with no problems. I put the tire back on the car and went to the other side.
God may look after fools, but even he has his limits. I bent the other side’s lip back and I quickly noticed I had cracked the paint on the outside of the fender. What could I do? I put the tire on and went on my way.
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| Cracked paint from faulty lip bending, |
Of course, some time later I was told of how back in the day lips were bent in by using a baseball bat. Coincidentally, two days later, I was watching a Rat Rod Building show on TV and the cast members demonstrated how to use a ball bat for lip bending.
The way they performed the bending was to put the bat between the fender panel and the wheel. With the bat in place they pushed the truck they were working on forward. The rotation of the tire rode the bat in an arc bent the lip in so the tire would fit. I could tell this method had plenty of room for disaster. I don’t think the process worked all that well for them, because I noticed some fancy editing to where, finally the show went to another scene filmed on the next day when they showed the finished work.
Video of hot to roll lib with a baseball bat.
The best way to roll a fender, like any job, is to use the right tools. I looked up and found online that Tire Rack sells a fender rolling tool. The tool fits on the wheel’s lug nuts and is adjustable to the lip of the quarter panel. Just like the baseball bat the wheel hub is rolled back and forth and uses pressure to roll the lip to where you wish it to be. But, unlike the baseball bat method the rolling tool allows the user more control of the pressure and thus eliminating the screw-up factor. When using the rolling tool you can gauge how much to bend on each pass so as not to crack fender paint or deform or dent the panel.
Even with the fancy tool there will be some paint cracking at the bend, however the bend is hidden from view. It is recommended to use a razor blade to score the paint along the entire radius of the lip about 1/8” inside the outer edge. And, of course when finished put touch up paint over the exposed metal to prevent rust.
The tool costs $99 to $300 but would be well worth the money to not have to pay for fender panel damage repair.
The rolling tool fits all four- and five-lug wheel hubs up to 120mm bolt circle with hubs up to 72.5mm. The kit includes dished washers and vehicle lug bolts. Forming arm adjusts from 14" to 22-3/4" to roll lips flat. It has a ball bearing system that forms the fender.
As with anything you do, there is a wrong way, the right way and the way you do it!
I have seen the lip roller sold both on the Tire Rack and the Eastwood Web sites.
For further Info here are a couple of links:
Tire Rack
Eastwood
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