rolling fenders

[M+O]

I apologize if this is outside the scope here, but figured if anyone knew, this would be the place to ask.

I am considering rolling my fenders to make way for some larger wheels I will be installing (for AutoX). I'm curious to know what negative / long term effects of doing so will have on the paint/clear coat? The procedure would be done by a professional using the "proper" equipment / technique

This is my daily driver but its always detailed/clean etc. and I take a lot of pride in my vehicles

Thanks!

[mchant]

There is really no downside I can see of rolling your fenders. The only possibility is having paint chip during the process. But if your guy is using a heat gun and knows what he's doing, he won't chip the paint.

[builthatch]

let me start this by saying i'm an incredibly anal person. i don't deal with paint cracks and damage very well.

anyway, i wanted to run eibach 15mm studded spacers on my 08 mazdaspeed3. at the time, nobody was running them and i figured it would be the ideal way to make the OE wheels flush. i was running the stock size tires (215/45/18) and my car was lowered about 1.5" in the front and 1" in the back.

went from this



to this



the front cleared no problem.

the front of the rear wells would catch under certain circumstances and would pull the lip up there, and then it would hit all the time until i tapped it back with a mallet.

so i decided to listen to all the people who said it would be fine with a heat gun and a professional roller.

my friend, who has rolled many a e30 and e36 bmw fender lip, brought his roller home from work (a bmw race shop). we heated the paint up really good...consistent, but not too hot, and slowly went to work. gradual stuff, really gradual, where we'd do slight angles and gradually increase them.

well, the paint on a modern cars is so damn incredibly thin. and i knew that. but didn't listen to my gut, and the paint cracked all over the place. i was so bitter because i knew i should have just gone another route instead of trying to make this super thin mazda paint stretch.

so, i ended up taking the car to get the fenders really rolled, by a body shop. not too much so the structural integrity of the fender was compromised, but a decent angle. that involved obviously a ton of body work, and the car was silver metallic and obviously two stage so the paint/clear had to be blended FAR.

the body shop i used was different from my normal shop, as my normal shop was booked solid. again, went to this new shop on a recommendation and it was a nightmare. i won't get into it but they ###### my car up and i had to do a chargeback and almost sue the guy. my normal shop fixed it but my car was off the road for a total of 3 months because of all of this.

the moral of this story is, if you care about paint cracking, don't do this on your late model car.

take it to a legit body shop and have them do it right. it will cost money but otherwise you run the risk of a crappy job.

[James K]

Man, you guys confused me! I saw the OP's avatar, and then the pics posted by builthatch and was thinking "Why is he asking this question if his fenders are already rolled?" Argh. Attention to details dummy!

As for rolling fenders, it is one of those hit or miss things. You can either have a good experience and no problems, or you can have a nightmare. Be prepared for the nightmare.

[FRC Z51]

I've rolled the fenders on several Mazdaspeed 3's and never had an issue. Heat gun is a must and you must work slowly. The biggest mistake people make is trying to bend the lip angle too quickly and sharply which will definetely cause the paint to crack. Roll a little at a time and make sure you roll from one end to the other keeping everything even. And keep the paint warm and pliable! The last Speed3 I did had 245's at all four corners with aftermarket wheels. I could have even squeezed 255's with a little more finessing. That was on an '08 though.

[oldmodman]

I have done five different cars fenders over the last few years. I bought the Eastwood Fender Rolling Tool and already had a heat gun.
First I made sure that the fender lips were absolutely clean. And the fender wells.
The tool was installed and set to just barely touch the surface. The lips were heated and one back and forth pass was made. The tool was set for a tiny amount deeper and the lip was heated again. I used a remote thermometer to make sure the heat was even. Then another back and forth pass was made. This was repeated until the lip was adjusted the desired amount. Since I was being so careful it tool several hours to do both rear wheel arches.
No paint cracking was seen. Maybe the paint type on American cars is more flexible.

[M+O]

Great, thanks all for the responses. This is what I was afraid of, totally different answers/experiences LOL.

I always wondered that over time, the area that is rolled would be the area problems would start (e.g. after a year or two, cracking or peeling) especially in the hot/cold temps in MN.

I know its pretty common procedure to do nowadays, but I have seen so many examples (various forums) where the person could really care less - "just get the new wheels on" and others that may look fine 5ft away but up close.......I understand there is a correct way and a hack way to it.

Nice Speed BTW builthatch. I have a '10 hatch and am putting on new shock/springs to lower, similar to what you did. I would guess based on your awful experience, your recommendation would be don't do it and understandably so.

I know there have been millions of fenders rolled but to the ones that haven't ran into any issues, how long ago since it was done on your vehicle? Any thoughts on why there is such a significant difference of outcomes even when every precaution was takes and the proper tools used - builthatch is a good example?

Thanks again