Introduction
If your tires rub against the fender inner lip due to lowering or sagging suspension, larger wheels, or excessive wheel offset, you can try rolling out the fender lip to help reduce or eliminate tire rubbing. Keep in mind that larger wheels and tires normally result in reduced handling, comfort, and fuel economy! Especially for daily driver cars, you want to stay within a certain wheel size. See 1000q: wheel overview for more details.
Rolling the fender means to bend the inner lip of the fender to form a tighter angle than stock. This gives more clearance on the inside of the fender lip, it won't do anything to the outside of the fender. First make sure that you identify the spots where it is rubbing. Note that fender rolling only eliminates minor rubbing. If the tire is actually cut or the rubbing is against the suspension, you have a much bigger problem that cannot be fixed by rolling.Now, you may be asking yourself why the car maker didn't roll the fenders to begin with. That lip is there to add structural integrity. Which is stiffer when pressing on the top: a metal soda can or an equally thin piece of sheet metal. Try denting the soda can on it's side and you can crush it easily. The fender lip adds strength to the fender, so do this modification at your own risk!
Procedure
Some people
have used a baseball bat, jacked up the car, lowered it so that the baseball bat
pinches the bat, and roll/lever it against the tire to bend back the
fender. This is dangerous and may produce uneven results. Since
there are tools available from the eastwood
company, various rental places, etc, I would use fender rolling tools instead of
a baseball bat. A professional body shop will also be
able to roll the fenders. Below is a picture of a fender roller.
You just bolt the roller to the hub and move the roller slowly forward to bend the lip.
Before rolling, make sure the paint is heated. It may crack if it's too cold and hard. A hair dryer will help, but a heat gun is best.
Remove the fender liners as necessary, etc.
Attach the fender roller to the hub and just roll in short back and forth motions. You don't want to make big or fast motions since this can crack the paint. Again, make sure the paint stays warm to reduce the chance of the paint cracking.
