Fender rolling is a process where you “roll” your car’s fenders to fit wider tires. It’s a popular modification because it can give your car a much more aggressive look, and it also gives you the ability to fit wider tires without having to buy new wheels. But is fender rolling right for you? Here’s what you need to know.
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What It Involves
Fender rolling is when you take your car to a shop or do it yourself and use an assortment of tools to remove the “hills” in your fenders so they’ll fit wider tires. A common misconception with this mod is that you actually “roll” the fender, like how you’d roll up a magazine. While some shops may choose to do that for cosmetic purposes, no shop will actually “roll” the fender because it’s designed not to be rolled (fashionable as that would be). Instead, it involves using different kinds of metal files and grinders on the inside lip of the fender (the part closest to your tire) until it fits snugly against the tire without rubbing.
The Benefits
One of the biggest benefits of fender rolling is that it gives your car a more aggressive look. After all, there’s not much “sport” in a stock-looking car when you just shelled out a few hundred grand for a sports car. Fender rolling will also give you much more tire clearance so you can fit wider tires without having to buy new wheels.
In addition, many people roll their fenders because they simply can’t afford brand new factory fenders or they want to mount big brakes on their daily driver and need more room to clear the bigger brake calipers.
And speaking of brakes… one of the most important reasons why people choose to roll their fenders instead of buying aftermarket ones is that they can easily cut their fenders to the perfect height so they have enough room for front and rear big brake kits.
If you’ve ever shopped around for a new set of fenders, you know how expensive it is to buy a full front clip for an older car. Since most cars from the 1960s-2000s weren’t designed with large brakes in mind, it’s not uncommon to have to pay upwards of $1500 just for fenders before you even consider buying wheels or tires! Even then, they’ll most likely require additional modifications such as cutting and welding that will cost extra money too. But when you roll your own, there are no worries about whether they fit because you already made sure of it before going through all the trouble of removing your factory fenders. Plus, it’s much cheaper than buying a whole new set of fenders too!
The Methods
There are two kinds of fender rolling methods:
Manual Rolling
This type of fender rolling is the cheapest and easiest way to go about it, but there’s a potential risk that your car may rub against your tire if you do it wrong. Since this method doesn’t involve any fancy equipment, all you need is a suitable metal file and a few towels. But because no air or electricity is running through files or grinders, be prepared for lots of arm soreness as you roll the hills in your fenders by hand.
If you’re trying to take shortcuts because you’re impatient, manual rolling can also lead to uneven tire-to-fender clearance which could potentially result in rubbing against your tires when turning or driving at speeds over 25mph.
Electric Rolling
If you’re a lot smarter than me and don’t want to spend hours upon hours filing down your fenders by hand, there’s a good chance that electric methods will suit you better.
There are two kinds of electric rolling: portable belt sanders with a metal grinding head and bench grinders with drums or circular sanding heads.
The upside is that the drums come with several different grits of sandpaper so they can do more than just remove material from your fender. But the downside of drums is that they’ll leave deep scratches on your fenders which will need to be filled before painting, whereas belt sanders have a more even finish without any deep marks because it uses coarser sandpapers.
However, the downside to belt sanders is that they’re a lot more expensive and you can’t control how much material gets removed. On the other hand, there’s more control with drums and they’re usually cheaper too.
Conclusion
If you’re looking to replace your current factory fenders with something that’s wider and has more tire clearance (or simply don’t want to pay for new ones), then fender rolling is the way to go! This blog post has provided you with everything you need to know about how fender rolling works as well as the popular methods and benefits. Now it’s time for you to get started on making those changes!
