fender rolling

I dropped the back of my 56 f-100. I have about 1" of travel before it bottoms out on the axle. I'm going to c-notch the frame for some added travel. But, now I have a tire clearance problem. When I bottom out, or get my wheel hop, the fender is right there on the tire. I need that thing (fender) to come out about 3/4" to 1" to clear it.

I heard of fender rolling from someone awhile back. This is where you take a baseball bat or tapered dowl and put it between the tire and fender. Slowly moving vehicle back and forth while it pushes out the fender, and moving the bat or dowl to a thicker part as you go. (useing 2 people)

The fender has about a 1/2" flange where it rolls under. So once that's flattened out, the fender can start pushing out until I have clearance.

I'd have to use a dowl seeing how I barely have enough room for my finger.

It sounds good, any of you tried this or heard of this techinque? I'd rather not***** up my fenders just trying something I heard.

Thanks in advance.....

 

I've done this technique on many of my own and friends cars... Mainly lowered cars that run when turning, or scrape the sidewalls outback.

it helps to have a "pusher" and a friend or two to sit in the car to add some weight & drop it down...

just got slowly, or the paint will chip right off.

 

They use that deal for quick fixes in NASCAR events after a wreck. I think a different offset in your wheels would be the way to go.

 

I did that on my 70 elCamino - way back when a guy just HAD to have the biggest meats possible. Used the skinny handle end of a bat. Worked perfect and didn't mess up the fender at all.

 

Been doing it for about 30 or so years. We used to call it a Hat Trick. Who knows why
It doesn't always work. Sometimes you run into a clearance problem above in the radius of the tub, the radius of fender in your case.
If the top of the fender isn't an issue it should work for you.Just don't get in a hurry with it.

 

Guys usta put a 2" wide spacer between the fender and the bed sometimes to move the fender out for clearance. either a "U" channel or 2" wide hunk of lumber cut to fit.

That rolling pin trick is only good for cars that the tire sorta fits but rubs the sidewall when the car leans on turns and the axle shifts a bit. I don't think you'll get an inch out of it. And it'll only ba at the lip, higher up in the fender the tire will still rub I tried it on my MGB GT and resorted to finishing the job with aimed wacks with a 2 pound maul.

 

Too funny i just posted that same tech then read your s .Guess i should read ahead first .YEAH great trick .

 

God damn, I only wrote that about 15 minutes ago.
I thought it sounded like it would work. I'll give it a go this weekend.

Thanks,

Slick mo fo

 

You might want to slit the inner lip of the fender in several spots (not past the bend where it becomes visable on the outside). Fold the lip up so that it's flat against the inside of the fender. This not only gives you the "free" clearance of the width of the lip but it also helps when streaching the fender with the bat as well as reinforces the fender lip. I start with the small end of the bat and graduate up to the fat end in several passes. At each stage of the bat, roll it between the fender and the time a couple of times because the metal will only streach so far the first time, a little more the second and so forth. When you get minimal resistance on the bat you know it's time to graduate up the bat to a fatter part. I've gotten well over an inch streach using this method and the distortion of the fender is minimal.
K

 

The main problem with rolling the fender is you are not creating more surface area which is what you need to do to truly make the fender wider. You are pulling "shape" from somewhere else. The distance from the front of the wheel opening to the back will get shorter. On some cars the door gaps will change. You might even get a kink in the surface of the fender. For a small amount of room it may be a decent choice for a do-it-yourselfer, but you are not stretching the metal, you are merely rearanging it. I choose to stretch the metal to make the fenders wider. It is a lot of work, but not terribly technical in nature. I'm working on a video how to right now. See the link for details, or this pictured 914 which is widened about 2" without welding.

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John www.ghiaspecialties.com