Rolling your Arches

[dan 0]

Reading through my Performance VW magazines I occasionaly (can't spell) come accross featured cars with rolled arches. I can see the difference in the pictures but, can't get my head round how it's done.

 

Questions

Do I need a special tool to do this?

Will it damage the paintwork?

If the arches are rolled can I fit bigger rims?

 

Any ideas...

[VR6 0]

AFAIK the way the pro's do it is to get a special rolling thingy which I think might attach to the hub. Then it's a case of a bit of heat to stop the paint cracking and push the arches outwards.

 

There are probably a number of different DIY ways, depending on how you want to do it but the above is the basic principle.

 

If you do roll the arches, the main reason is to be able to fit bigger rims that may foul the arches.

 

Think the main problem is preventing the paint cracking.

[steveo29 0]

the pukka tool is the way to go..even then you risk cracking the paint

 

diy method is to use a baseball bat to lever against the tyre/arch to fold it round...but itl crack the paint look tatty close up

[dan 0]

Cheers,

 

The reason I asked is because the guy who fitted my tyres said that, I could not go higher than 35mm profile tyres on 17'' rims. The 35mm profile make the alloys vunerable to pot holes :x and give a harsher ride. Ideally, I'd of prefered a 40mm profile and I thought rolling the arches would allow this.

 

I don't really want to risk cracking the paint on the arches so, maybe I'll leave them alone.

 

At least I now know what's involved. Thanks again....

[VR6 0]

If you're talking about not much of a difference when widening the arches, which it sounds like you are - 35mm to 40mm profile, it could be worth taking it to a bodyshop to do - they should be able to do a small job like that fairly quickly and hopefully professionally without cracking the paint.