Ok, so the plasti dip started to come off my x so now it's time for some more work. It's on H&R's and has adjustable upper control arms in the rear now from SPC performance. I REALLY need to roll my fenders as I am currently on 40mm backspace with an 18x8.5" wheel and wrapped in 225/40/18s. I know a few of you out there have rolled your fenders. What's your advice on how to go about it? I'm probably just going to rent a fender roller, throw a heat gun on it and go from there, but I don't know if I will be able to roll them enough. What is everyone else out here running?

By the way, I'm sitting at 2.8 degrees of camber in the rear and 1.4 in the front. Really looking to get the rear back into the .8-1.2 range, but just don't know if it's possible. As always, thank you!

 

Its definitely possible. I personally do not have rolled fenders but talking with a few people on here that if you roll the fenders no matter what you do your are going to crack your paint and will need it repainted or possibly plastidipped in your case.

I am on 215/30/20s and I do not rub and my alignment is where it is supposed to be.

Just know if you plan to roll them the paint IS going to crack regardless. The next best thing would be to have your fender lips cut rather than rolled if you know a reputable shop.

 

I rolled mine, front and rear. Here what I learned from it. Do not fold the inner lip back then roll, cut the inner lip out, then roll. If you try folding the inner lip flat and then try rolling it will seriously damage the paint.... like I have bit chunks that came off, not just cracks, and I did used a heat gun. On the rear I cut the lip then rolled and the paint only cracked in a few spots. As of now I have 255 35 18s on 18x9s +35 on my car, kw coilovers. The front don't rub at all, in fact I can lower the front a bit more now that I'm running 18s and not 19s. The rears rub only a little when I really throw the car into a turn. You may want to get the car aligned to where you want then try to roll the fenders to stop whatever rubbing you have. If you roll then align you might end up having to roll again since the top of the wheel will be closer to the fenders once you lessen the rear camber. Oh, and start more to the inside (inside meaning close to center of the car and outside being the edge of the fender lip) and work your way out. You can also take note of where they rub, there will be marks in your fender wells. Do a little at a time and go for a drive. If they rubbing stopped, you're done, if not, do a little more then drive. Repeat until rub free. I spent hours on mine, mostly because of the largeness of my wheels and tires but also because it was my first time rolling fenders.

 

Where can you rent a fender roller? I saw a few on ebay for sale for about $130. Didn't know it would be so damaging to the paint though... Maybe there would be a way to start of small and slowly expand it more and more after a few passes?

 

If you craigslist it, there are people who have bought them and do it for $15 a fender...

 

Ok, so noob question just popped into my mind. I thought that rolling the fenders was just supposed to get rid of the lip on the inside of the fender (ie. take the end of the fender that is parallel to the ground and make it perpendicular.) Justin, did you just cut the lip off with a grinder, fold the lip flush with the fender, and then use the fender roller to start "pulling" your fenders? Basically, I only thought that it was possible to roll the lips in, but if I can remove the lip completely and then pul the fender out (make my rear fenders "wider") then I am most definitely going to go with that option.

 

That's exactly what I did. Although on the fronts I folded the inner lips in then rolled the fenders out more, and I wish I had just cut the inner lip completely out then rolled. I did that in the rear and it came out better. be careful when "pulling" the front fender out, I pulled and rolled mine a lot and now the fender sticks out a bit where it meets the front door. its not horrible but I notice it.

 

Oh and keep in mind the front fenders are aluminum and are much softer than the rears so you dont need to use as much force on them to move the metal. You can always roll more if you need to, but its pretty hard to get them back if you go too far ha. One day I'm going to get another pair of front fenders and redo it.

 

Ok, well I think I'm going to have to do the front's in the long run, but right now they haven't caused too much off a rubbing issue. I tried to bend the lip up to gain another 1/8" of clearance, and BOOM, the previous owner's bondo job popped off and flew into my face. So, I don't think I really want to mess with the fronts.

So, recap. Grind the lips off with a grinder, heat the dick out of it, and have a field day with the fender roller.
how far did you end up grinding the lips down? I feel like I'll still have to bend the last part of the lip flush with the fender regardless of how well I end up grinding it down though. Was that the case with you?


Also, how bad of inner tire wear are you getting on your current setup? I have put about 25k miles on this bad boy and have blown through close to two full sets of tires. I don't drive like a grandma though and I even get the wheels spinning on some hard 1st gear turns.

 

I cut all of the inner lip out, then grinded it smooth, then rolled. Also, do a little at a time and work your way out. If you try to do to much at once it wont come out nice.


I beat the hell out of my car almost daily haha, my car eats up rear tires too but I haven't gotten an alignment yet. I'm doing that either this week or next though.

 

I had mine aligned right after the drop. Fronts are at -.9 L&R camber and perfect toe. Square on the nuts in the rear for both camber and toe. I suggest an alignment for sure. Dude said to not expect any abnormal tire wear. I'll be cutting away at my fender wells right before I wrap it to hide the cut edge then step up to some bigger tires.

 

yeah, I aligned mine right after the drop too, but with a square rear, my tires were poking out 1/8" from the rear fenders. Be super careful when you buy wheels for this car. **** gets expensive super quick if you don't do the right backspace math haha.

with a mandatory *** shot to accompany

 

Haha yeah it can. I did the math like 5 times before I ordered my latest set, it would have been a costly mistake for sure haha. Your car looks great btw.

 

Can you explain what kind of rims to get? Before I just though rims were rims, you got the lug pattern you need and the width and diameter and that was that. Not too familiar with the backspacing thing. That would be cool to roll my fenders but that sucks about the paint. I saw rollers on ebay though for about $130. I wanted to buy one just to have around, roll fenders for people. PS Disguay I didn't know you had a white one!

 

Oh duh it's plastidip I forgot

 

Offset and backpacking are actually more important than diameter and width. You could get a 7 inch wide wheel that wont fit because the offset is wrong.

 

What wheels are those disguay? They look a lot like my enkei rsf5's! Looks good man!

 

Disguay, I thought a while back you mentioned kind of losing interest in the X and that you were going to move on to something else? Get a change of heart? Good to see you posting again regularly.

 

Yeah it took me about 4 weeks to figure out where I wanted the wheels to sit in the fenders lol. I'm glad I went with the wheel that I did. It also wasn't my first time wheel shopping so I kinda knew what I was getting into. Jaguar Forums really helped as well. It definitely pays to do your research!

 

My wheels are stern ST15's plasti dipped with 4 coats of anthracite metallic and then two coats of glossifier over that. I would really recommend the plasti dip setup, people think my wheels are way more expensive than they really were (paid $300 for the set.)

alfa, I did lose interest, and I'm still trying to sell my car, but just can't find the right buyer. I removed the plasti dip, took off a few other mods so it would be more saleable and I'm moving on... slowly, but surely. Currently the jag is my fourth vehicle as I have a 93 jeep xj (6.5" long arm 35's,) an 00 jeep xj (4.5" 33s,) and a 98 subaru forester along with my xtype. Once I got the forester, I realized that I'll eventually swap over to the fozzy as my DD for a few months to get me around until I can find the right car for me. I just hate that I get the same mpg in my xtype as I do in my 00 lifted jeep.