Wheel arch rolling, what it's all about .

Charlie Farley

Charlie Farley

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Ok chaps, in complete contrast to my other ongoing projects , (there are few lol) i'm interested in this process of arch rolling and what it does .
Does it effect the exterior look of the arch ?
Is there any risk involved with a 13 year old car/bodywork etc?
Is it a DIY situation for those of a more handy disposition?

any info would be good chaps.

rob
 
Arch rolling AFAIK is where you roll the inner lip of the arch up to give more clearance. Was big on the BMW forums. The A4 has only a thin arch lip so there's nothing to roll I think.

I wouldn't have thought age would matter but you'd want no debris up behind and anything you can do to slightly soften the paint couldn't hurt.


Flaring is something else.

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Thanks chap, how does it effect the liner then , as it fits into the lip and if that is flattened I cant see how it can be refitted.
 
That's the thing, on my E46 the arch liner didn't sit as it does on my A4. It was much further up inside the arch.

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Hiya Rob. I’ve rolled mine. So here goes..I’ll start off by saying yeah if your pretty diy minded then you’ll be fine with this. Arch rollers can be bought for pretty cheap. You will probably need a spacer on the hub to clear your brake callipers. I did on mine. Assuming it’s for the bus.

Dependent on the condition of the wings depends how well the end result will be, if they are pretty corroded it’s probably not worth doing, as it will fold the inner lip back and it will effectively snap it off. Leaving you with a sharp edge and you’ll be able to see this form the exterior of the wings. But if new or good condition then you’ll be able to fold the lip back. Giving you more clearance in the arch. As for the liner...remove the screw that holds it in the top and cut away the liner around that area.

the rear arches are very straight forward. Inner edge folds back no bother (normally) for my sins I’ve rolled quite a few of my cars. Running wider wheels and lowering.

All in all it’s just gives you more clearance in the arch to prevent rubbing. I’ve rolled mine and you can’t tell from the exterior. On my old s13 I rolled them and then kept rolling to give them a slight flare. But I wouldn’t want to do that with the Audi. Hope that helps a bit
 
Thanks chaps, seems pretty straight forward then.
My old buses wings are in VGC which is a good start then, what about the liners , will they go back in.
I'm only thinking of the rears to be honest.
 
I just cut a small strip of my liners that would have gone into the lip. Never have any trouble with them rubbing on the wheel etc.

Just run the heat gun over the arches, doesn’t need much heat but just stops the paint cracking and peeling as your rolling them
 
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Also heating the paint up with a good quality heat gun (not your mrs hairdryer it wont get hot enough) heat the exterior panel evenly but don't get it to hot you will bubble the paint, by making the paint hot its more forgiving and less chance of damaging the paint or causing cracks in the paint.
 
This has only come to mind this afternoon really , I have noticed rubbing again on the rear offside tyre.
I've checked the wheel alignment and its spot on all round, it's got me thinking that possibly the rear offside inner lip is protruding more than the nearside, not a lot but just enough to cause the rubbing.
 
May give it a go then, well depend's on the cost of the roller and a decent heat gun as my current heat gun is far from effective.
May work out cheaper to get the rears done by a bodyshop though.
 
You can get cheap arch rollers for £20 heat gun probably about the same id guess so i think your still work out better buying it and doing it yourself Rob, unless you know them for sure a lot of body shops don't have much experience in arch rolling so be careful they may stitch painting panels into you before you know it.
 
I did mine on my car but only the front, can’t remember doing the rears, Is there a lip to roll on the rears?
Is the rear subframe centralised?
 
I've not really had a good look to see if there is a lip to roll on the rears, just assumed there is based on the fronts having one, i'll have to have a good look tomorrow then.

What is the best way to check the position of the rear subframe ?
 
I’m pretty sure the rears are totally different to the fronts, almost rolled from the factory although it’s been a few years since I’ve seen B7 ones tho. That said you may still get a few mm’s if you roll straight on the o/s edge of the arch.
That I can’t tell you, I think it will be very hard to measure it accurately enough to get it spot on. I would think you’d need to get it up on a ramp and pick reference points on the underbody and frame but due to their shapes that could be tricky.
I’m only guessing it’s fractionally out but still within the parameters of adjustment to get the wheels aligned and so that the car doesn’t look like it’s crabbing when driving straight.
 
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Thanks for the info, I had 4 wheel alignment recently and its was all spot on , I think before I rush out and purchase rolling kit etc I'll remove the wheel and checkout whats going on under that arch and lip.

cheers chaps

rob
 
I suppose it could be an issue with the liner though, more investigating I think.
 
When I worked in motorsport back in the 90's, alot of the cars we prepped had the arches rolled - depending on class rules.

We did them by warming the paint (if it wasn't to be painted afterwards) and using a soft mallet and leather sand-filled bag (to hold against the outside of the arch) gently going round the arch a little at a time.

What is this devil known as an 'Arch Roller?'
 
Just Rob. said:
Thanks for the info, I had 4 wheel alignment recently and its was all spot on , I think before I rush out and purchase rolling kit etc I'll remove the wheel and checkout whats going on under that arch and lip.

cheers chaps

rob
Click to expand...

Unless it’s quite a bit of centre the wheel alignment won’t necessarily show up subframe issues so I would base too much on that, I would think the camber adjustment etc could easy cover up an imbalance between side.
 
ok, may have to resort to the manual measurement method then.

cheers.
 
Pedrödelabongo said:
When I worked in motorsport back in the 90's, alot of the cars we prepped had the arches rolled - depending on class rules.

We did them by warming the paint (if it wasn't to be painted afterwards) and using a soft mallet and leather sand-filled bag (to hold against the outside of the arch) gently going round the arch a little at a time.

What is this devil known as an 'Arch Roller?'
Click to expand...
We also have wifi now and phones without wires attached to them :) lol
 
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The rears have a knocked over lip, pretty much the same as a door skin edge, the 1/4 panel is folded around the inner wheel arch panel then pinched tight and sealed. Theres more than likely bonding between the 2 panels too which is something to bare in mind
 
I don't think its worth me messing around with the rolling rears .
Had a look earlier and it seems to be the liner that is the problem not the arch lip, I think i'll whip the wheel off tomorrow and the liner out and see what's occurring.
 
Ricky Burrows said:
We also have wifi now and phones without wires attached to them :) lol
Click to expand...

Shut the front door! :wtf:

You'll be telling me that you can buy miniature helicopters and pilot them from a remote hand-held device next.

What poppycock!:scared2:
 
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A friend and I did this on the back arches of my ZT, we also used a heat gun to warm them up a bite. Have seen it done to push the arches out as well.
 
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