Rolling Fenders With Rolling Tool & Sure Grip

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Ricks70Duster340

Ricks70Duster340

Child of the King
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I have a fender rolling tool that I want to use to flatten the inner lip to give more tire clearance. All the instructions I've seen show to mount the tool onto the hub and rotate it back and forth to slowly bend the lip. My issue is I have a sure grip rear that won't let me rotate the hub with the trans in neutral.

Those with SG rears & have used this tool; how did you do it?
 
If you cannot turn the axle with the transmission in neutral, something is wrong. You should be able to turn the axles, as they will turn together in neutral. I know....it's a stupid question, but is the parking brake on?
 
Lift both rear tires off the ground.

Trans in neutral.

Parking brake off

If you cannot rotate the tires you have a bigger problem.

Brakes not releasing
Brakes too tight
Trans not releasing the parking pawl
 
What roller do you have? I’m looking at the Eastwood one and from the reviews it’s the only one worth the cost. They have he best reviews and they will replace the tool within a year from purchase. They also sell replacement parts, which why would you need replacement parts on something like this?!?
All of the different brands say they are only for front fenders. On our cars the front hubs drop so much when jacked up. Would it be acceptable to block up the LCA to replicate the hub at ride height? Of course relying on jack stands.
 
I can spin the rear when the tires are on with some difficulty, but it takes serious muscles to do so without the tires (My body is telling me I'm not a young buck anymore). Easier to go forward than trying to go the other way. Just did not think it would take so much effort. Yes, in neutral & PB is not on.
 
go-fish said:
What roller do you have? I’m looking at the Eastwood one and from the reviews it’s the only one worth the cost. They have he best reviews and they will replace the tool within a year from purchase. They also sell replacement parts, which why would you need replacement parts on something like this?!?
All of the different brands say they are only for front fenders. On our cars the front hubs drop so much when jacked up. Would it be acceptable to block up the LCA to replicate the hub at ride height? Of course relying on jack stands.
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I got this one, which also has a year warranty. The only thing that might need replacing would be the rubber roller.

Roll Fender Reforming Extending Tool Wheel Arch Roller Flaring Former Heavy Duty | eBay
 
Kendog 170 said:
I don't see that working in rear with outer wheelhouse welded to the quarter. I see distortion in your future. Just saying.
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I'm not talking about the rears for myself. I was inquiring about the front. The different brands all specify that they're for the front anyway. That is probably because, like you say, inner wheelhouse an all. My main interest in this product, for our cars specifically, is how much adjustment for the hub to fender length. Would I need to lift the LCA up to get the roller on the fender? The LCA's drop quite a bit when you jack up a t-bar car, unlike oil-over cars.

As far as the rear is concerned on the Duster, I am just going to do the @72bluNblu reverse-tub method and a spring relocation to fit a 295/40r18.
 
Ricks70Duster340 said:
I have a fender rolling tool that I want to use to flatten the inner lip to give more tire clearance. All the instructions I've seen show to mount the tool onto the hub and rotate it back and forth to slowly bend the lip. My issue is I have a sure grip rear that won't let me rotate the hub with the trans in neutral.

Those with SG rears & have used this tool; how did you do it?
Click to expand...

Ricks70Duster340 said:
I can spin the rear when the tires are on with some difficulty, but it takes serious muscles to do so without the tires (My body is telling me I'm not a young buck anymore). Easier to go forward than trying to go the other way. Just did not think it would take so much effort. Yes, in neutral & PB is not on
Click to expand...

There is absolutely something wrong.

With both wheels in the air and the car in neutral, even with the tires off, the hubs should spin easily. All you should be working against is bearing resistance and gear friction. You should be able to grab a lug with a couple of fingers and spin the axle. On my car it won't keep spinning by itself for multiple turns like the front, but it shouldn't require any serious muscle just to rotate it.

go-fish said:
What roller do you have? I’m looking at the Eastwood one and from the reviews it’s the only one worth the cost. They have he best reviews and they will replace the tool within a year from purchase. They also sell replacement parts, which why would you need replacement parts on something like this?!?
All of the different brands say they are only for front fenders. On our cars the front hubs drop so much when jacked up. Would it be acceptable to block up the LCA to replicate the hub at ride height? Of course relying on jack stands.
Click to expand...

I have the Eastwood one. I think the one Summit sells is identical but red instead of blue.

The arm of the roller can be made pretty long, I did the front fenders quite awhile ago but I don't recall having to do much with the suspension to make it happen. Even if I'm forgetting something, all you'd have to do is loosen the torsion bar adjusters and set the LCA on a stand.

In the back rolling the quarter lip is quite a bit harder. Even with the outer wheelhouse removed I had to start the bend on the lip with a hammer and dolly, once I had it started I was able to roll it back. I use a piece of 3/16" rod in the rolled section, so the lip doesn't roll flat on itself.

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As far as distorting the quarters, good luck. I did this as part of my "reverse tub" on my Duster, and even with most of the outer wheelhouse removed and cranking on the wheel roller as absolutely hard as I would dare I was only able to push the quarter about 3/8". In the front you can push the fenders quite a bit with the rolling tool.

The work I did on the rear quarters is all here... My "new" '74 Duster- or why I need a project like a hole in the head
 
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I fixed my fender lips and put stock tires back on mine were already rolled...Im backasswards but at the time didnt know about thr tire size limitations on my Swinger
 
go-fish said:
In the front, in your estimation, with a Duster fender, will the fender rod extending and rolling suffice to fit 275's or would one still need a pizza wedge cut at behind the front wheel on the lower 1/4 (Burris?)?
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I ran my Duster with the Duster fenders and 275’s with just the extended fender brace. I didn’t roll those fenders either.

It will depend on your ride height though, I had the factory LCA’s on the car then so I was a bit higher in the front than I am now. The fender rolling came in with the additional lowering.

And my Dart fenders are the ‘71 version, so they have the more restrictive wheel opening. 72+ Dart fenders took almost an inch off the lower front corner. I believe Duster fenders stayed the same for the whole run, at least at the wheel opening. Full disclosure, I will probably put in a pie cut in my own fenders before the car gets painted for real. They clear the 275’s just fine, but I may try and stuff 285’s on there at some point and I think I'm pretty well maxed out with the 275's on there at the corner.

Here's my Duster with its original fenders and 275's. I probably lowered it another 5/8" or so since then, I don't recall setting it higher than 25.5" to the top of the wheel opening and the lowest I've had it so far is 24 7/8".

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I figger this is why Dart Swingers had shackles and air shocks rear ends way up back in the day...looked something kinda like...

1707328349702.png


1707328314795.png
yeah..I know it isnt a Dart but... thats about what it was...:)
 
Dartswinger70 said:
I figger this is why Dart Swingers had shackles and air shocks rear ends way up back in the day...
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Dart's have 1" less room in the wheelhouses in the back than Dusters/Demons/Dart Sports/Barracudas. The quarters aren't as wide and the outer wheelhouse is a full inch narrower.
 
@72bluNblu I've Been stocking up for a big change. I'm buying an 8.75 and will be building complete with brakes and new leafs/sliders over the summer. My 0 offset 18x10's are good to go but still need replacement inner and outer shells for the front wheels. That will make them 18x9 +35mm.. Also for the front I just need the QA1 LCA's.

Is the reverse tub imperative to fitting 295's?

In the next year I would like to be running Dr. Diff 11.7 rear/13" Viper kit, SPC UCA and Qa1 LCA, adj. strut rods, manual master cyl., & 8.75 conversion. I would like to do all the mods in one shot but if I can parcel the revers-tub into a separate project I would love to.
 
go-fish said:
@72bluNblu I've Been stocking up for a big change. I'm buying an 8.75 and will be building complete with brakes and new leafs/sliders over the summer. My 0 offset 18x10's are good to go but still need replacement inner and outer shells for the front wheels. That will make them 18x9 +35mm.. Also for the front I just need the QA1 LCA's.

Is the reverse tub imperative to fitting 295's?

In the next year I would like to be running Dr. Diff 11.7 rear/13" Viper kit, SPC UCA and Qa1 LCA, adj. strut rods, manual master cyl., & 8.75 conversion. I would like to do all the mods in one shot but if I can parcel the revers-tub into a separate project I would love to.
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Parts list sounds familiar!

Uh, I wouldn't say the reverse tub was imperative for 295's. I had 295's on the car before I did the reverse tub, they fit with the 1/2" spring offset and the quarter lip trimming I did to begin with. The issue was they fit when I had drum brakes, and when I went to the 11.7's they kicked the wheels out another 5/16's or whatever. Then I went from 295/35/18's to 295/40/18's, and the additional height and change in tire brand meant the tires were rubbing.

After all the reverse tubbing and push I did on the quarters I could probably fit 315's or maybe even 325's now.

But it's like anything, for 295's without the reverse tub, to put them inside the quarters and run a lowered ride height the backspace has to be just about perfect, it turned out I didn't have 5/16" to give up to the quarter for the disks. And then there's variation in tire specs by manufacturer etc. So, yes, 295's will fit with just a 1/2" spring offset and some quarter lip work. But it will depend on the ride height, getting the backspace right, and the actual make/model/aspect ratio of the 295's. It definitely worked on my car with the combination I had at the time.
 
72bluNblu said:
Parts list sounds familiar!
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The parts were mostly bought for a different project and they were collecting dust for too long. I returned my Duster to damn near stock on the restoration with the intentions of using a Valiant as a tuner car.

It looks like I will be extending my expected completion time due to the reverse-tub. With your report I now consider it something I must do. Issue is my springs can't be reused with v.2, worn out but it sits where I want. When installing sliders I want to compensate for spring sag. I suppose that at first I wouldn't need the rev.-tub right away but as the springs sagged it would become needed.
 
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Ricks70Duster340 said:
I can spin the rear when the tires are on with some difficulty, but it takes serious muscles to do so without the tires (My body is telling me I'm not a young buck anymore). Easier to go forward than trying to go the other way. Just did not think it would take so much effort. Yes, in neutral & PB is not on.
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Now that's normal to go forward easier because of how the gears are cut. Sounds like you are like me and just have old fart's syndrome.
 
Can you hear scritch scritch as you rotate.

Maybe brakes are too tight.
 
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