Thanks Rally...I was thinking around 2" wider on each side...so now I have a descent idea of the width when you increase it I think that I would be pretty happy with 2"s

 

Sorry for the double post- just had a thought.

Would R56 fender flares work with some modification? Obviously they are wider and bigger- the curves might be different, but with a heat gun, could it possibly be made to work? Just thinking out loud!

 

Where is a good place to get ABS sheets - larger than 12x12?

 

I think I am getting mine here
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/pro...roduct_id=3068
Or there is http://www.mcmaster.com/

BTW Rally would a 255/40/17 provide a slight stretch on a 10" rim? Or a 10.5"?

 

I dont think the R56 fenders are any wider than the R53....

You won't need a 2" arch extension to fit a 10" wheel.

Probably not much stretch. 225 or 235 on a 10 would be stretch. 245 might kinda stretch. 255, maybe a little....not a whole lot.

225 on 10



245 on a 10.5

 

Just PM'd you...but I did not see the 245 pic...so I asked a question about the 10.5"

 

It's too late for math, I'll shoot you a response tomorrow morning

Found some plastic bolt on arches with OEM Style and OEM texture....too bad about the rivets. 10mm wider

towards the bottom of the page: http://www.motoringunderground.com/forum/showthread.php?p=355495#post355494

 

No problem man Talk to you later tomorrow

 

Get any math done today?

 

hahaha ooops.....PM pending

 

Thanks for everything!

Hope to be running these by next summer

 

god i LOVE Vdubs : )

 

2 problems that I see with wide arches on our cars:

1.) Wider wheels will have more negative off-set & that makes torque steer worse.

2.) The tires would hit the metal body under the plastic fender unless you perform some major surgery or eliminate your suspension travel.

-Brett

 

Brett, thanks for the 2 topics to look at in doing this...

I know that tq steer may get worse, but once I am done adding power I will need the wheels...

Yes, I am looking at the metal problem with the widening of the fenders...I plan on taking on this project over winter break...

I will keep you all posted

 

If somebody could make 1" spacers that would be money. But I don't expect it to happen.

 

The metal problem is no big deal. Remove the arch and start grinding away. It's only a little metal lip that will get in the way, and it only exists in the rear on the R53/50. You've gotta be pretty low before you're hitting it anyways.

I still think the hardest part is finding the proper wheel widths with offsets for us. It's almost a guaranteed custom wheel set. People are running 9's on stock arches, so if you go through the trouble of wide arches, you better not put on anything skinnier than 10-11 inch wheels

 

Rally
It's been a while how is everything going?

I will be looking into all of this over the next month and a half since I will have time to dedicate in doing this...

So what are your feelings about cutting and widening vs. making a spacer and fusing the spacer on to make it look like one piece?

I looked at the trim very carefully and to me the only thing that I am worried about is that they have a great variance in the angle of the curve going from touching the body to the edge of the fender...think east to west on the horizontal plane...

To replicate this it will take a lot of time...I mean 10's of hours in shaping the curve alone...if not 100+

Let's hear what you got

 

Things are going well, how about you?

There's no question. It's gonna take some time. I think if you're willing to take the spacers and mold them, you might as well just widen the arches. It will look better. The only benefit the spacer concept would have is that you could technically run it without molding it in. (but I wouldnt like the look)

It's worth the work though.

I have put some thought into working with arches from other cars and using their shape as the basis.

Some (metal and some plastic) inspiration

 

Thanks for the inspiration!

I have been well, this semester has been a lot easier than expected. Which is great and I am done in 13 days.

You Vdubbers sure know how to widen a car(drool)

Personally I think that I am going to do it correctly and widen the actual fender. I will post pics once I start and make some progress

 

I've seen Johnny's car many times in person and he has put a ton of quality work into it . He has built this with the goal of making it a nice cruiser and show car so handling is not a concern so the large tires are not a problem for him. A track day or aggressive run theough the canyons would be an adventure though .To say the flares were a tough job would be an understatement of major proportions . The real odd thing is that if you look at the car sitting by itself and were to try and guess the tire width you would most likely think they were no bigger than 235 at most . The flares really cover so well and are so aggressive that they swallow the tires nicely . Sitting next to another mini on stock 205s there is a noticeable difference of course but by itself you would have no idea he had such big wheels and tires under those fenders.

Randy
M7 Tuning

 

I too will be doing this soon. I was actually going to PM you rally for some help. I'll be running an 8 in the rear but with a 34ish offset so I need a wider fender to fit the wheel with a normal camber to it. I was thinking of widening the actual fender, but can't quite conceptualize how it should be done.

 

8"et34? You don't need wide arches for that. You can tuck that on stock arches unless you plan on running big tires.

 

subscribed!

 

I want to try and run as little stretch as I can I think. I like to corner pretty fast sometimes and don't want to run into any issues with a stretched tire. Plus a wider fender would look sweet.

 

haha you can corner as fast as you want on stretched tires, it will just be a slightly stiffer ride. That's all.

If wider tires is what floats your boat that's cool too. You will need some wider arches at that point which is always nice