After my last service my mechanic mentioned there was some slight rubbing on my rear tyres. After many phone calls I eventually found a body repairer who said they could roll them. I took the car for them to look at and they reckoned it could be done even though it is double skinned about $50 a guard. I took it in this morning. When I went to collect it they said they couldnt do it without the risk of cracking the paint.
Back to the drawing board I guess !!

How bad is it rubbing & where exactly? I did mine myself when it had superlows, you'ld be surprised how little you may need to bend it up without risking cracking the paint.

Fooz I did see your post about using grips but the lip is very tough. I did think about grinding or filing the lip but I didnt want to open up the 2 skins. The rubbing is just at the very top when fully laden Fine with driver and passenger only

Fooz I did see your post about using grips but the lip is very tough. I did think about grinding or filing the lip but I didnt want to open up the 2 skins. The rubbing is just at the very top when fully laden Fine with driver and passenger only

I think you should try what I said, thats where mine rubbed originally & only on the drivers side for some reason. If you don't want to do that you can always get a little bit of negative camber put on the rear ;)

Tell me more about the negative camber fix. How does it affect tyre wear? When I originally ordered my rims I ordered 8" but they sent 8.5"
Naturally I wanted to fit them and the guys at BJ said they should be ok. I had 2 of the biggest guys from BJ sit in the back and all seemed ok.
The guys at the body shop suggested I had some of the inner wheel hub machined off but that could just lead to rubbing on the suspension.

Tell me more about the negative camber fix. How does it affect tyre wear? When I originally ordered my rims I ordered 8" but they sent 8.5"
Naturally I wanted to fit them and the guys at BJ said they should be ok. I had 2 of the biggest guys from BJ sit in the back and all seemed ok.
The guys at the body shop suggested I had some of the inner wheel hub machined off but that could just lead to rubbing on the suspension.

Whats the offset? My current rims are 8.5" 35 offset with no rubbing now even with the coilovers.

If you get a rear wheel alighnment done you can put a bit more negative on them to tuck the tops in. I'm running about -1 degree with no adverse wear.

My offset is 38

My offset is 38

38 wow it must only barely be rubbing then!! They will sit 3mm more under the guards than mine so should be easy to fix! You'll probably find the slightest bend of the lip around the top for 100mm or so should fix it. When the suspension bottoms the wheels will fold in with camber so there mustn't be much in it!

Yes 'barely" is pretty accurate. Just disconcerting with a full load. As a guide I can slide my fingers between top of tyre and just feel the lip of the guard on top of my fingers. I'm pretty sure the rim does slide under on load. Do you know what the factory camber setting is?

From the manual

-0 degress 50' +- 30'

I had my guards rolled. Apparently they heat them up first to avoid the paint cracking and I havent had any issues.

Well I called into BJ on way home and asked about setting negative camber on rears. The guy that does the tracking reckoned it would make no/little difference setting 1 degree negative camber.
I have another body shop to try then I might have a go myself.

I had my guards rolled. Apparently they heat them up first to avoid the paint cracking and I havent had any issues.
Yeah, same for me.

I got my guards rolled at a tyre shop orginally, with a machine that attaches to your hub and basically rolls the guard (funny that?!?). Very shoddy job - couldn't roll my guards flat, and it cracked the paint n numerous spots too.

On the other hand, my dad got the guards rolled on his Commodore at a panel beater, who heated up the panels first and rolled them however. Looks a factory job - no paint cracking.

I had my guards re-rolled by the same panel beater ($110) and it didn't crack the paint any further.


Well I called into BJ on way home and asked about setting negative camber on rears. The guy that does the tracking reckoned it would make no/little difference setting 1 degree negative camber.
It depends on what you're already at. If you're already at 50', then yeah, -1° is going to make sfa difference. But if you're at 20' or 30' - still within factory tolerances - it could be enough to make a difference.

If it was me though, I'd lean towards getting my guards rolled.

Well I tried ANOTHER body shop guy yesterday who scratched his head,chin, nose and ummmd and arrrrd and said Yeah I can do them but it may crack the paint around the dge of the guard. Great if I want to risk respraying 2 quarter panels. He suggested that he could try putting small cuts every cm or so along the inside lip and fold it in. Whats thoughts on this. I dont want to let water in between the skins but maybe a solution
Any rubbing I am getting is only between say 10 oclock and 2 oclock with a full load in the back and apparently on the passenger side.
Cheeers

No Don't do it!!

I keep telling you for the tiny bit of scrubbing you're getting do it yourself as I described. Sounds like you will need bugger all, you'll be surprised by how little it will need!

No Don't do it!!

I keep telling you for the tiny bit of scrubbing you're getting do it yourself as I described. Sounds like you will need bugger all, you'll be surprised by how little it will need!

Ok.
If I run my hand around the inner rim its quite lumpy/uneven. I dont think its the weld more like a bitumin/mastic filler that has hardened up.
How much heat did you apply with a heat gun? I dont want to damage the paint
Cheeers

I didn't use a heatgun. I think you will find you won't need much at all & there will be no risk of cracking the paint. Just don't try to take the whole lot in one go.

I'd be doing about a 100-150mm arc over the top just working back & forth bending a bit more everytime & tapering off from max at the top to min at either end of your arc (50-75mm) if that makes sense?

Cheeers

We have rolled several guards at work (Panel beaters)
We did TL a few months ago - and a VE Maloo ute yesterday.

There is a chance that the paint may crack - if the guards are pushed too far and too fast.

We do heat the edges up slightly first - gives a better result and helps avoid cracking according to the guy that does it.
General paint condition, also plays a part in it - if the edges of the paint around the arch are allready showing signs of cracking then pushing on them, will make it worse for sure.

For reference - we charge $150 for a pair of guards, and $250 for all four. Most panel beaters will warn you that there is no warranty in any way for this work (we do not offer warranty at all for this work - at your own risk)

Cheers Fooz! I used your method of padded molegrips and reckon I've gained 2mm which is as much as I can risk and probably all I need. I shall load up the rear over the weekend and see how it goes.
Just getting that weld join to turn square on seems to be enough and a 'slight' tap with a hammer on the odd high spot.
I dont reckon you could roll the rears on a 380 without a fair bit of damage.

Cheers Fooz! I used your method of padded molegrips and reckon I've gained 2mm which is as much as I can risk and probably all I need. I shall load up the rear over the weekend and see how it goes.
Just getting that weld join to turn square on seems to be enough and a 'slight' tap with a hammer on the odd high spot.
I dont reckon you could roll the rears on a 380 without a fair bit of damage.

No probs mate, told you it would be easy :)

Re rears being hard to roll ..... you're right! When I had that bit of rear damage & put the coilovers in, I had to get the panel work fixed anyway. So I took to the rear double seam lip with a slogging hammer, I was belting the shit out of it & it hardly moved!

MCHenry (Matt) ground a couple of mm off his rear arches with an angle grinder, and to look at them you can hardly tell.