April 4, 2003

I had an oppurtunity to get some 18" "show wheels" for my car. Rob was having some problems with the wheels on his car and was interested in trading for my 16" S4 wheels. Since I had Design 90s on the car as Open Road Racing wheels, I figured I could use the new wheels for non racing events. The problem with the wheels was that they were 52 offset (instead of 62-65 mm) and would rub the fender when turning. So I thought I could get the fenders rolled and it should be ok. I contacted Bob at D&M Auto Body and he said bring it in and he'd take a look. He said it'd be no problem rolling the fender, though it was already partically rolled. Apparently 90 S4 came that way from the factory. He used a baseball bat to flatten the inside lip of the fender, then check the clearance. After several iterations, the tire would still rub when the wheels were turn to full lock. After some discussion, he said he could try and "flare" the fender some and see if that would give me the clearance I wanted. If that didn't, I could raise the ride height about an 1/2". Raising the car wasn't an option I would like since I've had it lowered and corner balances at DEVEK just for ORR. After a lot of pulling and prying, he was only able to marginally move the fender out. I was able to get another 1/4 inch, but it wasn't enough. In order to get the fender out further would require cutting the body and either bending the fender out and filling or installing a premade fender flare. I wasn't interested in either option, so I decide I'd give up on the wheels. I have since traded the wheels with Ian down the street for some 17" 993 wheels with 63 ET offset. They work a lot better. I want to thank Bob for all his help. He went out of his way to try and get this taken care of. FRE Wheels

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