Fender flares or rolled

[CB7_Jeff]

I know this as been asked Before but every ones rim and tire sizes were smaller then mine. I want to lower my car and I have 245/45 r17 on my cb7 and should I roll my fenders or get fender flares?

[sonikaccord]

We don't know what size wheel you are running. You won't be able to fit them without serious rolling anyway

[oni_cb7]

Please provide the wheel specs (height, width, offset). Can't tell if it will fit based on the tire size.

[CB7_Jeff]

They are 25.7x9.65r17. It has a positive offset. They are on my car now and fit with stock suspension. I want to lower my car at most 2 inch. I don't want negative camber tho.

[sonikaccord]

How much positive offset?

I have 225/45/17 and a +32 or +37 offset, I forget. I had to roll and slightly pull my fenders to stop rubbing. You'll be adding 10 mm to both sides so you may rub on the spindle as well. My wheels are 8.5" wide.

How much clearance do you have to the spindle now?
When you lower your car, I think 1 degree of pulls the top of your wheel in about 10mm. You may want to do the math on that one

[Raf99]

Yep. More info needed. Sounds like you need to do more reading too.

[deevergote]

It seems you don't know the exact specifications of your wheels. To be honest with you, I have NO idea what 25.7x9.65r17 is supposed to be. There's not much we can do without knowing the actual width and offset of your wheels. Knowing how low you want to be, and whether or not you plan on rolling around with a silly amount of negative camber would help as well.

Buying wheels that actually fit your car properly without having to modify the sheet metal would be the most sensible answer. If you're set on stuffing something else under your car, modification will be necessary. Rolling your fenders will provide room for a slightly oversized wheel with a slightly lower offset than stock, such as sonikaccord's setup.
If you're trying to fit a 10" wide wheel with 0 offset under there... well... good luck with that.

Fender flares are most often just bolt-on things that people install for looks. I've only known a couple CB7tuners that actually used them for additional wheel clearance. For the flares to achieve that purpose, you are going to have to cut your existing wheel arches out. Done right, that is actually a fairly complicated bit of bodywork.

[CyborgGT]

^ Do you happen to know of anyone on here who's shown exactly how they handled rear flares on a sedan/wagon? It sounds like our cars can barely handle 7.5" wide wheels while keeping them flush with the stock fenders. I definitely want a larger contact patch than that, so molding on flares is a given. Fronts would be easy, but the area around the curve in the rear door is pretty tight for modification.

[deevergote]

The only one that I can think of offhand that has done significant widening of the stock fenders is Doughboy... though he has a coupe. And he's a professional welder.

Honestly, I feel 7.5" is plenty wide. Shed some weight, run a proper suspension, and use grippy tires, and that's all the grip you need. Wider will only end up slowing you down.

[CyborgGT]

Eh, I've got 7's with 215mm tires on the RSX. Even with my stiffer sway bars front & rear (I once made a hard turn and someone watching actually commented on how little body roll my car has, lol), I wish they were at least 8". Springs & dampers are coming though. Maybe I could get away with just widening the fronts on an Accord, I don't know...

Besides, more rubber on the road means I can actually benefit from stronger brakes

[CB7_Jeff]

So my rims are 8.5 inches wide. They are 17 inch rims with +1.5 inches offset

[CyborgGT]

So +38mm. Then it looks like sonik's response is what you'll want to go by. I'm not sure what's going on with the 20mm difference in tire width though. Sounds like he's incredibly close to the spindle, and if anything you're even closer. You'll probably need flares or a pull. The easiest way is to just mount the suckers and get your own eye on where the edges of the tires sit. Sounds like you have them on hand, so it's simple: if you're rubbing on the spindles (or are close to it; consider camber when lowered), you'll need wheel spacers. If the tires stick out past the fenders, you'll need to pull/flare them.

[CB7_Jeff]

I have clearence all the way around. I fit in the front with no problem on 2 inch lowered springs. The rear is my question Now. I have complete clearence there too with stock spring. I have about 2 inches from the ball joint above the rear tire

[sonikaccord]

You need the clearance to the spindle, not the ball joint.

We are pretty much guessing here. Cyborg is right. You'll have to use your best judgement. It sounds like you clear the spindle in the rear, you clear everything in the front now all you need to find is if you clear the rear fender. Should be easy enough.

Keep in mind that during compression, your wheel pulls in more (negative camber increases during compression). So you will have to drive it around.

[CB7_Jeff]

when I get them alined I will have to roll my fender and pull them some. But in the back I'm sure I might need to roll and pull more then the front. I don't want any negative camber.