Rubbing Tires

Calm down..stop, and breathe
F-chat experts will come to your rescue..they've always helped me

 

My new friend, next time use "nauseated" since you don't cause...you get the idea.
Just kidding

 

Yes same thing happened to me when I first got the car. I thought maybe the PO had used some 19's or different wheels. I took an axe handle and put it on the tire and lifted up on the deformed lip and slid it back and forth with pressure to put it back. No cracked paint! YMMV Maybe use some teflon tape on the lip if you have it or some masking tape and wax paper folded to ease the sliding? Take it slow, it's aluminum so it can bend a little before cracking. If you had to touch up that area after with paint there is no way anyone would be able to tell.

edit, I think mine is lowered because it looks pretty good up there and not a lot of exposed wheel well. My guess is that if yours looks super good up front then yours is too!

If you are lifting with the handle, a good hammer handle with a wide side will work too, when prying look at the area above where you are working to watch for deformation. The lip you are putting pressure against will move a lot and this is good but just use the area that is perpendicular to the ground as the gauge of how hard to lift. It will flex out a bit and ease back, just don't go extra hard, extra fast.

 

So lowering the car increases the risk of rubbing?

 

I really don't know. I found mine on the first real detail of the car about a week after purchasing. I have about 6,000 miles on my car since I fixed mine as mentioned above with no re occurrence so I think it was there when I bought it but didn't know to look there. P-Zero OEM tires on OEM starfish wheels.

 

Almost all 360s have inner lip fender damage from tires hitting. Take a look carefully at 360 front fenders at the 12 O'clock position. You will likely see some bending from the tire interference, unless the car is only driven moderately or used just for cruising. The older tires that came with the car OEM are the only ones that may clear, but modern designs are a bit fatter and have more square shoulders, even for the same size. The severity does seem to depend on whether the car is lowered only because those at stock height need more deflection to hit. But if you drive the car hard, or track it, you will have fender issues. The only solution is to have a body shop roll the fenders and to stay with stock sizes and stock wheel sizes and offsets. If you already have some damage, go to a body shop and have the fenders carefully put back into shape and rolled.

 

Or roll up your sleeves and use the axe. (it's really simple)
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I had this happen on my 348 and I used a similar technique, wooden handled item or large wooden dowel (like a closet rod) on top of the tire and pry upward into the fender to tuck the lip back into place. A couple of tips I would add is use a hair dryer to slightly warm the paint the lessen the chance of cracking. work the damaged area in from the outside edges of the bend/damage. Don't go right for the middle and try to get it all back in place at once.

 

Same thing happened to me, had the fenders rolled and paintwork. Not cheap, spent about $3K to have the job done. Your insurance might pay for it, I'd check.

You'll notice all Ferraris starting with the 430 have their fenders rolled.

MB

 

It kept happening to me as well until a friend of mine and I took the time to carefully bring the car back UP to stock height. I hasn't happened again since.

 

I did the same on a 360 with a friend of mine. We used a baseball bat. Worked fine -- but nerve-wracking.

 

When it comes to tyre sizes, you have to remember that the numbers put on the side of the tyre, does not say anything about an exact size. It puts the tyre in a category of sizes, but section width, tread width and diameter can vary quite a bit. Which tyres did you have on before the RE-11's?

 

I'm sure ur upset but it's not a big deal. He's the +side, almost the entire car is made from Aluminum not steel. It's very easy to form back into whatever shape you like. What most people miss is that the panels become soft at 350deg F. This may be too much for you to do so I would recommend you use a body shop, but it is very easy to fix if you choose.

1. Remove wheel & inner fender.
2. Get propane torch - Plummer type from Home repair store
3. Buy laser temp probe from same place.
4. Gently heat the area to 250 deg F- won't mess up paint
5. Use a pair of leather gloves or a piece of wood and hammer. Use the hammer on the wood to tap the corner back into place. Or ur hand with the glove- to move back into place. Only heat the area you want to move. It will hear very quickly- aluminum- 20 seconds max should get it to 250. @250 it moves a good bit easier, @350 it's like butter, higher temp and the paint burns and you can melt the panel.
6. Aluminum unlike steel has no memory- steel wants to go back to its original shape- aluminum does not- but it will go wherever you want it. Bending it without heat does work, but does often create stress fractures if you are bending it, the heat prevents this.

*if you have an 3m type bra product on the area remove it before heating the metal. Very light heat 150-200f helps the material release from the paint without damaging the clear coat.

*this is the f recommend way in the body repair manual that very few people have. No additional hardening is required after repair.

If you do it yourself with a friend to hold the temp gauge while you heat, you will spend $150 it will look perfect and you'll have some new tools for your troubles.

Good luck - it's a very easy fix. I have a section to fix worse then yours if I have time I'll take some pics.

 

Overall agree, but IMO the use of the propane torch is a little aggressive. I mean the tire managed to bend the lip just fine without preheating it to 250 F. IMO all one is using the heat for is to put a little (heat) into the paint and clear to guard against a hairline stress crack. I use one of those torches quite frequently and in IMO it would be very easy for someone not familiar with the tool to produce a burn/bubble in the paint rather quickly. JMWO

 

Funny that you post this as I came across a YouTube video yesterday that mentions this issue. The guy in the video comes across as kind of a *****, but go to the 2:40 minute point in the video and this sounds like your same issue:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO8m4vTx4ak

 

Yes, get your fenders rolled.

 

Get the fenders rolled for $200. It will take out the dimple and it won't happen again.

 

I experienced the same thing on my 2004 360 when I changed from Pirelli to Bridgestone RE-11 tires. The Bridgestones, while technically the same size, had just a bit wider shoulder, which snagged the top of the wheel well and pulled down the metal. Very minor and quite common. My Dallas Ferrari dealer sent me to their body shop, where they rolled the fenders. Problem solved.

 

Mine looked like your picture, not a big deal. I cannot remember if I used a heat gun or not. Cant hurt as long as you don't burn the paint or have a clear bra.

 

I rolled out of my driveway and I heard this awful sound. Stopped immediately and then noticed the lip. I checked out all of the online videos and then the F-dealer. I decided to let them roll the lip and all turned out OK. I think it was about $100 for each. No problems now. Tires were OEM Michelins.

 

Brian...I also have 2004 360 and went to Tire Rack for my OE R-11 tires with no problem what-so-ever. I'm guessing you need to look at other possibilities. Good luck to you!

 

Same here. 04 360, second set of re-11's with no problems. We do a fair amount of hard driving on two lane twisties.

Good Luck

 

Yes forget the torch please, had the same thing on the right side of my 360 and it took one of my techs about 3 minutes to fix perfectly with a two foot piece if hockey stick but I'll tell him to get a chunk of baseball bat for the next time.