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I just took the angle grinder to a section of my polo's arches, took about 5mm off them and now my 17's dont rub, even on full lock with 3 people in the car. Sweet!!

Half deaf now tho

Phill

polosilver wrote:I just took the angle grinder to a section of my polo's arches, took about 5mm off them and now my 17's dont rub, even on full lock with 3 people in the car. Sweet!!

Half deaf now tho

Phill

no DIY guide? where abouts did they rub? the back i believe?

It rubbed at the front, when the wheel was on full lock it would rub at the back of the arch just above the sideskirts.

Firstly i cut a small section of the arch lining away, 5cm by 5cm approx, then grinded the area next to it where i could see it had been rubbing. Each time i grinded a few mm off the section and kept putting the wheel back onto see if it was rubbing.

After about 3 attempts of putting the wheel on and off i got it just right, there is now about 4/5mm gap between the front arch and the tyre. Bearing in mind the tyre is at its widest point here and the tyres are brand new its not too shabby.

The back arches rubbed when i first got it so i took a hairdryer and some gaffa tape. Heated the arch lining up behind the wheel. When it was hot i held it back and taped it to the back wheel. When the lining cooled back down it was well out of the way.

I do not recommend people without any experience try this as its pretty dodgy. I am fully trained and so it wasnt too hard. If you need anymore info just ask!

Phill

What about corrosion? I thought the arch linings were there for a reason, presumably holes in them works against this reason?

the part of the wheel arch that i cud away does not need to be covered really, there is a whole section of the arch next to it under the same kind of presure as it and thats fine.

The majority of the bit i grinded wasnt covered by the liners, about 3cm was, the grinded section is about 5cm by 3cm. I have sprayed the section of the arch that i grinded with the stock VW silver.

Might use some kind of protective paint next, or work out someway of resealing it without that section.

I know someone who has run his polo gti without arch lining for almost 2 years without a single problem so

Phill.

well it is galvanised isn't it?

No idea. Going to leave this standard paint on for a few days til i have time to put some hammerite on. (will need alot of time to dry if its going to work properly).

Thing is, something had to be done with the arch because it had rubbed the origional paint away from the arch and ripped the lining. This way it got clearance and is covered from rust and corosion. Its nowhere never the tyre so no risk of it becoming bare anytime soon.

I found half a tree in the arch lining, leaves, sticks, what looked like a conker, god knows how.

Phill.