anyone here widened their own wheels before?

[knightowl73]

truck rallies to be exact. i cant find any 15x10s with a 5" backspacing, and from what ive heard on here, thats what is needed to tuck. so has anyone ever widened them before?
i know it is supposed to be hard, but im not concerned about the welding part, im confident on my welds, but staying true. have a 1/2" thick piece of plexiglass i could use at the bottom for a true surface and find something 5" tall that is true to put the center on after i cut it out. i have a few 10" wagon wheels that the barrell is the same inside as the factory rally. what do you think?

[lolife99]

Summit Racing sells them in 5" BS and 4.5" BS.
Wheel Vintiques makes them.

[shloopter]

Luckily we have Wheel Vintiques right down the street about four miles from my house. They specialize in ralley wheels. Mike over there cut the centers out of mine and put them in a wider set of new rims. It was at a good price also.

See if there are any wheel shops like that over in your area.

[knightowl73]

i havent found any around that can do it. ill check into the ones at summit.

[ratty 46]

It isn't really that hard to .... IF:

1. you have access to a milling machine - to cut the associated lip off
2. you have access to a set of rollers - to roll the material to make the appropriate back space
3. you have access to a welding machine - to weld it back together - jigged up of course!!

Other than that - it really would be a pain.

Ratty 46

[knightowl73]

if i did it id be cutting the centers from some factory 8 inchers and welding them into some 10" wide barrells ive already cut the centers from. freebies from a friend and came off his old dune buggy.

just wondering if anyone else did it themselves. ill try it out and take them to the tire shop to put on the balancing machine so i can see if they wobble any. if so ill buy a few i assume, but it would be awhile and i think i can pull it off

[muthstryker]

I wouldn't do it, Contact these guys.. http://www.weldcraftwheels.com/

[kelsfine69]

Kinda like this?

[Kalashnikov46]

you can do that? lol

[Hottrucks]

check my build I had mine done by a guy in NY for like $50 each any way you want.....heres mine with 4" added to the backspace which works great on dropped truckssince the side wall stays in the stock location and eliminate almost any tire rub unless your really low..these tires are 31x15.5x15's

Sherwood Racing prod
1074 sulpher springs rd
Owego NY. 13827
607-687-2991

[b454rat]

Wow, 20 minutes from me and never heard of them????

[Bob66]

Try Stockton Wheel. they can build you anything you want, for money, and it won't kill you.

[Hottrucks]

Originally Posted by b454rat

Wow, 20 minutes from me and never heard of them????

they do race car wheels all the time this was nothing for them..they can take any steel wheel an do what ever you want to them...I thought the price was right..I mean buy a set of rallies off craigslist or at a swap meet for 50 bucks...send them 2 or 4..and they even finish them anyway you want from nothing to powder coating...IMAO way cheaper that any other way of doing it

[87chevy.com]

weldcraftwheels narrowed mine, the ticket is a company that does this for a living.... someone in the backyard doing it spells disaster any way you look at it. they widen and narrow wheels.
clint

[knightowl73]

yeah ill be callin these guys tommorrow to see whats up. dont know if the shipping will make it worth the while since summit has 10's with the right offset, even tho i never found them when i looked online. but might reverse the 7's or make them reverse 5" wides if they can, so they dont hang all in up front, but still have the skinny tire. ill decide when i get some prices rounded up. im really diggin factory rallies and 3-bars spinners for the 73

[Hottrucks]

I would ask some local oval or dirt track guys....rim repair or mods are done all the time you just need to find out who they use that might be closer

[knightowl73]

Originally Posted by Hottrucks

I would ask some local oval or dirt track guys....rim repair or mods are done all the time you just need to find out who they use that might be closer

hell, i wouldnt have a clue where to find these guys. dont know of a dirt track or anythng around my parts. i guess the yellowpages might help.

[Keith Seymore]

I've done it.

Dad and I widened a couple sets of Corvette rally wheels from 8" to 10", and also from 8" to 12".

For 10" we usually keep the wheel center and front half of the wheel intact, and then add the additional width on the back side (using a sacrificial wheel). We cut the wheels by mounting them on a vehicle and allowing the wheel to rotate slowly, while cutting with a die grinder and cutoff wheel. He made some little spacers that clamp off the front bead to locate the back half, which is then clamped and welded.

Before, during and after the fixturing/welding process you can mount the wheel to a vehicle. Rotate the wheel and check lateral and radial runout to make sure you are still on track; any that we have ever done measured less than .015".

For a 12" wheel, we do the same thing, then once the back is secured we cut the front off and add the additional width to the front side.

It's cheap and easy (other than requiring a stockpile of wheels). No issue with any of the wheels so far.

K

[Hottrucks]

everyone said I ws crazy when I said I was going to do the same thing....

so guys FLAME ON!!!

[the ideaman]

http://www.rallyamerica.com/
They are in Fresno, too. If you are a HAMB alliance member, they give a discount. I wouldn't recommend Stockton wheel.