Widened/wider stock steel wheels

[chevyrestoguy]

I am planning on going to a 10" wheel on the rear of my '64, and I am going to run dog-dish caps, so they have to be a stock-type wheel. Has anyone on the site found a place that has sells a 10" wheel with a stock 5X5 center that has the nubs for the factory caps? I have found rallys and smoothies, but no stockers.

I may even go to a 16" rear wheel because the larger 15" tire sizes are rapidly going away. The wheel must match the '73 and up 5X5 factory steelie. I might just remove the centers from a pair of 15X7 wheels and then have them put into new 10" outer shells.

I'm not ready just yet because I still need to figure what backspace I need to run. The rear axle isn't installed yet, so I'm on-hold. Just planning ahead....

[brokenspoke]

I used 1972 camper wheels..one year wheel only

[mbgmike]

I new a lot of SCCA corvette racers used to cut and weld in a ring to make them wider

[jrblanke]

I talked with the owner of this truck and he said he sent the wheels to a company called "Rally America" and the wheels cut and widened to 15"x10".

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...K%3AMEWAX%3AIT



And here is the website I found when I googled Rally America Wheels:
http://www.rallyamerica.com/

[likaroc13]

scroll down to post 506 & see if that's what you're looking for:
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...381425&page=21

although Scoti doesn't recommend using Stockton due to a bad experience i think....looks killer though

[Southcity]

I had a set made by Wheel Vintiques to match the stockers I'm running up front but just wider, has the nubs to except dogdish caps - they can make any size you want with a custom offset if needed.

http://wheelvintiques.com

Sorry, cell phone pick was all I had handy
/

[aerotruk63]

I did my own on my C10. Stock 16", welded in a ring to get them to 9.5". Using the same ring and center is the easiest way to go.
On my K10 I had to add to the center to convert the stock 17.5" to 17".
I was advised years ago that the stock look never goes out of style, it's the way it came so how can it ever look wrong.

[Frizzle Fry]

Originally Posted by aerotruk63

I did my own on my C10. Stock 16", welded in a ring to get them to 9.5". Using the same ring and center is the easiest way to go.
On my K10 I had to add to the center to convert the stock 17.5" to 17".
I was advised years ago that the stock look never goes out of style, it's the way it came so how can it ever look wrong.

Any more details on how you did this? How do you ensure it spins true? How did you make the ring? Where did the ring go; backspace, frontspace, or both?

I also plan on converting some 16.5's to 17's. How did you add to the center?

[Slow Build]

Originally Posted by mbgmike

I new a lot of SCCA corvette racers used to cut and weld in a ring to make them wider

Originally Posted by jrblanke

I talked with the owner of this truck and he said he sent the wheels to a company called "Rally America" and the wheels cut and widened to 15"x10".

I want to get my rear 15" 6 lug rally wheels widened to around 8.75" or 9". The cutting and adding a ring is the only way to do it that I know of. Is that a safe option?

[aerotruk63]

Originally Posted by Frizzle Fry

Any more details on how you did this? How do you ensure it spins true? How did you make the ring? Where did the ring go; backspace, frontspace, or both?

I also plan on converting some 16.5's to 17's. How did you add to the center?

For the C10 I used a large lathe at the company I was working for.
In 1986 Goodyear Gatorbacks came out on the Vettes so these were the low profiles easily found. The rule of thumb at the time was the width of the thread was the required width of the wheel so 9.5" was the target.
I took a band of 4" X 1/8" flat bar and measured the stock width of the wheel.
From there I calculated the amount that I wanted to cut out of the center of the ring portion in the lathe splitting the ring in two. I measured with a string the circumfrence of the ring and transfered that measurement to the flatstock.
We had a roller at the shop so it was slowly rolled into a circle.
On a flat surface workbench I tacked the ends of the flatbar together then went back to the rollers to try and get a better circle. Putting flat bar through a roller does not roll the ends initially because it leaves the surface of the bottom rollers and there's no force to continue the roll, after you've tacked and ground the welds you can go back to the roller and better the flatbar ring.
The flatbar ring was tack welded to each half ( inner and outer stock rings )
I pressed in the center section of the wheel to what I thought was the correct offset. Then took it home to mount on the truck to check for clearances with the steering componants and brake system. If I remember correctly it was a 4 1/2" backset. I used a straight edge on the edges of the ring to add the tire diameter.
Back to the shop and onto the lathe for alignment and marking as best I could for straight and true. Imagine, they didn't want me welding my wheels on their lathe, geeeez!
Tacked the center onto the ring and then back to the lathe for alignment.
Back to the welding table and stiched welded the assembly together.
Repeat 5 times.
Todays wheels run truer than the old wheels, I had heard that GM had a 1/4" acceptance for true center. I got mine pretty close to true.

For a buddy's 67 Acadian ( Chevy II ) 4 outer wheel rings were welded in pairs to make two 4" wide stock steel Chevelle rally wheels for the big and small look.

Slow Build
You might consider using your stock center and transfering it to a wider wheel. Thank God for the new cheap steel winter wheel replacements for Factory Aluminum rims.
The stock 17.5" conversion to 17" you can read about on my build thread.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...=397681&page=2

[Slow Build]

Originally Posted by aerotruk63

Slow Build
You might consider using your stock center and transfering it to a wider wheel.

It seems that I would have to do a 10" width, I want 8.75" or 9" width. I asked Stockton Wheel a long time ago why they didn't have 15" x 9" wheels. If I remember correctly they said it had something to do with NASCAR. I don't remember why though (exclusive rights, patent, something of that nature). It could be a bunch of BS but I don't see that size option on steel wheels.

[aerotruk63]

I'll ask a buddy of mine that sells steel replacement winter wheels if he has a 9" wide 15".
There's not alot of choice in 15" as compared to 16" & larger.
You could easily cut down a 10 inch since it's wider than what you need. I would cut the inner section of the wheel then weld it back together on to the outer section as to avoid finishing work. It would be a question of the offset your looking for as well.

[Frizzle Fry]

Great info aerotruk63. Thanks!
Posted via Mobile Device

[aerotruk63]

My buddy looked it up in his catalogues and suprisingly enough no 8.5-9" wheels. He did however agree that cutting down a 10" would be an option and replacing your center into the new sized ring. He to forewarned of the decreasing amount of sizes in 15" tires and would suggest an upgrade to 16".

Another guy I knew had a 74 Blazer with stock GM 15" X 8" steel wheels with knubs for the hubcaps. I put those on my 62 K10, when I had hair in the eighties, along with the stock 62 15" caps mounted with 36" mudders. Nice clean look.

Link to one of his supplier.
http://www.uniquewheel.com/index.html

[Chevy Fleetside]

Originally Posted by Slow Build

I want to get my rear 15" 6 lug rally wheels widened to around 8.75" or 9". The cutting and adding a ring is the only way to do it that I know of. Is that a safe option?

Check out www.petepaulsen.com and see what he can do. I know they can use your wheel centers because I already asked. I have a set of wheels from a 75 chevy truck that I wanted to keep the centers on.

[chevyrestoguy]

I'm exploring an option, and I'll post up my findings if this works out.

Do anybody have a measurement of the o.d. (outer diameter) of the wheel center on a stock factory 73-87 wheel (5x5 bolt pattern)? I need the measurement right at the outer edge where it welds to the wheel shell. I need the edge-to-edge measurement, measured from the backside of the wheel. I'm at work right now and don't have access to one of my spare wheels. I think that they are 13.25, but I'm not 100% sure.

I have a line on 16x10 wheel shells, and the I.D. measurement is 13.479". I need to see if a stock Chevy steel wheel center will work. 15" tire sizes are rapidly disappearing, and I need to explore other options. Right now, nobody makes a 16x10 steel wheel with a stock 5x5 center that'll accept dogdish hubcaps. At least none I have found so far.....

[Slow Build]

Originally Posted by chevyrestoguy

I think that they are 13.25, but I'm not 100% sure.

Measured my spare. 13.25".

[chevyrestoguy]

Thanks, Rich!

Okay...The inner O.D. is 13.25, and the shell is 13.479, for a difference of .229 . So that means that there will be a gap of .1145 between the center section and the wheel shell at each weld location. That's close to 1/8", and I think that's too much. My next option is to do the strap method like aerotruk63 did. He has proven that it will work, so that's a good thing.

I have been talking to the folks at Marsh Racing Wheels. They've got a huge selection of wheel parts and they are super-nice people.

[vin63]

Collins Custom Wheels
562-630-6546
8836 Alondra Blvd.
Bellflower, CA

[aerotruk63]

I think Stockton Wheel has a step by step article on how they do wheels.