rim widening

[azkkn]

any one ever hav ea rim widened? i am looking at getting the split 10 spoke camaro SS rims and it seems that i may need two of them to be 11" wide. any one have this done and was it worth it?

[wolfdogs]

thats a real no no. and with the new rim integrity laws passed by the Tire and Rim Assoc. and SEMA's new testing and certification of rims meeting DOT standards....it further emphasizes the importance of rim design and minimun safety standards. just like rim repair.... its a very very dangerous proposition.

dont do it man. ...can you even find someone to do that? they have to stretch that rim an inch!.......yee gads.

[briantech]

the dude on ws6.com did it.

[wolfdogs]

Originally posted by briantech
the dude on ws6.com did it.

so thats his bad.

ive been an automotive safety engineer....and tires and rims are my forte' since 1983..... ive done tons of testing out at the Nevada Automotive Test Center in Nevada and witnessed what can happen to rims that have been modified.....tires that are below standards, and you name it.

cause he did it....... thats no reason.

[Black97]

Yes I was kind of shocked a while I ago when I was reading on WS6 that he cut and weldet the rims.

There are things you shouldn't do, they almost sacred. I would consider that one of them.

I personally think that people who offset their wheels out with spacer disks are already crazy. That's my personal opinion.

What's that well know saying, if your firends jump off the bridge are going to do it to?

[Injuneer]

Widening is a mixed bag. I've personally seen the work that Erik Vaughn of Vaughn Machine does on the wheels. The ones I saw were not "widened".... they were "narrowed" to be used as a set of "skinnies" for a 9-second 3,900# 30th SS convertible. The wheels were as fine an example of aluminum welding as I have ever seen. They were x-ray examined and found to be flawless. They survived several huge "drops" from 3 to 5-foot wheelstands, including one that hit so hard that the rim sliced completely through the tread of the Pirelli radial tire that was on the front, putting a 3" deep hole in the surface of Englishtown dragstrip. The car went into the sidewall, and messed up the fender. But the wheel survived with no damage whatsoever, and in no way contributed to the problem.

The thing to keep in mind.... this application was strictly for a "track" application.... the car was not normally driven on public roads.

After the above incident, the car's owner decided that if you want "skinnies" on the front of your 9-second car, you use wheels and tires that were intended for that purpose, and not some "makeshift" setup. He switched to a set of 3-1/2" wide AutoDrag's with 26x4.5" "front runner" type tires. That combo survived a few more wheelstand drops, with no damage to either the wheel or the tire.

If you read the WS6.com article, you will see the additional drawbacks of the "widening". The "extra" width can only be added at the back of the wheel. This puts you in a situation where you have way too much backspace on the rear wheels. You have to move the lower control arm (which means the wheel sits too far into the wheel well), or you have to use a very wide spacer..... definitely NOT recommended. The thing I find interesting is that Keith at WS6.com runs his car in the "Silver State Classic"..... the public roads, no speed limit race run in Nevada. He took 1st place in the "135mph" class one year, and finished 2nd in the "140mph" class the next year.

I would not want to run on a welded wheel, PLUS a wide spacer. Seems sort of crazy. It might be OK for putting on your car for a "show" (and putting them on AT the show), but daily use of the wheels would be risky IMHO.