i had my rear wheels widened a couple years ago, and have been meaning to do the front as well, they are currently 18x8's, but would like a 9.5. Only thing thats been keeping be back, aside from lack of time, is safety.

I dont have a problem with the rears being welded, if for some reason they break, it will suck, but i should be able to keep the car in some kind of control because i can still steer.

However, if a front should fail for some reason, that would be bad.

So my question is, has anybody here ever widened front wheels? and info or know of any issues with other cars?

 

As long as the company doing it knows their stuff I wouldn't worry about it. There are a lot of welded steel and aluminum wheels on the road that are holding up fine. Now its the curbs and potholes you want to watch out for.

 

ok, that make me feel better. The company i used is WheelWorks in Burlington NJ, a small shop but the guy did a fantastic job, looks like a machine weld, but its all done by hand.

I guess this mod will go back on the list next time i need tires

 

Do you mind if I ask how much this cost you to get done?

 

I had mine rear 9" widened to 11" each by http://www.wheelsamerica.com and their cost quote to me was "150.00 if you provide donors. 200.00 if we provide donors. takes 2-*3 working days" and I paid another $100 each for the "custom" (what & were i wanted it done) layout of the black powdercoating I wanted.

 

i see one weld bead, what di you do, use 2 wheels, cut both and make a single wheel out of the two?

My work was 500bux for both wheels. Widened 4"

 

Yep, only 1 weld bead. I felt the single weld bead offered by Wheels America was better & stronger than what Weldcraft offers.

They used my Snyper outers & the inners from other 17" wheels, so only 1 weld bead instead of a 3" strip inserted & 2 weld beads.

Only 1 weld bead (instead of 2 like yours) & woulda only been $400 (instead), had I not gotten the powdercoating.

 

that neat how they did it, never really though about doing it that way.

I see no issues with strength between one or 2 beads, so long as the welding was done properly.

 

Huh, never thought of doing it with one bead and putting 2 wheels together, nifty.

Probably not worth spending that much moolah on stock wheels though... I suppose I would be better off spending that kind of money on a forged wheel that's going to be much lighter. Oh well, maybe the "sleeper" look is overrated . Still a cool idea though, wish I knew how much weight difference it would be

 

You are not limited to stock wheels to do this.

If you find a wheel you REALLY like (like the ROH Snypers) but only come in a narrower width....Get them & have them widened. My Snypers were only available in 9", so I guess you might say....I have maybe I have the ONLY 2 11" Snypers in the WORLD!

And it was SOOOOO worth the effort to make them fit!

 

I know I'm not limited to stock wheels, just debating out loud whether it would be better to widen my stock wheels (I admit I do love them), or just go aftermarket. (Weld prostars, or something similar)

Stephen, did you have to mod anything besides the wheels to get those 11" rims to fit? Those tuck in too nicely

 

They tuck nicely because I spent MONTHS researching it, came to a dozen different "truths" & decided "SCREW IT! I'll make them fit, how I WANT to make them fit!"

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/susp...els-315-a.html

 

No problem for a good shop to do inside or outside.

I just did some 92 front wheels, stock is 16 X 8 (the one in front of picture) and now i have 17 X 9.5 with a 5 1/2 backspace. (the four in the back of the picture)

Jerry

 

The back wheels are 17s? Where did you find 91-92 wheels in 17 inch diameters?

 

I made them.

Not to hijack this thread see the post in the So Cal area.

"New wheels 17X9.5 91-92 style"

Link

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/sout...-17x9-5-a.html

Jerry

 

that looks sweet! you had new outer rings added to get 17" right? and as long as there is good welding done you wont have to worries, rim will break before the welding do.

 

Looks like he simply cut down the entire wheel and fit it in a spun wheel rim like most billet wheels (a machined center is press fit into a heated rim section and then welded on the back side) I like that!!!

 

You got it right.

 

thanks guys for the input, i have had the rears widened, and am quite happy with them. My questioning was more on the question of strength in a front wheel application. The stresses are much different on the front because of turning ect vs. the rear wheel that just goes straight, most of the time.

 

I agree that fronts do have to survive more of & different types of stress, but the rears have to withstand the engines torque.

Not nearly a 50/50 stress between the fronts & rears, but the rears do have to withstand a really different type of stress.

 

true, but in the rear, all the stress is in the same direction as the weld, on the front you will have stresses across the weld, and im sure the wheel's hoop deflects a little to as it turns, so a littel twisting too? I know that aluminum fatigues much differently than steel.

But in all reality, with the amount of time i drive the car every year, i doubt i will even have and issue.