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Old Mar 22, 2006 | 09:14 PM
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Default Rim Widening

This may be a stupid question. But i've grown to become rather fond of the black motorsports, due to their looks and price. I was wondering if it was possible to actually make them wider, i'm new to this game so I don't know if this is a dumb question but if so it'd be cool. I'd suppose they could split them and weld them.. it'd be interesting if it wasn't too expensive to do.
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Old Mar 22, 2006 | 09:18 PM
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You cant widen the motorsports becuase they are not 3 piece. It only will work with 3 piece construction
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Old Mar 22, 2006 | 09:34 PM
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Hm, I got a different answer on DC.
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Old Mar 22, 2006 | 10:02 PM
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I'm interested in doing the same to my stock wheels...make the rears 11". Surely somebody has the ability, although I suspect it will cost almost a new set of wheels to get it done right anyway, I just want the stock look.
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Old Mar 22, 2006 | 10:22 PM
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yeah u can get a non 2 or 3 pc wheel widened...... the people who do it just cut the barrel in half, and weld in a new peice thts the same diameter. once its ifnished, you cant tell.

stockton wheel does it, as do a few other wheel repair facilities...
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Old Mar 22, 2006 | 10:44 PM
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Originally Posted by Hippiehead025
yeah u can get a non 2 or 3 pc wheel widened...... the people who do it just cut the barrel in half, and weld in a new peice thts the same diameter. once its ifnished, you cant tell.

stockton wheel does it, as do a few other wheel repair facilities...
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Old Mar 22, 2006 | 10:50 PM
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Originally Posted by Hippiehead025
yeah u can get a non 2 or 3 pc wheel widened...... the people who do it just cut the barrel in half, and weld in a new peice thts the same diameter. once its ifnished, you cant tell.

stockton wheel does it, as do a few other wheel repair facilities...

Ye Ole Wheel shop in Maryland will do this - it takes your rim, and a donor rim to be cut, then widened - sectioning in the new portion from the donor wheel

If you are serious, they can do it - it isn't cheap, and may be just as cost effective, maybe more so, to just buy custom rims to begin with
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Old Mar 22, 2006 | 11:14 PM
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I dont mean to sound harsh here, but holy hell people. You drive 50k cars but you want to WELD new wheels? Are you kidding me?

And you guys make fun of ricers and ghetto hoopties. Im sorry, if you want wider wheels, BUY WIDER WHEELS.

What kind of integrity do you think that weld is going to have? How will they get it to be perfectly balanced? What if the weld isnt perfect and your wheel separates? WAY too many what ifs to be putting onto a sports car with this much power.

Weather or not they can do it is not the question. Would I want to be driving my car with a welded extension in them...no freaking way.
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Old Mar 22, 2006 | 11:21 PM
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the integrity of the wheel will be perfectly fine. If he wants a wider rim in a specific style, and is willing to pay for it, there is nothing wrong with that. This has been done for years.

Now, with our offsets, the only issue I could see is that all the width would have to be added to the backside of the rim, and you might need a spacer to clear the suspension pieces.
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Old Mar 22, 2006 | 11:21 PM
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Doesn't sound very cost-effective...how bout buying the appropriately sized wheels and selling your stockers? Save money and no worries about strength.
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Old Mar 23, 2006 | 12:15 AM
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Originally Posted by Zoli007
I dont mean to sound harsh here, but holy hell people. You drive 50k cars but you want to WELD new wheels? Are you kidding me?
Do you think Chevy just found the wheels on the car on the garden of Eden. They started out as bauxite ore which was highly processed then cast. Welding is nothing compared to that.

Done right, there is nothing wrong with welding wheels and done right they can be better balanced than when they came off the production line.

That said, the trick is to figure out who does it right, and probably pay more than a set of new wheels would cost.
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Old Mar 23, 2006 | 12:43 AM
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Originally Posted by TGrits10
Doesn't sound very cost-effective...how bout buying the appropriately sized wheels and selling your stockers? Save money and no worries about strength.
Point taken, but again...want the stock wheel design. The process is very common in the drag racing world (especially in the old days with steel wheels...anybody remember those), and strength is not an issue, as many of the posters have mentioned, it's just a matter of how the wheel is put together in the first place, which would affect the cost, and the concern over a quality job is definitely a consideration.

As for clearance, the car would be mini-tubbed with the widening. If OEM made a wider repro of our wheel, it would be a non-issue. Maybe it's on the way.

Thanks to those that posted specific wheel houses that might do the job!

Thanks to all else for the concerns!
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Old Mar 23, 2006 | 01:09 AM
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http://www.weldcraftwheels.com/

This company widens wheels. Quoted me 150 per wheel for C5 wheels.
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Old Mar 23, 2006 | 01:16 AM
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Originally Posted by Zoli007
I dont mean to sound harsh here, but holy hell people. You drive 50k cars but you want to WELD new wheels? Are you kidding me?

And you guys make fun of ricers and ghetto hoopties. Im sorry, if you want wider wheels, BUY WIDER WHEELS.

What kind of integrity do you think that weld is going to have? How will they get it to be perfectly balanced? What if the weld isnt perfect and your wheel separates? WAY too many what ifs to be putting onto a sports car with this much power.

Weather or not they can do it is not the question. Would I want to be driving my car with a welded extension in them...no freaking way.
These guys are thinking outside of the box. The intent of some is to have a C6 that looks pure stock from visual inspection with the exception of Viper sized tires in the rear. I have to say that is appealing to me also. I don't want a lot of bling, but I do want to shock that Dodge when it pulls up next to me and he looks over and grins.
If I have a major hood scoop and after market wheels with ultra exhaust, etc., they know its hot rodded. If they don't see anything out of the ordinary and start to smile, that is when I have fun. Kind of like hot rodding my moms station wagon when I was a kid. She has the fastest station wagon in town.
I have a duramax truck with a few modifications that no one would notice unless they are behind me or beside me when full throttle. It will make a Mustang GT driver nervous and coat the cars behind me in black soot. You should see the young punks speed shifting trying to stay in front of me. And the best part is to pretend you didn't even notice anything was up at the next light.
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Old Mar 23, 2006 | 01:18 AM
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Originally Posted by Big Ron 77
As for clearance, the car would be mini-tubbed with the widening. If OEM made a wider repro of our wheel, it would be a non-issue. Maybe it's on the way.
They did eventually come out with C5 repros in all kinds of sizes, so if it were me I'd either just get some non-stock wheels or wait for the repros in my sizes.
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Old Mar 23, 2006 | 01:19 AM
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so like $150 per wheel, i'd end up basically paying $1200 for my black motorsports which isn't bad. What I wonder is if the wheel would actually weigh a lot more, then again i'd have to consider shipping cost. By the way it's just a question and I think many other people have a similar desire for wider stock looking tires and so I saw no harm in making this post.

Last edited by Tavarez; Mar 23, 2006 at 01:22 AM.
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Old Mar 23, 2006 | 01:20 AM
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I think an OEM widened wheel would be stronger and lighter than any after market reproduction wheel you will find.
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Old Mar 23, 2006 | 02:15 AM
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Originally Posted by CamaroCane
You cant widen the motorsports becuase they are not 3 piece. It only will work with 3 piece construction
This is exactly the reason so much mis-info gets passed around; people repeating the non-sense they heard somewhere.

Yes you can widen ANY wheel and the strength is as good as the original wheel.
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Old Mar 23, 2006 | 02:43 AM
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Would it add a considerable amount of weight as opposed to a wheel that was made wider during normal production? I'll eventually find someone in Miami or NY that can do a great job, or possibly send it off to a place like Weldcraft.

Last edited by Tavarez; Mar 23, 2006 at 03:04 AM.
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Old Mar 23, 2006 | 08:36 AM
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This would effectively change the offsert of the wheel and affect handling, as would wider tires. The weight would go up only slightly. Interesting thought.
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