narrowed/widened wheels

[kmcanally]

I just had some wheels narrowed by WeldCraft Wheels www.weldcraftwheels.com They came out real nice.
This could be the solution to some of you guys who want to run a wheel that has a limited selection of sizes (typically the factory style wheels like Z06 and Cobra). They charged $125 ea to narrow these wheels. Widening is a little more...

[DJ Mabe]

Looks like they do really nice work. Have you mounted them yet? I'm curious to see how well they balance out. Hurry up and get them mounted on the car so you can post some pics. Can't wait to see them on the Mustang. Good luck.

Derrick

[kmcanally]

I had the tires mounted this morning and they made no mention of any problems balancing them...I will take a look at the amount of weights needed though...

[myclone]

Do they refinish them as well with paint/clear/polish/etc after widening or do they just handle the welding/true-ing of the wheel? I looked on their site and didnt see any mention of refinishing services.

[kmcanally]

I do not know if they offer any refinishing. I will only have to shoot some satin black on the inside of the wheel where they gound off the paint for welding. The pretty side of the wheel is untouched.

[bigblockcapri]

i had weldcraft do my 2000 cobra r wheels
nice job, had them back less than week
mine ran true within .005

[kmcanally]

Cool...Are you putting the R's on the Capri? Bad A$$ project!

I had two original style Cobra R's that were narrowed (before a 17x8 was available)on my Coupe before these...

[bigblockcapri]

yes the r's with 315/35/17

[tripower]

A bit off topic, but here it goes:

Given the choice of having a wider rim narrowed or a narrower rim widened to a required size, which is the better way to go? Is there a difference?

By way of example, to get a 9" width is it better to widen an 8" wide rim or to narrow a 10" wide rim?

[JMarsa]

kmcanally,

These guys are in my hometown and I've thought about using them to narrow my Z06 rims. My question is like 'myclone's', when they re-weld the rim...the inside (part facing the hub) should have a weld bead that needs to be ground and refinished. Is that how yours are? This is a concern since some rims have a more open spoke design then others.

--JMarsa

[kmcanally]

A bit off topic, but here it goes:

Given the choice of having a wider rim narrowed or a narrower rim widened to a required size, which is the better way to go? Is there a difference?

By way of example, to get a 9" width is it better to widen an 8" wide rim or to narrow a 10" wide rim?

It is better to narrow than it is too widen because it is less expensive (no additional material cost and 1/2 the welding) and a narrowed wheel should be stronger than a widened one. However, the offset of the wheel to be modified will also play a role in to which way you want to go. In your example if both the 10" and 9" wheels have 0 offet then after narrowing the 10" wheel will have 1/2" negative offset and the 8" wheel will have 1/2" positive offset for a total backspacing difference of 1" .

[kmcanally]

kmcanally,

These guys are in my hometown and I've thought about using them to narrow my Z06 rims. My question is like 'myclone's', when they re-weld the rim...the inside (part facing the hub) should have a weld bead that needs to be ground and refinished. Is that how yours are? This is a concern since some rims have a more open spoke design then others.

--JMarsa

Mine are not ground and refinished and neither was the last set that I had narrowed. Although they might do this for you for an additional cost...I have never inquired about it. The hub side of my wheels are satin black so I will just spray can some similar paint over the welded area.

[USAZR1]

I need to send my front 17x9 PS Engineering wheels back to PSE,to have them re-backspaced from 5" to 5.5-5.75". However,I'm concerned about the turnaround time with them. Do you think this is something that Weldcraft could handle?

[kmcanally]

I need to send my front 17x9 PS Engineering wheels back to PSE,to have them re-backspaced from 5" to 5.5-5.75". However,I'm concerned about the turnaround time with them. Do you think this is something that Weldcraft could handle?

Was PSE going to machine the wheel mounting flange to achieve the desired offset? If so then Weldcraft could probable handle it.

[USAZR1]

I talked to James at Weldcraft this morning. He didn't see any reason they couldn't cut the centers out of my two-piece wheels and add another 1/2" backspacing to them. Quoted me $125 per wheel with a two week turnaround. I think I'm going to go for it.

[kmcanally]

I talked to James at Weldcraft this morning. He didn't see any reason they couldn't cut the centers out of my two-piece wheels and add another 1/2" backspacing to them. Quoted me $125 per wheel with a two week turnaround. I think I'm going to go for it.

Sweet! I thought the PSE were 2 piece but still did not know that the centers could be cut out and repositioned. For the time and work involved to do this I think $125 is extremely reasonable.

[USAZR1]

PSE also quoted me $125 each to do the work but I'm concerned they might keep my wheels for a few months. When some of you mentioned the quick turnaround of Weldcraft,that decided it for me.