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making your own widened steelies

18K views 14 replies 7 participants last post by  rattlecan 
#1 ·
so i have heard you can cut the bead out of stock steelies flip the face of the steelie around and weld it back to create your own widened steelie. lots of people have done it, i just cant find the right info.
any one experienced?
seen it done?

anyone rebarreled their own?
http://i41.tinypic.com/2zog2fl.jpg

(not interested in diamond racing tho)
lookin for a winter project
long time no see btw how is everyone?
 
#5 ·
i have seen some pretty low tech ones being done, its helllla old school,
just some basic measuring, if you have a spare axle, bolt em up to it and true them out before welding em, its actually something within our grasp (assuming youve welded for a few years).even if you havent a cheap welder is worth its weight in gold
heres another alternative.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfY-IUrVbMg- <------rebarreling

http://www.fordmuscle.com/archives/2006/02/Steelies/index.php <----- good motivation

http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=194296 <----- perfect example(pages of good reading and pics)

http://rollinonsteelies.com/blog/gallery/http://rollinonsteelies.com/blog/gallery/ <------<3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Rb9THP7XjyY <------ food for thought

http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=189130

i can post some more links here shortly, i might start crackin these out after i practice on some old steel, and sell em to get the bunk ass vw scene cookin around here. its overrun with jdm in my spot (but these hondas are getting sooo legit, i might pick one up and du werke)
 
#6 ·
I'm a certified welder, been doing it for about 7 years now.. I have been threw a year of classes just based around machining as well, and I still wouldnt do it. Like Das said its not simple by anymeans. There is a reason you pay so much for other people to widen them... IF your just using them for show (drive somewhere, swap wheels then do a mile cruise in stop and go traffic I MIGHT consider it... But I would never daily on DIY widened steelies unless they were done with the right equipment


But then again I have had a wheel break, and another wheel fall off at 80+
 
#7 ·
yea im a welder too, people have been doing this since our parents were in diapers, most of the links i posted are ppls daily drivers, i think it can be done. balancing is really not too complicated. "measure twice cut once" type stuff.
 
#8 ·
I know this is an older thread, but i HAVE done this to one of my older rock crawlers. recentered H1 double bead locks. i could cruise down the highway at 70 on 38's with ZERO vibration. I made up a couple jigs to help me keep everything in check. 1 wheel i had almost a 1/32nd run out....

just saying
 
#10 ·
Dont have any pics of the jigs, but I used an old hub i had laying around. Set up my back spacing, tacked the wheel to some 1/2" plate steel, tacked in the new center, used the truck itself, put the wheel on, used a digital dial indicator to measure run out. few whacks here and there to get it dead nut. full welded the centers in, in a star pattern. Rechecked run out, and the most i had was the 1/32nd. heres a pic of my old crawler
 
#11 ·
i dig it^
so im just gonna get a hub for the mk4 and hook it to the lathe, cut the beads, mount the face to the hub, and scooch the barrel back about 3 inches, true up and re weld. is that similar to how you did your jig? thinking about doin some audi spares, into some wide truck rim barrels
LMK
 
#14 ·
perfect, take them in to get balanced i assume? or will Schwabbies even touch em?


A guy about 4 hours from me widdens steelies he's 87 years old 120 pounds lol, and I'm pretty sure his equipment built the Bismarck . For $500 he does all 4 wheels and that's ready for paint. I know of 6 guys who had this done from mk1s to mk5s. It's amazing watching this frail old man rolling steel in an English wheel.
im my 80's i will be that man... haha i wish i had more metal resources dammit
 
#13 ·
A guy about 4 hours from me widdens steelies he's 87 years old 120 pounds lol, and I'm pretty sure his equipment built the Bismarck . For $500 he does all 4 wheels and that's ready for paint. I know of 6 guys who had this done from mk1s to mk5s. It's amazing watching this frail old man rolling steel in an English wheel.
 
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