Alloy wheel widening/banding

[leeparkes]

There was a thread on here about a year ago about a guy on ebay doing it but the company went bust and it didnt amount to much.

There are many companies in the US that do it, here is one...

http://weldcraftwheels.com/index-1.html


There is a company in Germany too...

http://www.rindt-felgen.com/verbreiteru ... elgen.html


But ive come across a company here in the uk.

http://www.bigjimracing.co.uk/home.html


I spoke to the guy and he tells me he's been doing it for years with no comebacks or problems, the conversation was to take my 7j BBS mahles to 8.5j by cutting and banding them. he also tells me That older BBS's are perfect to widen as they are made from a better quality alloy.

Here's a pic of a pair the German company have done.



here's the thread relating to these ^

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh ... ht=widened


What are your thoughts on this?

[Rav335uk]

Go for it, they'll be a one off

[charlE30]

You know you want to mate, 8.5j would be uber cool on your mahles. You going staggered or 8.5 all round? Bet it's not cheap??

[leeparkes]

Id be going 8.5j just on the rears, fronts are 7j which im happy with. Offset wont be a problem either as there is enough meat on the mounting facing of the wheel to machine off.
Guys in Germany want £175 per wheel, the guys in the UK want £100 per wheel

Just a bit dubious about alloy welding though...

[charlE30]

Surely the guys work has to be up to a certain standard to withstand being used as original designed (being driven), if he's been doing it years with complete succesess I'd be going for it.

May be worth checking some of the vdub sites to see if you can find any previous customers to get some feedback

[harry_p]

I'm having naughty thoughts about 10in e34 turbines again

[leeparkes]

Which VW sites are best to go on to find out about it?

[CaesarBob]

I'm having naughty thoughts about 10in e34 turbines again

[suchy]

I wasn't aware of this on alloy wheels!! I've always thought the 7.5j on my front A's were lacking an inch. How good is the quality and finish of the UK people- anyone found out yet? My Azevs are perfect so reluctant to risk chopping them up unless the finish and quality is also perfect

[leeparkes]

My Azevs are perfect so reluctant to risk chopping them up unless the finish and quality is also perfect

Im in the same boat, ill be sending these puppys to be done.

[suchy]

I'll be looking forward to your updates if/when you get those puppies done! Be interesting to see if they keep true and how the balance goes.....

I'd be bricking it

[angus]

Hero!!!!

[leeparkes]

Which VW sites are best to go on to find out about it?

Anyone?

[Rav335uk]

Try this.

http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php

Ed38 and Wheelwhores

[leeparkes]

Cheers,

Are my wheels cast or forged? How could i find out? apparently earlier alloys are stronger and better to work with.

Mine are date stamped 1981

[m8782538]

chances are they are cast, forged rims are lighter and cost a fortune.

[bedumon]

I've heard about this a little while ago. I know banded steels are not meant to be run on the road and are strictly for show use, but I'm not sure if the same applies with these.

The ZM wheels look stunning. I think throwing stars would also work very well.

P.S If I was to do it I would go with the UK company as if anything does go wrong, it'll be much easier to sort out.

[bootyman]

I guess a lot would depend on the cost too. The whole point of building rims to specific sizes is why split rims were made so if its expensive i'd just go and get some split rims. My ACS Type 1's were 17x9j front and 17x10j rear and Dips made them17x11j fronts and 17x12j rears by changing the dishes

[leeparkes]

I have been tempted to get split rims and Image wheels is literally 3 miles down the road from me so would be perfect but im tempted to do something different

P.S If I was to do it I would go with the UK company as if anything does go wrong, it'll be much easier to sort out.

I know the German company are spot on at doing this but the bloke in the UK seems a bit 'Fred and his shed' about it. On the other hand the German company want around £350 plus shipping to band two wheels 1" extra, £410 to add 2".
Whereas my man in the uk will band pretty much any width For under £100 a wheel with the weld smoothed on the dish, £70 if you have the band on the inside.

Might get a bottletop done to 'inspect' his work, then when im done ill make it into a coffee table and sell it to some devient on ebay,
or keep it

[hairypete]

im curious, my dad's a coded welder, and his welds are tested regular to destruction. if done correctly though the metal should fail before the weld. hence the weld is stronger than the original material, so why is this not legal for road use?
if done correctly and the wheel heated uniformly and yada yada it should cause no trouble, certainly no loss of strength. balancing is easy enough, just add welds where weights would be kinda thing and then dress them up.
forgive me if im being completely blonde like!
would open up a whole new interest in 14" alloys getting 3" lips blobbed on and some uber rubber bands painted on

[leeparkes]

I spoke to a welder over the weekend and he tells me the same about the weld itself being stronger than the wheel.
Apparently, and i dont know how but once banded they will run true.

[dips346]

any updates ,that bigjim web site is not working ?

[charlE30]

I've heard about this a little while ago. I know banded steels are not meant to be run on the road and are strictly for show use, but I'm not sure if the same applies with these.

I know people that run banded steelies all the time on both BM and Vdubs. One mate just put his through the MOT with them fitted, surely if these really were show use only it would be picked up on the MOT much like show use only number plates.

i did get pulled by the police once an they were all over the wheels like a rash. luckily i keep a reprint of the consrtuction and use for wheels and tyres in my glove box that i reprinted outta our m.o.t hand book at work and basically pulled a flanker over them. as long as the tyre tread is covered by an arch they are pretty much onto a losing battle no matter what the rim is up too. they took a load of photo's and suggested i should remove the wheels an only use em for shows, yeah right! and left looking very puzzled. banded steels were made illegal though back in the early 70s though when it was common to stretch a set of steels for a mk1 escort or similar. mainly due to the risk of the welds failing on badly hashed up rims and the entertaining end results. so the best advice is inspect any banded steels yourself and conceal the outer faces so no obvious signs show if you do get a tug by the old bill.
heres mine....

[harry_p]

I don't think theres anything specific that bans them as such, but they have to be 'fit for purpose'

After all, there's no reason why a welded wheel, if done properly, should be any weaker than a cast alloy or bolted together split rim. Most steel wheels have the centre welded to the rim with only a few spot welds from the factory, I'd expect a rim with a good continuous weld all the way round would be far from the weakest point of the wheel.

[leeparkes]

any updates ,that bigjim web site is not working ?

Ive noticed that too