Fabricating wheels

[Grandman]

Changing a back spacing .

These are rock crusher steel wheels , No one makes the back spacing i wanted so i changed these .

Welds are done on the inside of the wheel , using a common grinder i removed factory welds , careful not to cut into the wheel , the center section is much thicker where it welds to the outer section . Do most of the grinding there . They are a press fit but can be knocked out hitting the outer edge of the center section . While i left the tire mounted i did remove the air to be safe .





I have a snap on balancer i used to make sure i had the centers properly set before tacking them in with weld . After tack welding i placed them on the balancer once again to be sure they were true . I dont see why you couldn't do this on your rotor as well to check for trueness of the wheel .





Here is the wheel finished with my prefered back spacing and back on the Grand . Seems the welds are done on the back side there is no visible marks left on the wheel . This is a fairly simple project , take your time getting the center section true in the wheel . spin it on the rotor or a balancer if you can acess one . The only other thing is make sure you can make a quality weld or have the welding done by some one that is an experienced welder .

[KILLER"B"468]

sweet!!!

[FlamesFearMe]

That is cool. Nice Job!

[nitrous nut]

dumb ? if you put the center in backwards would it help to stop from poping a tire off the beed when wheeling?

[Haggar]

Originally Posted by nitrous nut

dumb ? if you put the center in backwards would it help to stop from poping a tire off the beed when wheeling?

Then you will pop the inner beads. You can buy reversed rims like that, but I'd rather blow the outer bead myself.


G-man, what did you set the backspacing to? Or in general, how much did you move? Are you wider or narrower now?

[Grandman]

Originally Posted by Haggar

Then you will pop the inner beads. You can buy reversed rims like that, but I'd rather blow the outer bead myself.


G-man, what did you set the backspacing to? Or in general, how much did you move? Are you wider or narrower now?

I reduced the back spacing by 1 " , thats the most the wheel would allow they way it is built .

Adapters on the 8.8 to 5 on 5.5 pattern left we wide in the back so customized the front wheels to match width .

I looked at 1.25" spacers but they were $249.00 This took a few sticks of welding rod and about 3 hours . A gain of 2" total width should stablize the Grand a little as well .

[roll-bar Bob]

Good Work

[clarkstoncracker]

Thats pretty sweet.


Any vibrations now?

[Grandman]

Originally Posted by clarkstoncracker

Thats pretty sweet.


Any vibrations now?

Yes but they were there before the wheel work . I think it's mostly the Bias tires im feeling . These Q 78 tires have been a real PITA to balance since i got them as well . I can roll down the road 60 - 70 mph when needed but the Grand is not as road friendly as it use to be .

Im tempted to put the 34x12.50 Trxus on another set of wheels i have just to see the difference it makes .

[Icebreaker88]

Nice job Marv
Must be nice having all that time on your hands now

[sglide]

[Bones]

Did you ever put the rim on the balancer without the tire? I would be interested how balanced just the rim is...

good work though.

[Cooter]

That's the old school way of "reversing" wheels- works great. (Usually the bucks down guys just mount the wheel on the spindle to make sure it is centered and true)

Glad to see it is still being done.