LS6427

iTrader: (2)

Finally got my 18" x 10.5" C5 deep dish rims widened to 18" x 12.5"

Fronts remain 18" x 9.5"

Then I sent all 4 to get completely stripped, prepped and re-chromed.

Mounted my new Michelin Pilot Sport (102Y) 335/30/18 tires yesterday.

-----These were widened the proper and safe way by using a donor barrel and double welding it from both sides. Not the terrible way of using a steel/aluminum hoop, which doesn't pass GM side load testing.

DAMN.........well worth it. Total cost to widen the rears, re-chrome all 4, and the purchase price of the original set of rims from OE Wheels......$1,400.00

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LS6427

iTrader: (2)

Video...up close on the weld work.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFry...ature=youtu.be

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HCI2000SS

iTrader: (2)

Im guessing this will be going on the 98 WS6 that's in your signature?

_JB_

iTrader: (33)

Nice, need some pictures of them on the car! Could you PM me (or post here if allowed) which company you used? I want to polish and seal my stock rims but nobody around here wants to do it.

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

Yup......gonna fit them tomorrow to see how much more inner wheel well work we need to do. I'm thinking not much at all. My current 315's have 2 full inches of room.....so they might just fit now. Might need a 1/2" spacer....

I also have an identical pair of rears that are still 18" x 10.5".....they're getting either some Nitto NT05 drag radials or some M/T E Street R......in 305 or 315 size.

Not sure yet which tire to go with for roll racing nights.

But the Michelin 335's....for normal daily driving days. It was hell finding the tires. Found them in Europe while I was there last month. Had them shipped to Lauderdale for $120.00. They only cost $290.00 each. A steal.....Can't find them brand new in the USA anymore.

----Pics below are my current extra set of the identical rims.....18" x 10.5" rears......18" x 9.5" fronts. I'll be keeping these as is....but will send these to get stripped, prepped and re-chromed as soon as I put my newly chromed and widened set of 4 rims/tires on........

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LS6427

iTrader: (2)

I'll take a few pics tomorrow of the tires mounted on the rims.....

http://www.etmags.com/production_wheels.html

If you click on WHEELS....then WHEEL REPAIR........you will find their list of machining and special things they do. But they do just about anything, just call them. In California.

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ramairetransam

iTrader: (18)

who did the widening of the wheels. Some rear shots of those killer wheels .

AnotherWs6

iTrader: (17)

Who did the stripping and chroming? It seems like you got everything done fairly cheap. Chroming is pricey in my neck of the woods.

mac62989

iTrader: (1)

Not bad, still very affordable for all the work involved. After having a set of Oewheels back maybe 10+ years ago I know first hand their chrome is kind of ****, smart having them re-chromed with something quality. I assume the Florida air can almost be as bad as salt on the roads in the Northeast come winter.

BAD ASS TA WS6

iTrader: (5)

Couple of questions... Have you cut any of the inner front wheel well area, or just hammering? Remove/grind off rear bump stops completely? How much is the car lowered?

In the process of redoing my car. Just bought a new pilot sport 4S in 325/30/19 and will go from there. Going to do new wheels and shortened 9" but I want to have an idea of how much I need to clearance. Trying to fit 10lbs of crap in a 5lb bag it seems lol

_JB_

iTrader: (33)

Darn I thought they were in FL. Thanks for the info though, maybe I'll still check them out.

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

Classic Chrome in California. http://classiccomponents.com/

$25 to strip each rim. $165 to prep and re-chrome. In business 75 years. It was the place every from all over the country was recommending to me.......

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LS6427

iTrader: (2)

http://www.etmags.com/production_wheels.html

Awesome guy to deal with......loves to talk but he knows his stuff. He does not accept all rims....they must first meet a couple measurement criteria. He'll tell you what to measure and to send him the info, then he'll let you know if it can be done 100% perfectly.

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LS6427

iTrader: (2)

Exactly, OE Wheels are very good quality according to this company that widened them. But the chrome plater that OE Wheels uses in China is the worst in the world.

My first set of these C5 DD rims.....chrome started falling off in 4 months. So I called them to get 4 replacements under warranty. OE Wheels said it was my fault for not keeping the brake dust off of them......THATS IT, thats all they said. Brake dust did it....Hahahaha
So they sold me a second set of 4 with a 10% discount. So I reversed those charges and got my replacement set for free. Put them on and same thing, chrome started coming off again in like 4 months.

So I widened them and had them chromed properly. Gonna re-chrome the original set soon too.

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LS6427

iTrader: (2)

In 2002 I had G2 Super Springs installed. It dropped the front about 1.5" and the rear about 2". Everything you see in my sig went in at the same time in 2002.

I removed my bump stops at that time also. I went to 315 size tires on my factory 17 x 9 WS6 rims. I did absolutely nothing....and went for a drive. All I would hear was slight rubbing while going into turns. So I drove home and banged those two rub spots on each side for a few big bangs with a hammer on each side. Never rubber again.

When I went to the OE Wheels in 18 x 10.5" in the rear and the same 315 tires the guy who put my 18 x 10.5 and 315 tires on my car did a serious beating on both sides. There's like 2 inches of room between the inner wells and tire walls in the rear.

So these just might fit now without any more banging.....if it does I may do just 1/4" - 1/2" spacers. But thats all, this offset is perfect for the outer side, I don't want them sticking out any more. So maybe I'll bang some more if its just a little bit thats needed.

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LS6427

iTrader: (2)

UPS was only like $80.00 to ship them there from Lauderdale.......

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AnotherWs6

iTrader: (17)

Good to know. The chrome job on my wheels isn't 100%. They look great until you get real close, drives me nuts. Not sure who did the chroming because I bought them used. I fantasize about stripping them, widening the rear and re-chroming. That's the goal.

blackbyrd

iTrader: (14)

im kind of shocked at how inexpensive this was all things considered

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

I know...it gives us all a great option to literally have a very high quality structure.....but make sure we have a very high quality chrome plater do the chrome work.

$4,000 set of HRE wheels or other high dollar wheel.........or these.......to me its a no brainer to just do this.
You can buy a set of 4 from OE Wheels and then send them right to Classic Chrome. $750 for the strip/re-chrome and you have a set of high end rims.

Check out their prices on their site.....I got it a little wrong on the price.....$25.00 each to strip a chrome rim and $162.50 each to prep and re-chrome each rim.

And as I mentioned.....these guys were recommended by many places around the country that I spoke with.

http://classiccomponents.com/services/chrome/auto


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LS6427

iTrader: (2)

I hear ya. Even if there's little things that are almost impossible to see....it makes me crazy too.....LOL

I went over every square centimeter of these rims......the surface is 100% flawless.......not a single ripple, bump or blemish. I never thought I would actually get 100% perfection.......its pretty cool.

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