post pics of them on the car

 

While those wheels are nice indeed.... NOTHING that goes on a car and sees daily driven duties is worth that freaking much. Those companies should be put out of business for the bullshit amounts they charge for their wheels. And that isnt anything at all towards you in any way. $3k+ for damn wheels....

 

and i guess ferrari, lamborghini, lotus, etc., should all be put out of business, too, seeing as how they make really expensive cars?

the price of those wheels may not be worth it to you, but that doesn't mean someone else won't consider them a deal for what they're getting.

those companies have been in business for a long time, even with their high prices....so obviously many people are willing to buy them, despite the price. kinda makes you wonder why...maybe it's because they're vastly superior wheels to most stuff out there.

i'm not arguing that they're not extremely expensive, and i will probably never buy any of those wheels new, either (unless i get a good deal on them)....but that doesn't mean they don't have a place in the market.

if you don't like it, then don't buy them, and go buy something that fits your budget....it's actually a pretty easy concept.

 

You obviously have no idea about what it takes to build custom wheels. The fact is that there is a HUGE market for custom billet wheels, and people are willing to buy them. Machining time on a CNC machine isn't cheap, and having them hand assembled and QC inspected is time consuming. These aren't just cheap cast 1-piece wheels stamped out of a die. Ever compared a cheapo Chinese wheel side by side with a forged 3-piece wheel? If so, you would understand the level of detail and quality that goes into an expensive wheel.

 

What most of us fail to realize is how much money some people have and are looking to spend. When you don't have money to blow, expensive stuff seems like a waste or just plain stupid. When you have crazy money to throw around, it seems like a joke I'm sure. High end wheels, parts, cars, homes, etc, etc have their place, you just can't knock them because you can't afford them or can't justify spending the money because your priorities are elsewhere.
Mangus, you came back from the graveyard Looks good, I like those with black spokes now......

 

Whenever i see this done i cringe thinking about road-speed vibrations.

im sure there fine.. but whenever i hear. "just weld it on.."
i picture fbody's barrel rolling down the highway after a catostrophic blowout.

good looking wheels though =]

 

Ok have a questons....

I found a set of 18x9.5's that I LOVE but want them in a 11". I can get them in either a +20mm or a +45mm offset. Which one should I get if I want to widen it 1.5" and have it fit good. Also, will I still need a spacer?

 

first, let's lay the groundwork for the measurements:

offset:
offset is measured from the center line of the overall width of the wheel to the rear of the mounting point of the wheel, where it meets the wheel hub.
positive (+) offset pushes the rear of the mounting point of the wheel (where it meets the wheel hub) toward the outside edge of the wheel (i.e., less "deep dish").
negative (-) offset pushes the rear of the mounting point of the wheel (where it meets the wheel hub) toward the inside edge of the wheel (i.e., more "deep dish").

backspacing & frontspacing:
these measurements are measured from the rear of the mounting point of the wheel where it meets the wheel hub to one of the lips of the wheel.
backspacing is the measure of the distance between the rear of the mounting face of the wheel to the inside lip of the wheel (the part facing the frame of the car).
frontspacing is the measure of the distance between the rear of the mounting face of the wheel to the outside lip of the wheel (the part facing the world).

keep in mind, however, that the measurements are usually not made to the actual outermost edge of the wheel, but to where the bead of the tire meets the rim...so depending on the thickness of the outer lip from that point, you may have an extra 1/2" to 1" of width overall, making that 11" wheel actually measure 11.5" to 12" from the two outermost edges. also, many tires will stick out past the outermost edge of the rim, so that will add overall width as well.

now that that's laid out:

when widening a wheel, the extra width is added to the inside half of the wheel (the part facing the frame of the car), so the frontspacing will always stay the same.

1" = 25.4mm, so an extra 1.5" is an extra 38.1mm

someone please correct me if my math is wrong......

a 9.5" wheel with a +20mm offset will have a 3.96" frontspace...when widened to 11", it will have a new offset of +58.1mm & the backspace will change from 5.54" to 7.04"
a 9.5" wheel with a +45mm offset will have a 2.98" frontspace...when widened to 11", it will have a new offset of +83mm & the backspace will change from 6.52" to 8.02"

what you will need to do is measure from the wheel hub's face where the wheel meets it, both inward to the first object that the outer rim of the wheel will hit, as well as outward from that same point to the lip of the fender well.

if the backspace and frontspace of the widened wheel in question both fit within those measurements, you should be fine with no spacers.
if the frontspace is too much (i.e., too much "deep dish"), the only way to get them to fit properly would be to narrow the rear end.
if the backspace of the wheel doesn't fit, but the frontspace does, then you can run a spacer to bring the wheel out some...just make sure the spacer is thin enough so that it doesn't push the outside edge of the wheel too far out...and even then, you may need to get longer wheel studs, depending on the thickness of the spacer...otherwise, there may not be enough threads for the lugs to hold onto, and that's a bad thing.

 

I'd bet the welded part is actually stronger than the cast wheel that may be susceptible to spider cracks.

 

Tires were mounted and balanced today. THey balanced just like any other wheel I've owned, no imbalance issues what so ever.

 

Wheels are on the car, i'll take pics later after the car is clean.

Notes:
My car is lowered about 1.5" or so. I runn a full LG Motorsports suspension package all around.


Rears:
In the back I had to cut off the bump stop flush with the upper triangle nut that the actual bump stop bolts into.. (the triangle nuts are still there).. If you don't do this, when the shock is in full extension the wheels will hit the metal that sticks out. Now, they won't. I just left the bump stops off for now, didn't feel like trimming them as well.

I also rolled the fenders. I'm not sure if these tires would have actually rubbed but I ran khumo MX's before on an unwidened set of these wheels and they did rub the driver side fender, possibly do to a slight offset with the rear. Perhaps an adjustable panhard would have fixed the issue, but I rolled the fenders anyway to be safe.

I plan to install ARP studs and run open ended lugs.


Front:
The wheels would hit a nub on the upper spindle when they were mounted so I'm currently running a 5/16" spacer. I'll try to grind down the nub a pinch another time to see if I can get away without a spacer.

With the spacer though there is no way you could run stock lugs. Stock lugs and stock studs on these wheels (without a spacer) only grips 4-5 threads as-is.. It really doesn't *bite* as many threads as I'd want to.

So, I installed some ARP studs in. With the spacer I'm still able to run closed end lugs however its a VERY close fit. I will run open ended lugs when I remove the spacer.

There is also some rubbing of the inner fender well at the forward most point of the tire when the wheel is turned inward. This is probably attributed to the spacer pushing the whole wheel out.


Anyway, time to clean up and take the car out to lunch..

 

That's awesome, now just waiting for the pictures.

 

those look sick

 

looks awsome.....a friend of mine did that to his stock 02 mustnag gt wheels to fit 345s out back....dynoed 614whp

 

Here are the pics.

The car handles JUST fine with 17x11's with 315's up front, no problems at all on rutty or crappy roads.

Put on 400 miles of agressive driving today...

 

That look mean as hell very nice.

 

wow! that looks sick Keith

 

I've always liked those wheels and they look good on white. Nice welds on them too.

 

 

Looks pretty sick! I'd like to see some overall pics of the car now.