Widening Wheels?
ian.stewart - 6/3/23 at 09:43 AM
A bit off piste here,
My set of Triumph dolomite Alloy rear wheels seem a bit lost in the arches, the arches would possibly take another 30mm of wheel plus tires, does
anybody in this country widen cast alloys, and, I have seen it done with a TUV cert too.
My thoughts seem to be running along using 4 wheels to make 2, Fortunately the barrels/hoops of the wheel seem to be nigh on parallel, part rims off 2
wheels leaving 30mm from the rim face, also at the same time leave a machined spigot for location, do the same with the other 2, but machining to the
face of the wheel, and machine an opposing spigot for location, pop one on the other, and I should have widened the wheel 30mm, all is needed is a
good welder to TIG them together.......... 
is there anybody in the UK offering this service?
Another option is make the wheels into 2 piece Splits, so I can machine off the face of the rims, machine a land, drill and tap to suit some 13"
hoops I have and go from there.
Mr Whippy - 6/3/23 at 12:02 PM
cheaper to just fit narrower arches...
nick205 - 6/3/23 at 01:05 PM
If the car's a Triumph Dolomite/Toledo tin top then narrower arches may not be an optoin (or cheap to do).
On the subject of needing to add 30mm, that seems a lot to me, without changing to a wider the axle to move the existing wheels out.
Paul_Arion - 6/3/23 at 02:20 PM
Seems to me you just need a set of spacers to push the wheels out - may require longer wheel bolts or extended studs
nick205 - 6/3/23 at 03:12 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Paul_Arion
Seems to me you just need a set of spacers to push the wheels out - may require longer wheel bolts or extended studs
Never /used/fitted wheel spacers. Will 30mm not have a couple of issues?
1. Moving the wheels centreline too far away from the hub bearings and putting an incorrect loading on the bearings?
2. Having to increase the studs/wheel bolts by 30mm seems a lot to me - any risk of snapping them when tightening them?
red22 - 6/3/23 at 03:52 PM
On my old car I was running 15mm front and 25mm rear with no problems. It had them when I got it and in the time I had it, it sailed through 3
MOTs.
The current one has 10mm all round and the same lack of issues. It's been like that for 2 years.
Just measure the length of your existing bolts and add the spacer thickness.
nick205 - 6/3/23 at 04:02 PM
Fair do's - 30mm just seems a lot to me.
But as I say, never used or fitted spacers myself.
cliftyhanger - 15/3/23 at 07:10 PM
There are bolt on spacers available. ie you bolt the spacer to the hub, and the spacer has studs to attach the wheel. They are available for the MGF
which usefully uses the same PCD as the dolomite.
And the sprint axle is a little wider than the non-sprint versions, but I expect you have a sprint unit fitted, the others are a tad fragile.