Help locating odd wheels!

TestDriver · Aug 7, 2003

Hello,

I've been looking for this for days now with no success.

I need to either buy or have 4 sets of these wheels made;

17x7.5 28mm offset 8x6.5 bolt pattern.

And I also need 4 sets of;

18x8 31mm offset 8x6.5 bolt pattern.

These seem to be oddball sizes and the few manufacturers I've spoken to seem to be convinced that no such wheel (the 17x7.5) exists yet and are either unwilling or unable to make them for me.

We're a tire testing facility and quite often we find ourselves in need of non-standard type wheels so this might lead to further orders in the future. The advent of larger wheel/tire sizes in the market will only make this more so. Thank you.

Ramon Mendoza
BRIDGESTONE/FIRESTONE North American Tire, LLC
Ride and Handling Group
Texas Proving Ground
915-336-4834

patprimmer · Aug 7, 2003

Try composite wheel manufacturers such as Simmonds or Ozwheels.

I can give contact details if necessary

Regards
pat

TestDriver · Aug 7, 2003

Hello Pat,

Thanks for replying. I could use contact info for Simmonds. Oz could not help me.

Apparently the problem is that most custom wheel makers buy their rims from someone else and 17x7.5 rims or rim halves are not made for a 3/4 ton application that they know of. Ideally, I'd like to get a hold of some rim makers and find out who is working on these sizes so I can talk to them about my application.

Thanks again.

Ramon Mendoza
BRIDGESTONE/FIRESTONE North American Tire, LLC
Ride and Handling Group
Texas Proving Ground
915-336-4834

patprimmer · Aug 7, 2003

I'm surprised that Oz could not help, as heis a smaller owner operator type operation.

If he used steel in place of the aluminium sheet to spin the rims it could havethe strength, but maybe he is frightened off by possibility of litigation.

Simmons Wheels is 61-2-9313-5766. 61 is the area code for Aus and 2 is for Sydney.

Ozwheels is 61-2-9606-6468

Remembe Aus is about 15 to 20 hours ahead of US time, depending on where in the US and whose on summer time.

If you call between about 7pm and 11pm it works out at our office hours

Regards
pat

TestDriver · Aug 13, 2003

Thanks for the contacts Pat. I had not tried Oz in Au. I had only called their distributor here in the states. Maybe next time I'll try the source first.

For anyone interested, I found two places in the US that would work with me on custom widths, diameters, offsets, etc.;

Colorado Custom, Colorado, 970-224-5750, "James" was very helpful and Taylor Made Wheels, California, 323-567-3998, "Chuck" is the man to speak with.

Ramon

ahbugeye · Aug 14, 2003

There are forged dually wheels available in the size you are looking for from Alcoa Wheel Products. But since they are dually, they do not have the offset your are looking for. You can check with them if they would be willing to create the exact wheel you are looking for though.

Jen

TestDriver · Aug 14, 2003

Thanks Jen,

I did have contact with Alcoa regarding this. They are capable of handling the project but the cost would have been several orders of magnitude more than what we had budgeted and what we'll end up spending elsewhere for this type of wheel.

Regards

Ramon

mloew · Oct 1, 2003

Ramon,

Not sure if you are still looking for prototype wheels, but I stumbled upon this page and thought you might find it interesting:

Dymag Wheels for High Performance Prototype Cars (

http://www.dymag.com/prod02.htm)

Best regards,

Matthew Ian Loew
"Luck is the residue of design."
Branch Rickey

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.

TestDriver · Oct 1, 2003

Matthew,

Thanks for the lead. I never know when something like this might come in handy later.

For anyone else interested in the wheels I ended up getting, here is further information.

Colorado Custom wheels had a very rapid turn around time and were inexpensive. However, the wheels are welded center types and are far from being true.

The Taylor Made wheels seem of very high quality although I have'nt run them yet. The runout/squareness on the balancer was very good. Delivery was quite long with repeated postponing due to conditions that would not affect a large opearation but do affect a mom&pop business.

Hope this helps someone down the line.

Ramon

skovbamsen · Nov 18, 2003

http://www.braid.es

they do it your way. your design

ZGuy · Nov 24, 2003

Other sources are Bogart in Santee, CA phone 619.596.7605 (really helpful and flexible when I needed to rebuild some HRE wheels!)

http://www.bogartracingwheels.com/

Kodiak Motorsports in Abbotsford, BC, Canada phone 877.856.7311

http://www.kodiakracingwheels.com/

See also Diamond Racing Wheels in Milwaukee, WI phone 800.937.4407

http://www.diamondracingwheels.com/

I do not know if any of these can supply you with the bolt pattern, but I do think that all can match the offset and diameter. Any one that makes multipart racing wheels to order should be able to accomodate you.

Tom

TestDriver · Dec 4, 2003

Guys,

Thanks for the continued posts. Like I said, I can always use more of these types of contacts.

Ramon

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