Widening Wheels

Jsup

Jsup

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 31, 2008
Messages
810
Someone was telling me today that he saw a C3 where the owner took stock wheels and had them widened for bigger tires.

Is this something that is commonly done?

Can it be done with my 1990 stock wheels? I want to keep the stock look.

Is this an expensive proposition?

I'm considering having the wheels widened so I can put big tires on back, and still keep the stock look, and have more stick.

Anyone have any experience on that? I'm looking as wide as I can go and still get tires. I think the stock are 9.5, so are they 9.5? How much wider can I go, and not have a problem getting tires?
 
Last edited:
When you widen aluminium wheels, they usually add more rim to the back, so you'll end up with more backspacing. There was a pic of a C3 floating aroudn eyars ago where the original N90 wheels (15x8) had been cut and new rim hoops had been welded on, bringing them to 17x10 or something in that order of size.

Certainly it's possible to have width added to the front face of the wheel but it'll be more costly because it needs to be machined down and smoothed out so it looks stock. Surely you wouldn't want to have a big weld bead running over the entire rim.

You can easily go up to 12 or 13 without having a tire issue. There are 335 sized meats out there.
 
Stock to a C3 is 8" wide, never heard of anything wider outta GM,

I have '92 vette wheels 17x9.5 on all 4 corners....with 255/60/ in front and 275/50 in rear.....

If you examine the rear you find only 3/4" of useful offset to the inside, due to sway bar and T-arm.....IF you move the ebrake cable mounting....

I have kept the same wheel/tire centerline....to keep bearing loading stock...
 
mrvette said:
Stock to a C3 is 8" wide, never heard of anything wider outta GM,

I have '92 vette wheels 17x9.5 on all 4 corners....with 255/60/ in front and 275/50 in rear.....

If you examine the rear you find only 3/4" of useful offset to the inside, due to sway bar and T-arm.....IF you move the ebrake cable mounting....

I have kept the same wheel/tire centerline....to keep bearing loading stock...
Click to expand...

So there really isn't enough room behind the tires to widen them all that much.

I found this:
http://www.weldcraftwheels.com/

If I can't fit a wider wheel without changing the offset on the other side of the rim, it won't look stock and will be difficult to do...

I'll call them in the morning.
 
Twin_Turbo said:
When you widen aluminium wheels, they usually add more rim to the back, so you'll end up with more backspacing. There was a pic of a C3 floating aroudn eyars ago where the original N90 wheels (15x8) had been cut and new rim hoops had been welded on, bringing them to 17x10 or something in that order of size.

Certainly it's possible to have width added to the front face of the wheel but it'll be more costly because it needs to be machined down and smoothed out so it looks stock. Surely you wouldn't want to have a big weld bead running over the entire rim.

You can easily go up to 12 or 13 without having a tire issue. There are 335 sized meats out there.
Click to expand...

Which wheels are the N90 wheels?
 
Decades ago a buddy had some wheel widened at a good machine shop....

Mopar steel rims that went from some 5" to like TEN inches....large jump...

I mounted my '91 rims on this '72 about 16 years ago....when measuring, I found about a inch total clearance to the inside after the ebrake was moved...same as on swaybars in back....frame has more clearance, so with no sway bar and a offset arm, wider still is possible....but then there is the flaring on fenders....etc....

My first and greatest concern was keeping the same centerline to avoid camber loading and problems with struts, and diffy yoke end wear....as well as bearing loading....so that and COST/Availability....a set popped up from a vette club member....it's what sealed the deal....

:2nd:
 
OK, I think I'm seeing that there's no good way to keep the stock rims and widen them, not enough room behind them.

The 1990 ZR1 rims look funny on a base coupe.

Oh well...
 
I have used Weldcraft a bunch of times in the past and they are making a pair of 18" minilites for me now. Never had a problem with their work and the wheels have always balanced fine afterwards. Give James a call, they are great guys.

The stock factory wheels on my Viper are two aluminum wheels welded together to get 17 x 13.

Nick
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top