Machining alloy wheels

shauncr91

shauncr91

shauncr91

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Joined
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Sheffield
Hi,

Has anyone here had much experience of having some of an alloy machined off the back where it sits on the hub to make it sit inwards of the arches a little more?

Hoping to get about 5mm taken off of my Team Dynamic wheels to get a bit more arch clearance but don't know if it's even possible to be done or how much it would cost....

Thanks.
 
That's a fair amount of thickness to lose from the bottom of the nut recesses to the mounting surface. I doubt It'd be safe.
 
Yep, I machined some wheels down when I was at university. As long as there's plenty of material there it's perfectly safe. I did mine on the mill.

The only thing to bear in mind is your scrub line. If you radically alter the offset then you'll affect the steering. 5mm won't make a lot of difference though.
 
p1RATE said:
If your goal is just more clearance, would it not be better to roll the arches?
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Arches are rolled however there's a slight lip on the mk6 Fiesta where the bumper joins the wing which can't be made flat. It has fine clearance but if it hits a bump just right with some lock on it just glances this lip and I want it perfect.
 
If you do the calculations on the joints then it might be safe. I wouldn't take off 5mm without doing so.

Edit, rethinking what your actually doing would only potentially make the bolt bottom out (?), which again id check but that's a lot more safe than removing some of the threaded material.
 
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Can't you get adjustable top mounts to give you some more camber and bring the top of the wheels in more? When I ran AST's on mine I was rather low and never had rubbing.
 
miikeeyy92 said:
If you do the calculations on the joints then it might be safe. I wouldn't take off 5mm without doing so.

Edit, rethinking what your actually doing would only potentially make the bolt bottom out (?), which again id check but that's a lot more safe than removing some of the threaded material.
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Studs and nuts on fiestas IIRC

JamesM said:
Can't you get adjustable top mounts to give you some more camber and bring the top of the wheels in more? When I ran AST's on mine I was rather low and never had rubbing.
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I think he wants it to drive well too. I'm guessing it sees track action.

HummuH1 said:
TD wheels aren't expensive, why not buy a set with the right offset?
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:rolleyes:
 
NoNameNoNumber said:
Studs and nuts on fiestas IIRC



I think he wants it to drive well too. I'm guessing it sees track action.



:rolleyes:
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Brilliant post.

Please enlighten me as to why having adjustable top mounts would be a bad idea when taking a FWD car on track?

Also, I'd love to hear why machining the hub mating face of 4 wheels is a better idea than buying 4 wheels with the correct offset?
 
miikeeyy92 said:
Assuming that they are the same design of wheel, unless the producer designed them at several offsets, they may not have been appropriately tested. I.e the material might be there for a reason and so best not remove it.
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Well, exactly, particularly when losing material around the bolt holes and most TD wheels are available in a wide range of offsets and widths to suit.

It's common when fitting wider wheels or fitting wheels to fill out the arches on the front axle that you deviate away from the desired offset but as soon as you do that you alter the Kingpin angle and likely the Scrub radius as well as affecting camber gain. Debatable whether that really matters at all on the road if it's the looks you're after but if you go on track it usually results in loss of mid-corner grip, not great in a FWD car.
 
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