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Post by ES_97Sport on Apr 25, 2016 13:38:06 GMT -5
Has anyone run across anyone besides Stockton Wheel that makes custom heavy duty steel rims? (without bead-locks) I decided after this last trip to switch to a 17x8" rim from the 15x8" rims I run now. I run the Stockton "22 Series - SWS 4x4 Special Wheel" and those have been really solid and held up well but its time for a style & color change if I'm going to change dimensions.  If I can't find anything else maybe the "Hummer & Power Wagon 24 Series". Edward |
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Post by jkdv8 on Apr 25, 2016 22:10:52 GMT -5
Hmm good question. Those might be a viable option. I think there was a link to some in that one post talking about those Hummer wheels. If not there is always overseas.  |
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Post by ES_97Sport on Apr 26, 2016 12:44:16 GMT -5
Hmm good question. Those might be a viable option. I think there was a link to some in that one post talking about those Hummer wheels. If not there is always overseas. I may be stuck with Stockton. After months of on and off surfing and about four hours yesterday, I still haven't been able to find anyone that really does custom dimension rims. Almost everything on Google says 'custom' but they're really not. Just Google SEO/marketing BS. The rest are bead-lock rims or for cars/street. Oh, well. The Stocktons have been good rims. I'm going to pull a rim this weekend and get the backspacing measurement. I'm trying to decide if I want to go to a 9" with 3/4" more backspacing to pull the tire out another 1/4" or just stay with the 8" and pull the tire out another 1/4". 1/2" width increase doesn't sound like much but it makes a HUGE difference in stability. I have a couple trails I really want to hit this fall but they have a lot of off camber spots and some of the UT trails are developing some nasty off camber sections in the dunes. Every little bit helps.  Edward |
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Post by jkdv8 on Apr 26, 2016 16:18:02 GMT -5
Yea the word custom gets thrown around a lot with wheels. It's seems the other post mentioned a company that would make wheels to your specification. I'll see if I can find it.
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Post by ES_97Sport on Apr 26, 2016 17:22:12 GMT -5
Yea the word custom gets thrown around a lot with wheels. It's seems the other post mentioned a company that would make wheels to your specification. I'll see if I can find it. Yep. That's a fact.  I found several companies that would supposedly make 'custom' rims, but they buy the rim blanks (what the tire mounts on) and custom build the centers. Two companies specifically noted 'for off road use only!' and it sounded like they weren't even balanced. That's perfectly fine for a crawler, but .... I'd like to know where the blanks were coming from, too. The few I looked at looked like car rims. They looked more like my steel GM Ralley IIs, not truck rims. I found a couple dozen places that will widen or narrow rims. Which does me absolutely no good. What drives me nuts is what is advertised as 'Off Road Rims' for off road use. Cast alloy rims with thin spoke centers. But they are totally awesome because they only weight like 20 lbs. Its as bad as 'custom'. Edward |
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Post by jkdv8 on Apr 26, 2016 17:29:42 GMT -5
Two companies specifically noted 'for off road use only!' and it sounded like they weren't even balanced. That's perfectly fine for a crawler, but .... Edward Yea that sounds sketchy. |
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Post by ES_97Sport on May 24, 2016 21:42:12 GMT -5
Sooooo, I've decided to go with Stockton again - Hummer & Power Wagon 24 Series. After spending a couple hours dumping all my rim specs into CAD and modeling everything out, that seemed like the easiest way to go. These rims are wicked heavy. Heavier than my existing steel rims and those are not light. The center section on the 24's are 1/2" thick. I have no idea what a rim weights - they're going to tell me that when they finish building them - but these are in NO WAY anything you'd want to run on our IFS suspensions. They say they can build them with thinner centers but I'm not sure that's such a good idea given how they're made and it kinda defeats the purpose of getting these rims. Stockton Wheel Service - Products: Heavy Duty - Military - Light Truck - Off RoadI settled on a 17x9 with 3.5" of backspacing. This will give me another 1/2" of width over my existing Stockton's and a full 1" over my original Jeep J10 steel rims. A little more stability will be welcome. And, while I was at it, I wanted to do something about bashing the crap out of the bead area. It took all of three and a half months before I managed to bash in the edge of one of my brand new Stocktons and I'd like to not have to worry about doing that. Again. I think they're a PITA and kinda unsightly and poser looking, but short of full bead-locks I'm not sure there's a cheap, alternative to rock rings. If you don't know what they are, google "4x4 rock rings". I'm not even going to go into how (substitute appropriate derogatory adjective here) _______ most of them look. Nor how completely impractical most of them are, too. So, I designed my own ...  2.25" wide and 3/16" thick is sufficient for my needs and the Mitsu logo and circle cutouts will cut the weight down some without diminishing protection. I need to get inside lip to inside lip dimensions and valve stem location - which i may just relocate - and then I'll punch it all into my CAD software and send it off to the laser guys to cut out. Once the rims are here, the rings and rims will go to the shop to be welded together and then to the powder coating place for a two tone black rim with yellow rings 'paint' job. Or maybe Mitsu red for the rings. I haven't decided yet. Edward |
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Post by ES_97Sport on May 25, 2016 15:27:24 GMT -5
Slight redesign and in Mitsu red. They're moving the valve stem from the edge to half way between the center and the bead so I can still get to the stem with the rings in place. No need for the 'divot' in the ring to get to the stem. A LOT more protection for the valve stem. AND, I have to remember, "Laser cutting IS NOT EXACTLY LIKE DRAWING ON PAPER." So, I spaced the diamonds of the logo out just a tad. A LOT more precise than plasma cutting but there is still some metal loss. Duh.  And I learned something today. Its really not possible to "two tone" a powder coat job. I kinda thought not, but .... Plan B: weld the rings on and powder coat the entire thing in 60% gloss black and paint the face (over the powder coat) of the rings in whatever color I choose. Painting over (properly prepped) powder coat is OK. Opinions? Edward |
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Post by ES_97Sport on May 30, 2016 15:27:16 GMT -5
Whoohoo! After a week of emails back and forth, I finally got my rims ordered and they are now in the queue to be built. 3.5" backspacing requires them to do a reverse offset - or something I don't understand exactly. The valve stems will be relocated to clear the rock rings. And they're shipping them bare steel - which is good since the rings need to be TIG welded on. I found a place here that will TIG the rings on - nugget, just and FYI, if you ever do this, the muffler guys I told you about can do this, too, apparently. Then it'll be off to the powder coat company to have them done in black. The rings will have to be painted after they're all done. So, in about 4-6 weeks .... I still have to get a hold of the company that does all my laser cutting to do the rings. I have another idea but I'm not sure it'll work. For some reason I'm having no end of issues dealing with text in Solid Works. What a project just for rims! Edward |
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Post by jkdv8 on May 30, 2016 21:52:24 GMT -5
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Post by ES_97Sport on May 31, 2016 13:50:41 GMT -5
Hmm. If I had to guess the reverse offset is just another way of saying negative offset. The way it sounds would lead one to believe that if the wheel has a +3.5" offset then a reverse offset would be a -3.5 where they would just literally flip the rim or the wheel and hub around during assembly. Hmmmm. I think he did say they were going to have to flip the rim around on the center to get 3.5" of backspacing. I know he did say that they would not have to do all this if it was 3.25" backspacing. And he said it would be the same for either the Series 22 or Series 24. I'll probably understand when I get them. Kinda hard to picture what he was explaining without any diagrams or images. I'm still not sure about the color. But, yes, they're going on the big (black) Sport initially. If these work out I'll do another set for the green/bronze '99 when its time. Initially I figured black with the colored rings, but ... I'm just tired of the silver (really battleship grey). And, I don't really have to color the rings. Decisions, decisions. Edward |
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Post by redraif on May 31, 2016 15:52:37 GMT -5
Well it sounds like you could always stick with them black for a bit and color at a later time? Me personally, I would go for a colored ring...
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Post by ES_97Sport on Jun 1, 2016 13:49:46 GMT -5
Well it sounds like you could always stick with them black for a bit and color at a later time? Me personally, I would go for a colored ring... Yep. That's what I'm kinda thinking. I'm trying to get these done before we leave for Moab the middle of August, but its going to be REALLY tight. 4-6 weeks to get the rims, 2 weeks for the rings, a day to get them welded on and two week turnaround on powder coating. I've got about 11 weeks - a holiday and we're in the middle of building a new office and moving. I may have to leave the ring painting until we get back - which won't cause any problems. I'm leaning heavily towards the colored rings. I was looking at the color chips the other day for the powder coating. I didn't realize there were that many options for black. And, how limited the color choices are unless I want to spend a LOT of money getting a custom color. The ring color will be a lot easier as that'll just be automotive paint and they can mix anything I want if I supply a color code. Edward |
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Post by ES_97Sport on Jun 1, 2016 13:50:42 GMT -5
Does anyone have access to a 17" steel rim and a tape measure? I'm wondering what the diameter is between the lips where the ring will sit.
Edward
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Post by redraif on Jun 1, 2016 17:33:34 GMT -5
Any 17inch rim? If no one chimes in before i am back from vacation i will measure the civics...
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If I can't find anything else maybe the "Hummer & Power Wagon 24 Series".
