17 or 18 inch steel wheels for Rangie Classic

Horse_Apple · Mar 25, 2016

Afternoon.

I'm a bit stuck at the moment as I have learned that Matt Lee who used to fabricate Rostyle centres into modern, larger rims is no longer doing this.

I want larger rims than 16 so that I have a wider choice of fast road tyres and better fast road handling, ie slightly less tyre wall to flex but not too much.

I'm also not wanting to use tyres any wider than 235 max so 7 or 8J is all that's needed.

The issue is that I need them to be a retro design, nothing flashy and modern.

In an ideal world I'd love to find a proper engineer who can do what Matt used to do and fit original Tostyle centres to modern rims.

If anyone has any pointers I'd be very grateful.

Thanks.

Tim.

West Slope Rover · Mar 25, 2016

Stick with 16 inch. The Universe intended for it to be that way.

Horse_Apple · Mar 25, 2016

West Slope Rover said:
Stick with 16 inch. The Universe intended for it to be that way.

If the universe intended this then there would be a good selection of suitable performance road tyres for 16" wheels

In my universe I would like to find someone who can make me a set of 17/18" X 7/8J Rostyle wheels.

West Slope Rover · Mar 25, 2016

Horse_Apple said:
If the universe intended this then there would be a good selection of suitable performance road tyres for 16" wheels

In my universe I would like to find someone who can make me a set of 17/18" X 7/8J Rostyle wheels.

Performance road tyres on a Rangie Classic.....piffle I say.

Horse_Apple · Mar 25, 2016

West Slope Rover said:
Performance road tyres on a Rangie Classic.....piffle I say.View attachment 98553

You can say what you like but it would be much more useful to hear an answer rather than a remark.

I use my Rangies for fast road use and I'd rather not have to resort to modern alloys to achieve what is needed.

If no one knows a company in the UK that is capable of some pretty simple metalwork then that's fine. It's just a bit of a shame that it has become so difficult to find the basic old skills.

tomcat59alan · Mar 25, 2016

I knew of a firm called Warrington Wheel who used to make special wheels, usually for armoured vehicles etc. I guess a small run will be very expensive

cooltide · Mar 25, 2016

Not 17" but Avon turbo speed cr227 235/65 x 16 103v not good enough?

Horse_Apple · Mar 25, 2016

cooltide said:
Not 17" but Avon turbo speed cr227 235/65 x 16 103v not good enough?

Yup. I've run those on the 7J alloys of the later Classics. You still get a fair amount of movement from the walls.

However, they won't fit on the 6J Rostyle steels. So, if I'm going to have a set fabricated I might as well step up the diameter at the same time as this presents a much wider choice of performance road tyres while also reducing tyre wall flex.

The problem is finding the fabricator. I can't believe that no one in the UK can do this any longer so I'm hoping someone can point me to the exact people who are.

pete1987RRC · Mar 25, 2016

Did you check google for wheel builders...
Guess most folks on here are either running stock RR for the authentic classic look (just like myself) or have some fat off-road rubber.

Horse_Apple · Mar 25, 2016

pete1987RRC said:
Did you check google for wheel builders...
Guess most folks on here are either running stock RR for the authentic classic look (just like myself) or have some fat off-road rubber.

Yup. No shortage of options for people wanting to use them for what they were intended.

Waded through Google but all you can find is banding for 'scenes'. That's why I thought I'd ask as my experience is that the small firms who still do this are often not having a web presence but are known by plenty of people.

West Slope Rover · Mar 25, 2016

Horse_Apple said:
You can say what you like but it would be much more useful to hear an answer rather than a remark.

I use my Rangies for fast road use and I'd rather not have to resort to modern alloys to achieve what is needed.

If no one knows a company in the UK that is capable of some pretty simple metalwork then that's fine. It's just a bit of a shame that it has become so difficult to find the basic old skills.

Jeez. I guess I let you down.
Stay strong.

tarphenry · Mar 26, 2016

Hi, why dont you talk to the "banders", they will have the necessary equipment to cut and weld wheels. what you are after is not difficult if you have the equipment.

Horse_Apple · Mar 26, 2016

tarphenry said:
Hi, why dont you talk to the "banders", they will have the necessary equipment to cut and weld wheels. what you are after is not difficult if you have the equipment.

Thanks. Yup, I've already spoken with a few of them but they don't actually have the ability to do this work.

They can refit a centre to a new rim but only the same diameter as before.

The closest I've come was to commission Image Wheels to remanufacture the centres friends m billet ali but they couldn't get their head around wanting the centres exactly as they were and not blinged up to look cool through a town centre.

tarphenry · Mar 26, 2016

If you can get a set of freelander rims 17" and remove the centres. then a set of 16" centres and remove the rims you will only have a small difference to make up. weld packing pieces to the centres and get them trued up on a lathe, with a register to locate them on the 17" rims. weld the rims to the packers and have them dynamically balanced . they should work ok. obviously you need a good welding outfit to do the work, but any decent engineers should be able to manage that.

tarphenry · Mar 26, 2016

Failing that how abuot machining the centres out of a set of 18" wheels and the centes out of 16" then weld the 16" centes into the 18" wheels. you could even make a set of centres with the correct bolt holes to fit the 18" wheels and weld them in

goonarmy · Mar 26, 2016

What is the actual issue? You do a lot of fast road miles, so what are you looking for? More grip at high speed, faster titre rating, less road noise, improved mpg? You mention sidewall flex, you having a lot of blow outs?

dubbleRR · Mar 26, 2016

Some RR wheels fit VW cars/vans ,Vw wheels might fit RR ..Cars have 17s dont think there strong enough ,but its a thought.

Horse_Apple · Mar 26, 2016

Thanks for the notes re replacing the centres of existing rims. This is precisely what is required.

The issue is that I have not been able to find a business who is capable to undertaking the work to a suitable standard.

These types of businesses don't generally have a web presence which is why I thought I'd ask on here in the hopes that someone knew of a fabricator who does this work.

On the VW forums it's about banding and swapping centres to get wider rims, no one is fitting old centres to larger diameter rims.

The ones that Twisted and Damon Orlof had came from Matt Lee of Mach5 fame but he has shut down.

Horse_Apple · Mar 26, 2016

dubbleRR said:
Some RR wheels fit VW cars/vans ,Vw wheels might fit RR ..Cars have 17s dont think there strong enough ,but its a thought.

Thanks. The loads almost certainly won't be high enough.

Horse_Apple · Mar 26, 2016

goonarmy said:
What is the actual issue? You do a lot of fast road miles, so what are you looking for? More grip at high speed, faster titre rating, less road noise, improved mpg? You mention sidewall flex, you having a lot of blow outs?

Higher speed and load ratings without going wider on tyres. Plus the reduction in flex.

With big HP on these cars you don't need any more rubber than 225 as they grip well enough. Plus, you want excess torque to be released by spinning a wheel rather than sheering the half shafts or more expensive damage in the drivetrain.

So to get a nice selection of modern road tyres you need to step away from the traditional 16" tyres and use more modern 17/18" ones where there is a good supply of on-road options with suitable tread, load and speed ratings. Ie T or H and 106 or greater.

Then there is the obvious issue of needing a larger diameter to create room for the required larger brakes.

Plenty of modern alloy wheel options but these look very wrong on a Classic, especially a Suffix A.

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