fastsc92
Registered User
After a month or so of searching for the right wheel(s) to fit on the front of my project car, I've come up empty handed in finding a wheel with the correct backspace to sit right in the fender.
Background info:
I need a 17 x 4.5" rim to clear 13" front brakes. My measurements and trial fitting indicate that a 1.75" backspace will cause the wheel to stick out too much. There are only a few manufacturers that offer a 2"-2.25" backspace for this size wheel, and those that do are around $700ea. (Billet Specialties & Weld). My latest measurements look like a 2.25" backspace will fit nearly perfect, but a 2.375" would look even better (on a 4.5" wheel).
Here's my question...I have a set of 17x4.5 wheels with a 1.75"BS that have an extremely thick center hub section. It's so thick that the studs don't even pass thru the lug holes. These wheel use a mag shank style lugnut. The depth of the lughole is 1.5", with the hub itself being well over 3" thick of solid aluminum. I've heard of wheel shops that machine down the backside of wheels to achieve custom backspacing, but I don't have any experience in the matter. My thought is to take off 1/2" from the backside to achieve a 2.25" backspace. This would still give 1" of thickness in the lugholes and nearly 3" for the hub itself. I'd be able to use .75" long mag shanks without issue. Weld and Billet Specialties indicate that their wheels use a 1/2" mag shank, so their lug holes are even shallower than what I'm starting out with and ultimately what I'd be left with.
I have access to the equipment to make the modifications, but again I don't have any experience with this practice of modifying wheels in this manner. Has anyone done this in their past lives or seen this done before? I can post pics if it helps.
Background info:
I need a 17 x 4.5" rim to clear 13" front brakes. My measurements and trial fitting indicate that a 1.75" backspace will cause the wheel to stick out too much. There are only a few manufacturers that offer a 2"-2.25" backspace for this size wheel, and those that do are around $700ea. (Billet Specialties & Weld). My latest measurements look like a 2.25" backspace will fit nearly perfect, but a 2.375" would look even better (on a 4.5" wheel).
Here's my question...I have a set of 17x4.5 wheels with a 1.75"BS that have an extremely thick center hub section. It's so thick that the studs don't even pass thru the lug holes. These wheel use a mag shank style lugnut. The depth of the lughole is 1.5", with the hub itself being well over 3" thick of solid aluminum. I've heard of wheel shops that machine down the backside of wheels to achieve custom backspacing, but I don't have any experience in the matter. My thought is to take off 1/2" from the backside to achieve a 2.25" backspace. This would still give 1" of thickness in the lugholes and nearly 3" for the hub itself. I'd be able to use .75" long mag shanks without issue. Weld and Billet Specialties indicate that their wheels use a 1/2" mag shank, so their lug holes are even shallower than what I'm starting out with and ultimately what I'd be left with.
I have access to the equipment to make the modifications, but again I don't have any experience with this practice of modifying wheels in this manner. Has anyone done this in their past lives or seen this done before? I can post pics if it helps.
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