Widewheels Banded Steels

To have some wheels banded Click on this Link: WIDEWHEELS

We can make any steel wheel wider.  Feel free to drop us an e-mail if there are any specific requirements.

To order you wheels please follow the below instructions.

You can download the form below, e-mail it back to INFO@WIDE-WHEELS.CO.UK to arrange the wheels to be made.

WIDEWHEELS ORDER FORM

Please fill in all the details on the form in order for us to process your request and should there be any problems we can contact you.

Drop us an e-mail to INFO@WIDE-WHEELS.CO.UK with your requirements.

Fill in the Order Reference on the form this supplied with your quote. Fill in the rest of the details so we can contact you should there be any problems with your order.

Send the Wheels that you require Widening making sure you put the order reference cle arly on the box that you are sending the wheels in.

You will be required to pay the full amount when sending the wheels to us. (this is due to time wasters not paying for the goods they order)

If you have any problems please notify us within 7 days of receiving your wheels. NO Refunds will be given as these are bespoke wheels.

Please send this with the completed order form.

Payment must clear before the wheels are shipped out.

For details on couriering your wheels for banding and your reference number

Please email info@wide-wheels.co.uk

We will send you an e-mail once the wheels have been recieved to let you know we have them and so that you can arrange a courier to collect of collect in person.

 

WideWheels 14" x 8" Wide

Originally from a MK2 Golf Driver this wheel has undergone the WideWheels treatment and has gone from a 6" wheel to an 8" WideWheel

The Wheels can be shotblasted clean and then painted in etch primer if you require this service

WideWheels are here to offer a Banded Steel Wheel.

Any Steel Wheel can be banded be it from a VW, Honda, Peugeot, Citroen, Volvo, Ford, Land Rover, Fiat etc . . . if its made from steel, we can band it.

Any size can be widened be it 10" all the way up to 18 " . . . if you supply the wheels we will get it done. Then all you have to decide is how wide to you really want your "WideWheels"

You can have anything put in to the wheel be it 1" up to and beyond 5"

Did you ever fancy some 15" G60 steels 9" wide? or ever dream of having some 14" by 10" wide wheels on your MK1 caddy pickup?

Here is your chance to have the size steel wheel you want. Stand out from the crowd and get your very own custom "WideWheels" All wheels are sold for "show use only" until they have been BS Tested

What makes WideWheels a good choice for Banded Steels?

  • The wheels are seperated on a lathe and put in to a jig that has been custom made to make sure the wheels are perfect when the band is welded.
  • The wheel is fastened to the jig and the banding is spot welded in place.
  • The wheel is then carefully welded in to place using a constant smooth weld.
  • The Wheels can be shotblasted clean and Painted in etch primer if you require the service.
  • The wheels will arrive with you with a certificate to prove the wheels are roadworthy and will be ready for you to prep and paint the wheels any colour you like.
  • The Wheels are made with the same steel as the standard wheel are made from and is minimum of 3mm (see pic below)

If you cant supply the wheels we can sort them out just drop the WideWheels team and e-mail on info@wide-wheels.co.uk

If you want some WideWheels but dont think they will fit under the arches we offer a great Arch rolling/ Arch Flaring service. Check the "Other Services" section

Any Queries or quotes for your bespoke WideWheels please drop us a line on info@wide-wheels.co.uk

Our wheels are banded using at least 3mm hardened steel.

The picture below is an example of the steel used on a test wheel.

Many people try to make wide steel wheels and some are really badly done. We have seen some of the wheels that have been made out there and are really bad.

An example of a recent set we have been asked to look at are below. It looks like the weld has not penetrated properly and the band of steel has not been cut properly.

Some one has at some point tried to make them fit there car by cutting away material from the centre point of the wheel where it bolt to the hub.

BEWARE OF HOMEMADE BANDED STEEL WHEELS!

(The pics below show how bad the band join is and the weld that has not been done right)

 
   

Some examples of wheels are below:

This is a 13" by 9" wide steel polo wheel.

This is a 14" by 8" wide golf driver steel wheel

This is a 15" by 7.5" G60 steel wheel

This is a 15" by 8" wide G60 steel wheel

This is a 15" by 7" wide G60 steel wheel.

This is a 15" by 11" wide MK4 golf steel wheel

 

WIDEWHEELS FITTING HELP

Need Help with the Bolt Pattern you require?

 
 
 
Making a Widewheel

 

BANDED STEEL PROCESS!!

We start off with a standard wheel and fit it to a jig where it is fastened to a lathe to enable the wheel to be cut perfectly straight.

The lip is parted off the wheel.

You are then left with the back of the wheel drum and the lip seperate.

The wheel is then placed on to a custom jig to make sure that when the banding is added to the wheel it is perfect.

The band is then tacked in to place.

The wheel rim is then put on to the jig and tacked to the steel band.

As you can see in the pic below the wheel is then bolted to another jig that is speed controlled.

The wheel is turned at a constant speed and is welded at a set distance to give the perfect penetration between the banding and the wheel.

There is more than one welding pass done on each part of the band as it is welded together.

The wheels are then collected from the engineering company and brought back to Widewheels.

The wheels are then put in to a shot blasting cabinet and shot blasted clean if you so requre.

The wheels are then put on to another jig where the lip between the band and the existing wheel is smoothed out to give it a smooth lip (if required)

As you can see in the pic the band is not visible in the Sealing coat of primer

Some people like to leave the lip as it is so that it is showing. (it is entirely up to you how you have them)

As you can see in the pic below the lip is just visible in the sealing coat of primer.

Once the wheels are cleaned and the lip is smoother off (if you require) the wheels are then sealed with a coat of etch primer to prevent them from rusting.

THE WHEELS ARE SOLD UN-FINISHED!

IT IS UP TO THE CUSTOMER TO HAVE THE WHEELS FINISHED!

Video of Banded Steel Welding

(Right Click and Choose Save Target As)

 
 
BANDING FAQ
WIDEWHEELS ORDERING

Steel Wheels

To understand banding you must first understand the construction of a steel wheel.

They are usually constructed from 2 main parts, the rim and the centre. The rim is manufactured from sheet steel that is ‘spun’ into the shape of the wheel.

The centre is also made from sheet steel but is usually pressed into shape.

Material thickness varies between types and sizes of wheel but most of the car wheels I have come across are made from steel between 2mm and 4mm thick.

The thickness of the rim and centre may be different depending on the age of the rims
The rim is usually joined to the centre by large spot welds but occasionally by a manually welded joint (MIG etc.). Sometimes rivets are present but these are only there to align the rim and centre before it is welded and are not really there to form any kind of permanent load bearing joint.

So what is a banded wheel?

I would define it as any wheel that has been cut around its rim and has had a band of metal welded in to make the rim wider.

So long as you can weld the new rim on straight and with good penetration and accuracy etc . . . there is no reason the wheel would be any weaker then the original.!

So How’s it done?

Well first you need to work out how wide and what offset they need to be. Usually you can just add a metal band into the outer section of the rim which will increase both the width and the offset.

If your really picky and want to change the offset and width by a different amount then you either have to weld in 2 bands, one on each side of the centre but this is not recommended

Cutting

Once you have decided where you want to put your band in and how big it needs to be you need to cut the rim in some way.

Our engineering company use a parting off tool in the lathe to neatly cut the rim in half. It’s a good way to do it as you end up with a nice even and concentric cut (this is done by bolting the wheel in a custome jig on the lathe)

However it was hard as parting off big diameters but a custom jig has been made which nows means wheels up to 19" can be banded

Its very easy to break a tool, which is why it is a time consuming job and tools aren’t cheap at £45+.

Making the Band

Well to start with you should use steel the same thickness that your wheel is made from.

Depending on the size of the wheel and band size is dependant on whether the steel has to be lasercut to the width you want.

The steel needs to be cut to a very tight parallelism tolerance (that basically means they need to measure the same at each end and in the middle.) If they aren’t parallel your wheels will come out wobbly and un even.

Alignment

This is not a trial and error job. Customised jigs have been made to ensure the wheels run true and do not have excessive runout.

If the wheels do not run true then you will get a lot of vibration when the wheels are fitted.

Welding

So the wheels are tacked up it needs to be welded, I’m not going to go into the details because you can find that elsewhere but I will say there’s a couple of points you need to take extreme care with.

First off, if you’re not going to use tubes in your tyres which you shouldnt be doing if the wheels were not designed to then you need to be really careful that your welds are not porous or your tyres will keep going flat!.

If you use tubes, make sure you dress of the weld smooth on the tyre side of the rim to avoid the weld cutting into the tube!

Its not as straightforward job in welding the wheels up, the wheels do not just have one weld on each side of the band. Care has been taken and the welding process has progressed and improved over time creating the banded wheels.

Don’t dress of the weld! Its tempting to dress it off until you get a smooth join but if the outer rim is slightly offset from the band then you will end up weakening the weld considerably! It’s better to just to leave a neat welded joint than try and hide it and end up with your weld breaking!

Safety

A lot of people are scared of banded wheels because they fear them to be ‘unsafe’ Whatever that means, driving a car at all is unsafe

The principles involved in banded wheels are no different to that involved in manufacturing and repairing other critical structural parts of your car.

For some reason it is deemed perfectly acceptable for any novice to pick up a welder and attempt to weld up there rear sub frame mounts so that the car scrapes though it’s next MOT.

The same goes for people who make their own custom engine mounts or any thing like that really. Yet when I comes to wheels everyone gets scared and even a fully qualified engineer is branded as an idiot for attempting it!

The fact of the matter is if you do the job right and attention to accuracy and detail they will be perfectly safe. If you do it wrong then they won’t