Wheel options

I'm aware of the Diamond steel wheels, what are the other options?
TIA,
Lance

We developed a specific wheel for this class, correct offset, minimum weight. We have plenty of inventory. They are available directly or through Bill Bonow. Plenty of cars use these, if you need mor info you can call VTO at 866-855-3473 for more information. Thanks.

Barry,

Love my VTO Superlite GTR's and plan on getting another set this winter........from SRacing (he is the VTO FST wheel dealer). I sure it was a minor identity slip up, Jim and I are often thought of as identical twins :D

Lance,

Your choice, anything that is 13" X 6" that fits the bolt pattern on your car. The weight limit is a minumum of 10 lbs, so pick some out, bolt them on and go.

I have a set of old BBS basketweave wheels (13x6)that were on one of my BMW 2002 cars, way back when.

They are 4x100, but you can get them drilled out to fit the 4" (101.6mm).

sometimes you can find them on ebay or CL cheap, since everyone wants 17"-20" wheels now.

I also have a set of real minilites from my 1970 FSV, but they were 4x130 (6" wide).

After getting them refurbished and redrilled at Wheels America, I can use them too.

sometimes the issue is that it is harder to find 13" diameter wheels that are 6 inches wide. Most are 5-1/2 inches wide, which are not legal for the class.

I took my BBS and Minilite wheels to my trusted machine shop to get then drilled out to be able to fit on 4" centers.

They brought up a couple of serious considerations AGAINST just drilling them out. What they said made good sense, so I am reconsidering just drilling them out.

I was expecting to be able to use acorn nuts in the tapered holes in the wheels to get the wheels centered. Apparently, that would not be precise enough, since the tapered holes may not be absolutely correct.

If the holes are just drilled out, there is a serious potential for not getting them centered on the studs correctly without taking ultimate care and time to be sure they are perfectly aligned to the axis of the axle. If the centering is off, even a little, it would be like having a totally unbalanced wheel on that corner, bouncing up and down in an egg-shaped pattern. NOT good.

A possible solution is to try to make some kind of hub adapter so that they become hub-centric, like the FC wheels are. I'll have to check out the front and rear hubs to see if this looks possible. If not, then I will have to consider other routes if I want to be able to use these wheels.

Perhaps modify the current hubs to have 4x100 studs?

Or tap the hubs for 4x100 bolts? That would mean having to do that every time I replace a rotor. Also mean I would want to carry a prepared front and rear rotor with me as spares.

Any comments from other folks, please....

I am not looking forward to spending $1600 for 8 wheels to replace these, just yet. I would rather use that money towards engine stuff.

If they really know what they are doing then drilling them out on-center is not a problem.

Lance

Rick,

If you have rotors already drilled for 4X4 there was a discussion in the general section about redrilling 4X130 rotors to 4X4 so I would assume the same techniques would work for you. If you have stock VW (4X130) then I'm sure it would work just as well going to 4X100. Replacement rotors are available as "blanks" (undrilled) which can be drilled to any size you choose. While it may be a PITA to have to drill all of your rotors, it would still be more economical than new wheels. The rotors are relatively inexpensive so a spare for each end would still be reasonable. Most importantly, it would be safer than trying to redrill your wheels and hope they mount correctly.
Just my .02 and yes I'll want my change.:D

Rick

You guys are right. There are some slim pickens in the aftermarket for a 13x6 wheel. 13x6 with a 4x4 bolt circle is even more rare. If you want any chance at using aftermarket wheels, stick with a 4x100 bolt circle. This must be why the FF guys chose 13x5.5 way back in the day. More options.

Having said that, Bill and I have talked about this in the past...and I think we agree that most OEM wheels are probably not going to optimized for mass like a "proper" racing wheel would be. So, they might not be the best choice anyway. Hard to beat the price sometimes tho... Especially compared to Revolutions, Panasports, Minilites, and the VTC's.

I'm curious how much the BMW 2002 wheel weighs? (I love that wheel!)

That all said.

I tend to agree with Lance. I suppose if the machine shop won't do it, they won't do it...but there shouldn't be too many concerns about moving the hole center outboard another mm or so. Were they worried about structure or uniformity?

If you do ob-long the hole in the wheel, I def would not use an acorn nut. I don't have any data, but I've always thought it was best to use a sleeve style lug nut when you need to modify the bolt circle of your wheels. The type that slips down through the lug nut hole on the wheel. This is just my opinion.

As far as drilling your own rotors... I drilled all of mine on a cheap chinese mill. 3 out of 4 of them worked great. The 3rd one is screwed up because I forgot to take up the slop in the tool before I zeroed the scale. I ended up enough off-center (more than 1mm) that it was impossible to properly torque the wheel flat against the rotor. To be honest, I made a stupid mistake and I think anybody with some talent, a digital readout, and a bridgeport would be able to drill rotors no problemo (or their wheels for that matter).

Maybe Jim can comment on the bolt patterns he has available, but I he sent me a drilled an tapped rotor (to quickly fix my mistake), and I'm pretty sure it was drilled on SR's CNC mill. I think that's what I will do from now on (just to save time).

Anyway....I wish I had better info for you guys about wheel options. I've spent a lot of time looking for some unique options. There just aren't very many out there. I already mentioned the "easy" off the shelf racing wheel options above. Compomotive makes a beautiful wheel (see Carl's car), but I'm guessing it has to be imported from England. There are some aftermarket options (ala BMW, Toyota, British Leyland), but it will take some time on the internet to find them and the bolt circle / offset / weight is going to be hit or miss.

For what it's worth...My stuff is all 4x4 with 1/2"-Fine, Grade 8 bolts for my wheel studs. If I could do it over, I would switch to 4x100, 3/8-fine (maybe 7/16)....in the hope that I would find some aftermarket solutions.

Cheers!