Widening Aluminum Wheels

I'm looking to widen cast porsche 15x7 wheels to 15x9 in order to take advantage of the (relatively) new Hooser 275/35/15 tires. Car is 2500 lb 944 cup car with a stock (140 hp) motor. Additional rubber aside, the gearing advantage over my current setup is almost 11%

Porsche did not make a 15x9 wheel, so widening the stock wheels are the only way to make this work. Some in the series are already doing this, but I'm looking for some sanity check...

I plan on using weldcrafters out of Michigan to do the work, as they have have gotten rave reviews on this board and elsewhere.

Question is - there are the usual horror stories people hearing about welds breaking, weaking original material, etc. and accidents all over the internet

1) Are people racing on these wheels?

2) Do people know of any failures that can be directly attributable to weld failures? Or are these essentially urban legends at this point in the game....

A fairly exhaustive internet search hasn't yielded up much information as to actual weld failures.

My personal hypothesis is that OEM wheels feel on a regular basis during track use - seen on many OEM porsche wheels over the years - and that a quality widening jobs represents no increased risk above running what are now 20+ year old OE wheels.

Thoughts/experiences are welcomed. Please no soapboxes.

15x9 and you cant just get a set of something like diamond racing wheels?

I am just trying to figure out why bother sticking with stock when you can get other wheels cheaper then the widening operation. Is it a rules thing for 944 cup?

I would look at getting a set of kodiaks or bogarts unless you have to run porsche wheels for some reason.

Also, I though the 275/35/15's only came in the A6. Do people actually road race on such a soft compound? That sounds expensive.

If you're gonna do it, do it right. The 275/35/15 REALLY wants a 15 x 10.

And yes, people do race on weldcrafters widened wheels.

mw wrote: Also, I though the 275/35/15's only came in the A6. Do people actually road race on such a soft compound? That sounds expensive.

R6 is also available

a guy at one of the discount tire stores in Houston was nearly beheaded when a TIG welded aluminum wheel off a conversion van failed in the tire machine and the lip came off like a guillotine.

I haven't yet had the chance to track the TVR with the wheels I had widened by Weldcraft, but I did ask them if they had anyone that was using widened wheels on their cars for track/HPDE/autocross -- they apparently have a long list of customers that are using their widened wheels for more than just static show displays

.....and I would have liked to see that tig welded wheel that came apart in Houston -- I wonder if it was just TIG'd on one side or both??

Funny thing -- the Discount Tire folks made me sign a waiver when I had the Nitto drag radials installed that they wouldn't be held liable should something happen to the wheel. "Son, racing IS dangerous!!!" I said as I signed the receipt

FWIW, the Puma I am working on will be wearing a set of forged Fuchs and I'll be able to have them widened a bit -- Weldcraft will be doing the work -- they have no problem working on forged wheels (guessing that is what you are running???)

hth,

-jeff d

DILYSI Dave wrote: If you're gonna do it, do it right. The 275/35/15 REALLY wants a 15 x 10.

But it's even happier on a 15 x 10.5.

Orphancars, do you mind me asking how much you paid for the widening service?