I have an old set of Disco steel rims and have heard rumour you can reverse them, to create a greater offset? Now looking at them, some work would need to be done to the holes? Maybe calipers would hit? I will chuck one on thisaffo and have a look...

The method in my madness Would be to maybe reverse them and then weld a set of DIY beadlocks on them.

Stupid idea? Any opinions? Ayyone done it.......


Cheers

I'm sure someone who has done it will happen along soon, but the method I've heard off involves getting the hub part of the rims seperated from the rim by turning off the weld on a lathe, then reversing them on the rim to give a very much greater offset, or put another way, smaller back space & rewelding them. I've wondered if it is possible to seperate the two & reweld without turning but merely spacing the rim further out on the hub to give less back space without going to the extreme of the 1st method. A bit more road friendly & easier on hubs. I don't have any Disco rims so I can't comment on this.
Cheers Steve.

I've done it a few times and it's a PITA. Basically you carefully grind the welds off (making sure all the sparks hit you in the face), smack the centre out, realign and reweld. Infill the valve hole and drill a new one on the other side of the wheel.

I 'aligned' them by refitting and bolting a large bit of plate to the axle, keep tapping the wheel until it touches throughout a rotation. Fitting tubes is a pain as the well is in the wrong place.

Or I can sell you some new white eight spokes @ +40mm offset I had a pallet load made special order as I was fed up spinning Disco wheels, now I have a different car and offset.

Paul Wightman runs them, or rather was at the weekend, worth a pm !!

I run reversed 8 spokes - same story really. Its fairly straightforward to do, but you need to be good at welding! Its also a hell of alot easier with new wheels than it is with mankey rusty old ones!

In short look at the back of the rim, and you'll see they're made in 2 parts. The spun outer rim itself and the pressed inner that bolts to the hub. What you need to do is separate the two and then re-assemble to your desired offset.

Look closely and you'll find the two are only stitch welded together. Grab an angle grinder and cutting disk and start grinding the welds out. You'll need to grind into the rim itself and if you're careful and keep checking you'll eventually see a hairline crack all the way round. Turning the welds out doesnt help cause the penetration of the weld goes deeper than the visible lumps of weld!

Once you've got a hairline crack all the way round lay the rim flat on the floor, sit a suitably sized log into the rim and beat the cr@p out of it with a sledge hammer. You need the log to protect the centre otherwise you'll absolutely muller it with the sledge! Depending on what nick your rims are in depends on how hard this part is! My new ones came out with 2 or 3 hits. 2nd hand ones I've done have taken alot of persuasion with a 14lb sledge!

Once you've got them apart, clean up the centre, and then weld up and linish all the grind marks you'll have on the rim. Repeat and linish until its all nice and smooth.

Next decide how much offset you want. You may get enough just by increasing the offset without reversing, alternately you may need to reverse them. Get them near enough with a tape measure and mallet, such that they're the correct offset and as near true as you can get them with a tape measure and a mallet. Make one tack weld to hold it in place.

Next jack up a wheel and bolt the rim onto your truck. With a dial gauge with mag base sat on an axle stand adjust it to give you a reading on the edge of the rim and spin the wheel to see how far out of true it is. With reference to the one tack weld you've made keep making delicate adjustments with the mallet and spinning the rim until you've got it true. Make a few more tacks in situ and spin it over again to check its still true. If it is unbolt and seam weld. I managed to get mine all within 0.5mm of true. However its difficult on a 2nd hand rim as they're often a bent dented and beant around the rim, and rust bubbles, badly applied paint etc makes it hard to measure accurately.

You then finally need to weld up the old valve hole and re-drill for the valve stem. Job done. Only other thing to remember is when fitting the tyres fit them with the rims facing down!

I've had no problems with mine whatsoever. They've been on there for several years and have passed several MOT's. However you've got to be sure of your welding! Alot of agro but fairly easy, and the only way to get custom offset without paying silly money. I recon to give you an idea I can do a new rim in about 2 hours start to finish.

HTH
Jon

I did exactly what Jon said last night, but to a pair of Unimog rims, exactly the same construction.
I'd already done a couple, so I knew the technique.
One took me 20 mins to grind and beat out the centre
The second one took me nearly an hour

If you grind away the bulk of the weld with a grinding disk, so there is a right angle between the rim and the centre, rather than a pool of weld.
Then get a thin (1mm) cutting disk and cut into the corners to get to the hairline crack to appear.

Don't forget to grab a cold beer when you are done.

Welding mine up will keep me busy tonight.

I've got a set on my 90 with simex's on. Bryn Hemming did them, using the grinder method that Andy says.

they have quite a bit of offset:

Sure of your welding ?

Pah !

So.....

...... all that "Purrpurr" pigeon noises ......and such like you always wind me up on means you DID / DO trust me welds then JW on yer wheels ??

And yep, it is a PITFA to do, Mr W grumbled lots

Nige

Not the nicest bit of welding I've ever seen......

Up toy your usual standards then :-p

Steve.... you got any pics of these wheels? (or am i being stupid in assuming they're any different to any other plain old whit 8 spoke?)

How much?

I'm only in Swinon..... down t' road.....

i've seen a 109 running reversed disco rims. just turned round, no cutting or welding etc. he hasnt even moved the valves, i guess the drums are small enough not to hit the valves unlike the calipers on disc'd motors?

They are normal white eight spokes, with thin green and yellow lines around the rim. They are new and boxed, badged as Colways. £30 each. Paul Humphries is running a set if you want any user feedback.

Upped this topic up a few dayz ago! Thought it had run out of steam?

£30 for a 40mm offset rim VS Blood sweat tears and a few F's.....and the chance of a wobbly wheel

Well i have a set of rims though...So a may just go done the Blood, Sweat....Route If you see a 90 with wobbly offset wheels!

I minished off (well almost) my 'Mog rims last night.

My top tip is to use a slice off an old bolt, to make a filler piece for the old valve hole. A lot easier than cutting a bit of plate.

Hi do you have any of these left ?

Failing that:



Hi how much would you charge to so a set, if I found some. Im not far from winchester and can drop them off (once found)