Educate me on 3 piece rims

[Brad394]

I have sent this question to a couple of you via pm, thanks guys, but I still have a few questions so I'm posting in open forum.

Is it posible to put together a set of rims piece by piece ??....My goal would be 9x16 for my 86.

My first question would be is it practical to buy rim inners, then say a few month down the road buy outers?

Eventually I will use my 6" fuchs for centers - which brings up more Q's

I will need to find the correct offset. Now is this different from say one piece wheels? for example a 7x16 fuch with a 23 offset...I think the 9x16 is 15 but not sure.

**Is this the proper procedure to calculate offset/width....do you use inner + center + outer to get correct width and offset, or is the centre not included

kinesis are different from bbs from others, is this correct?


....I'm trying to get informed and educated before I do anything.

Thanks in advance for answers to any or all of the above

Brad

PS - all this because I saw a great looking yellow SC in VW/Porsche magazine back in 1988/89

[POVI]

Hi,

I have built several sets of 3 piece wheels for my cars over the years.
And have allways used the Fuch centers .. and BBS halfs I like that look.

Then I send out the centers and the other half to AL Reed to get polished and painted up nice.

Currently on my 'real' 930 turbo , i have a set of 15" wheels , 9" fronts and 11" rears .

Just determine what width you want .. and what offset , and you can determine what inner and outer wheel half's widths you need to get. The nice thing is you can swap out the halfs .. to changes your wheel widths and offsets with out buying new wheels!

Also when you are assembling them , use the large O-ring on the halves AND use
silicone sealant, and you wont have any air leaks

Here is a couple pics of 3 piece Fuch centered wheels I have had ..

[Brad394]

POVI, those are nice.....

So when doing the calculation ...the center is not added to over all width. What I mean is the center is not between the the two halves....right.

Brad

[Jeff Alton]

The wheel part is measured from bead to bead, not lip to lip. The center can add to width if the wheel is built as a "sandwich" construction where the center is bolted between the halfs, not in front or behind.

There are numerous different sizes of centers made for a given wheel diameter, even amongst the same company. For example Kenesis, BBS etc had different sized (diameter) centers for the same wheel diameter.

Mixing and matching parts as you inquire about can be done. Buy some halfs now, buy some later. But a couple of things to consider. Wheels are usually cheaper to buy complete, like a car, rather than in pieces. If you buy a set of inners, you now need to find matching outers (keep in mind the above). Also wheel parts are a maintenance or replaceable item, meaning sometimes used may not be the best way to go when piecing things together.

If you go buy parts I would suggest buying BBS halfs as they are fairly common and a few companies still produce the parts as replacements which will make your life easier in the event you need to replace something.

It can also be hard to find the right centers and shells to build the wheel to offset you need to fit on your car.

Cheers

[Brad394]

Thanks Jeff.....

The centers will be my current 6x16 fuchs. I was thinking that the price of a 8x16 and 9x16 fuch has gone way way up, it might be better to build a set using BBS parts. I was going to build rears now using my 6x16 as the center and getting a 9x16, with stock 7x16 on front. Latter I could build a set for the front.

Brad

[POVI]

Hi,

Here is a good pic of my car, showing how you can stuff the wide rubber under the fenders with the correct offsets, the fronts I wanted to go with a deep rim look to kind-of match the rear rims.

Also , on a 930 , or a car with 930 calipers, you will have to shave down the coolling fins a little , as the fuch centers from the 16" wheels are flat and will scrape the calipers, unless you go with some spacers. The front im running .25" spacers .. just because of the fuch centers to caliper distance.

Good luck with your project ..

Joe

[WPOZZZ]

Originally Posted by Brad394

Thanks Jeff.....

The centers will be my current 6x16 fuchs. I was thinking that the price of a 8x16 and 9x16 fuch has gone way way up, it might be better to build a set using BBS parts. I was going to build rears now using my 6x16 as the center and getting a 9x16, with stock 7x16 on front. Latter I could build a set for the front.

Brad

The cost in building a 3 piece set correctly/safely will far outstrip a set of factory 7s and 9s.

inners and outers - $75 - $125 each x 8 = $600 - $1000
nuts/bolts - $5 each x 80 = $400 (on the low side @ $5 each)
sealing ring - no idea as to cost
donor Fuchs - $125 each x 4 = $500
engineering - ???

[POVI]

Hi,

I have no interest in or know this seller or know the items for sale ... but there is a set for sale now on fle-bay... for $1875

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220308756864

Joe

[Reaper930]

BBS wheel halves are not cheap - but you do get what you pay for. In my saga to get the right wheel offset and setup on the front of my Blackbird it took 2 setups each set of (2) outers and (2) inners (just for the front axle) at about $800 for each experiment.

Remember when building your wheel sizes that you account for the tire to lean in either direction, too close static measurements to say your strut will cause it to rub under hard cornering when there is a high load on the inner sidewall.

Just stuff to think about, and good luck! The wheels were a huge headache but well worth the efforts in the end.

If you're going to be doing any refinishing of old parts etc. check out Harvey Weidman in Oreville, California - great guy - great work.

Below you can see, the same size tire just with correct rim half sizes (bottom pics)...measure 6 times, buy once...

Bad:


Good:

[Bill Verburg]

Just my 2 cents but, why would you want to go to all the expense and effort to make a product that is available w/ superior quality off the shelf?

9x16 Fuchs aren't that expensive compared to the cost of an equivalent custom 2 or 3 piece wheel. They won't be as subject to problems down the road either.

I certainly understand why people do that for 17s and 18s but no a 16

[Brad394]

Hey Bill, by off the self do you mean the fuch or something like a Lindsey wheel?

The reason I asked this question is I have 6 and 7 x 16's now. I was thinking of using my 6's to make centers and getting the inners and outers at different times. Which is really the question I quess. Is it smart to try and find these parts seperate? There are a few different adds for BBS inners on the board (priced well I think) so I figured I could be 2/3 of the way there. A good friend of mine has a macine shop, 3 CNC mills and 2 CNC lathes. He will make my centers on the cheap.

I see your point about 16 vs. 17. That is a good point that I will now drive myself crazy trying to decide..........thanks, I thought I had this figured.

As well I just like the bolt look on multi-piece rims. As well its just different than the next guy

Except for brake pads and flex lines the car is stock...I figured rims is one area to play.

Brad

[Bill Verburg]

Originally Posted by Brad394

Hey Bill, by off the self do you mean the fuch or something like a Lindsey wheel?

The reason I asked this question is I have 6 and 7 x 16's now. I was thinking of using my 6's to make centers and getting the inners and outers at different times. Which is really the question I quess. Is it smart to try and find these parts seperate? There are a few different adds for BBS inners on the board (priced well I think) so I figured I could be 2/3 of the way there. A good friend of mine has a macine shop, 3 CNC mills and 2 CNC lathes. He will make my centers on the cheap.

I see your point about 16 vs. 17. That is a good point that I will now drive myself crazy trying to decide..........thanks, I thought I had this figured.

As well I just like the bolt look on multi-piece rims. As well its just different than the next guy

Except for brake pads and flex lines the car is stock...I figured rims is one area to play.

Brad

If I were you and I wanted to use 16" tires I would move your 7x16 Fuchs to the front w/ 205/55 tires and buy matching 9x16 Fuchs w/ 245/45 tires for the back.

If you want 17" bolted up Fuchs look you need to start w 6x16 centers or go to either of the 2 available sources for aftermarket 17" Fuchs(Rota or Jeff Alton).

If you don't car about the Fuchs look Fikse makes some really nice wheels that can be used on a 911, I like their boltless look(easier to clean too), Kinesis used to as well but seem to have dropped from sight.

BBS makes nice wheels for 964 up maybe for 911 too, I haven't really looked for awhile.

[euro911sc]

One thing you may not have considered is sending your 6's out for a 17x9 treatment and running your 16x7s up front... though in general, this size mixing is not done, it has been done successfully. It will allow you to put a lower profile tire on the rear where most of us need it

Also, moving to 17's will give you more performance tire choices... good less expensive street rubber for 16's is getting very hard to find in both front and rear sizes.

If you ditch the Fuchs I would also suggest Kodiacs or CCW as a possible replacement.

Enjoy!

-Michael