How to Narrow Wheels
01-14-2007, 10:35 PM
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How to Narrow Wheels
In the construction of my crawler I have finally come to this point and thought since RCU did not have a write-up on this I would do one. The method I am showing requires a drill press and an exacto knife, but this can be done using a hacksaw and a vice. The purpose of narrowing rims is to wrap the tread down into the sidewall to give more "bite" on the rocks. It can also be used when building a scale rig along with narrowing the tires to better proportion the wheels and tires.
On to the write-up........
Once you have chosen the rims, the first thing you need to do is decide how much you want to narrow the rim. I chose to narrow mine to 1.5". After the final width is decided, you will need to mount the wheel to a shaft that you can chuck into the drill press. I used some spare TLT kit parts to do this.
Set the drill press to it's slowest speed, turn it on, and make sure it is spinning true before you cut. Once all is well, carefully start cutting the bead portion off of the BACK of the wheel by lightly pushing the exacto blade against the rim so that you cut slowly. If you press to hard and cut too quickly you can damage the wheel or your fingers.
Then remove the wheel from the drill and measure the amount on the rim you want to remove. Mark the rim in several places around and either connect the dots to make a line around, or use tape to act as a cutting guide. Then re-chuck the wheel and repeat the cutting process. My rims (RPM Torkerz) have inner supports and I had to do some extra cutting to retain them so they would aide in aligning the bead back onto the wheel and make a better bond when gluing things back together.
--- MEASURE TWICE, CUT ONCE ---
Then you simply glue things back together with CA or any other glue that will work with plastics and the result is seen below.
It is very easy to do and the results are worth the time.
On to the write-up........
Once you have chosen the rims, the first thing you need to do is decide how much you want to narrow the rim. I chose to narrow mine to 1.5". After the final width is decided, you will need to mount the wheel to a shaft that you can chuck into the drill press. I used some spare TLT kit parts to do this.
Set the drill press to it's slowest speed, turn it on, and make sure it is spinning true before you cut. Once all is well, carefully start cutting the bead portion off of the BACK of the wheel by lightly pushing the exacto blade against the rim so that you cut slowly. If you press to hard and cut too quickly you can damage the wheel or your fingers.
Then remove the wheel from the drill and measure the amount on the rim you want to remove. Mark the rim in several places around and either connect the dots to make a line around, or use tape to act as a cutting guide. Then re-chuck the wheel and repeat the cutting process. My rims (RPM Torkerz) have inner supports and I had to do some extra cutting to retain them so they would aide in aligning the bead back onto the wheel and make a better bond when gluing things back together.
--- MEASURE TWICE, CUT ONCE ---
Then you simply glue things back together with CA or any other glue that will work with plastics and the result is seen below.
It is very easy to do and the results are worth the time.
01-15-2007, 04:38 PM
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RE: How to Narrow Wheels
ORIGINAL: hands without shadows
This definatly needs a sticky.
This definatly needs a sticky.
I am planning on doing quite a few how to's in the near future.... I am also a member of other crawler specific forums which have tons of info and it seems no one want to put in any work on this one, so I think I may take it on as a project.... To make RCU's crawler forum worth reading. Any and all help is appreciated.
01-15-2007, 05:33 PM
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RE: How to Narrow Wheels
ORIGINAL: Acs_guitars
I am planning on doing quite a few how to in the near future.... I am also a member of other crawler specific forums which have tons of info and it seems no one want to put in any work on this one, so I think I may take it on as a project.... To make RCU's crawler forum worth reading. Any and all help is appreciated.
ORIGINAL: hands without shadows
This definatly needs a sticky.
This definatly needs a sticky.
I am planning on doing quite a few how to in the near future.... I am also a member of other crawler specific forums which have tons of info and it seems no one want to put in any work on this one, so I think I may take it on as a project.... To make RCU's crawler forum worth reading. Any and all help is appreciated.
Good work Ace. Nearly exactly how I narrow my wheels!
I thought about doing a few write ups. But after the way the MODs have treated me, I'm not about to add any more to RCU then necessary.
01-15-2007, 08:34 PM
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RE: How to Narrow Wheels
ORIGINAL: Acs_guitars
I am planning on doing quite a few how to's in the near future.... I am also a member of other crawler specific forums which have tons of info and it seems no one want to put in any work on this one, so I think I may take it on as a project.... To make RCU's crawler forum worth reading. Any and all help is appreciated.
ORIGINAL: hands without shadows
This definatly needs a sticky.
This definatly needs a sticky.
I am planning on doing quite a few how to's in the near future.... I am also a member of other crawler specific forums which have tons of info and it seems no one want to put in any work on this one, so I think I may take it on as a project.... To make RCU's crawler forum worth reading. Any and all help is appreciated.
01-15-2007, 09:01 PM
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RE: How to Narrow Wheels
ORIGINAL: dezfan
Good work Ace. Nearly exactly how I narrow my wheels!
I thought about doing a few write ups. But after the way the MODs have treated me, I'm not about to add any more to RCU then necessary.
Good work Ace. Nearly exactly how I narrow my wheels!
I thought about doing a few write ups. But after the way the MODs have treated me, I'm not about to add any more to RCU then necessary.
We have all have had issues with mods at one time or another.... I just don't sweat the small stuff and it's all about growing the hobby. Forum rules are just one of the things that can get in the way for some, but I like the structure and family friendly atmosphere RCU upholds. RCC is great, but I would not call them family friendly... But still an amazing source of info (good enough for me to be a star holder).
01-16-2007, 02:15 PM
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RE: How to Narrow Wheels
http://www.emachineshop.com/<< free cad dl may help u ace i just found it today
05-30-2008, 01:21 AM
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RE: How to Narrow Wheels
Nice ACS. This is how i did mine. In stead of using a drill press I used a table saw. did my cuts while holding rim agaist the fence and rotating the wheel. Same effect but probably not as save as ACS's method. But some times you gotta use what you got. I dont trust glue so to mend the 2 halves I used strips of steel pallet banding material. On the bands , 1/4 the distance in from edge I drilled holes like once every inch on the inch. Now 1/4 the distance in from the opposite edge I drilled holes once every inch on the half inch. Zig zagging up. Rapped the band around the halves, drilled the rim and screwed together. Solid........But if you have a drill press and want to keep you fingers do it the other way
10-17-2008, 02:01 AM
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RE: How to Narrow Wheels
ORIGINAL: Acs_guitars
In the construction of my crawler I have finally come to this point and thought since RCU did not have a write-up on this I would do one. The method I am showing requires a drill press and an exacto knife, but this can be done using a hacksaw and a vice. The purpose of narrowing rims is to wrap the tread down into the sidewall to give more "bite" on the rocks. It can also be used when building a scale rig along with narrowing the tires to better proportion the wheels and tires.
On to the write-up........
Once you have chosen the rims, the first thing you need to do is decide how much you want to narrow the rim. I chose to narrow mine to 1.5". After the final width is decided, you will need to mount the wheel to a shaft that you can chuck into the drill press. I used some spare TLT kit parts to do this.
Set the drill press to it's slowest speed, turn it on, and make sure it is spinning true before you cut. Once all is well, carefully start cutting the bead portion off of the BACK of the wheel by lightly pushing the exacto blade against the rim so that you cut slowly. If you press to hard and cut too quickly you can damage the wheel or your fingers.
Then remove the wheel from the drill and measure the amount on the rim you want to remove. Mark the rim in several places around and either connect the dots to make a line around, or use tape to act as a cutting guide. Then re-chuck the wheel and repeat the cutting process. My rims (RPM Torkerz) have inner supports and I had to do some extra cutting to retain them so they would aide in aligning the bead back onto the wheel and make a better bond when gluing things back together.
- MEASURE TWICE, CUT ONCE -
Then you simply glue things back together with CA or any other glue that will work with plastics and the result is seen below.
It is very easy to do and the results are worth the time.
In the construction of my crawler I have finally come to this point and thought since RCU did not have a write-up on this I would do one. The method I am showing requires a drill press and an exacto knife, but this can be done using a hacksaw and a vice. The purpose of narrowing rims is to wrap the tread down into the sidewall to give more "bite" on the rocks. It can also be used when building a scale rig along with narrowing the tires to better proportion the wheels and tires.
On to the write-up........
Once you have chosen the rims, the first thing you need to do is decide how much you want to narrow the rim. I chose to narrow mine to 1.5". After the final width is decided, you will need to mount the wheel to a shaft that you can chuck into the drill press. I used some spare TLT kit parts to do this.
Set the drill press to it's slowest speed, turn it on, and make sure it is spinning true before you cut. Once all is well, carefully start cutting the bead portion off of the BACK of the wheel by lightly pushing the exacto blade against the rim so that you cut slowly. If you press to hard and cut too quickly you can damage the wheel or your fingers.
Then remove the wheel from the drill and measure the amount on the rim you want to remove. Mark the rim in several places around and either connect the dots to make a line around, or use tape to act as a cutting guide. Then re-chuck the wheel and repeat the cutting process. My rims (RPM Torkerz) have inner supports and I had to do some extra cutting to retain them so they would aide in aligning the bead back onto the wheel and make a better bond when gluing things back together.
- MEASURE TWICE, CUT ONCE -
Then you simply glue things back together with CA or any other glue that will work with plastics and the result is seen below.
It is very easy to do and the results are worth the time.
