Making aluminum rims wider

Anyone cut outter lip off and add 1 inch  then weld togeather?

There is a company that does that, but only the back side and max 2 inches.  can't remember who does it, but will probably have my porsche phone dials widen in the rear.

http://weldcraftwheels.com/

Will you have to use a spacer after you have them widened, because you'll be changing the offset?

If so, you'll have to determine if the price of widening + spacers and studs is worth it.

In reply to z31maniac :

I would think adding to the outside of the wheel would make you less likely to need a spacer...

Cooter said:

In reply to z31maniac :

I would think adding to the outside of the wheel would make you less likely to need a spacer...

As long as it's outboard of the mounting face of the hub, yes. But from the website linked:

"When widening we use a band of material of the width requested, so no second donor wheel is required. On aluminum wheels we V-Groove and hand tig each seam for maximum penetration. Steel wheels are stick welded and tig welded on opposite sides. 

Most wheels are widened to the inside of the vehicle. This will increase your backspace by the same amount so be sure of your clearance. *Please double check your measurements, we give you what you ask for!*"

Back when we had a G8GT (~2011), I bought a set of stock 2010 Camaro wheels (20x8, 20x9) and put the rears on the front of the G8, and had the fronts widened to 20x10 and put them on the rear.  Camaro wheels were dirt cheap, as everyone was buying aftermarket and selling the stockers.  The offsets worked perfectly for that application.  As noted above, almost all widened wheels will end up with the extra material behind (inboard) of the mounting surface, increasing backspacing.

I had the work done by a shop in CA, and IIRC it was around $200/wheel.  I can't find the name of the shop right now... not sure they're even still in business.  There weren't many shops at the time that would do aluminum wheels, and I would guess there's fewer now.

IMHO, this can be a great way to get a unique wheel set on a vehicle, but it's costly and requires diligent research.

Gratuitous pic:

In reply to Rodan :

damn, that is juicy!   

I really liked that car, but my wife (it was her DD) never really fell in love with it, so we didn't keep it long.  It held it's value really well, though... we actually traded it in for more than we paid for it!

In reply to z31maniac :

OP specifically asked about adding one inch to the outer lip.

I think you may be dollars ahead getting blank barrels and having your centers cut out and put in to them?

Unless you have 3-piece wheels, or cast wheels with a large lip on the outside, you'll have to widen them from the inside.  It's expensive to do because it requires equipment to ensure accurate setup and welding aluminum is expensive.

Cooter said:

In reply to z31maniac :

OP specifically asked about adding one inch to the outer lip.

It's a moot point if the shop won't do it. That's what I was getting at. 

Not many shops doing this , you could imagine how high the product liability insurance costs ,

More shops seem to be doing the BBS style wheels, machine your centers out , drill a bunch of holes to match the inner and outer hoops , and bolt together.