<strong>Ha! I bought Michelins originally at 240 a pop and now the cheapest you can get is a British tyre at 400 or something else for 600! eek! Eeek indeed.
OK, here is something really radical, which I
do not recommend that people try at home. But it works, if done professionally.
My father used to have a mag wheel repair business, and he invented a solution for the TRX million-dollar-tyre problem as follows.
Purchase a set of Nissan Skyline 16" alloys with good second-hand tyres fitted. These wheels are common and cheap (around $250-$300 a set, with tyres) because the importers bring them in on cars and the buyers generally want 17" or 18" wheels fitted.
Remove the tyres and set aside for later.
Take the wheels to a machine shop and have them machine out the centres so that all you have left is alloy cylinders. My local engineer charged me a total of $80 for this.
Take your 390mm TRX alloys and cut the back off them, right behind the front rim edge. We've used a tungsten-tipped blade on an angle-grinder for this. You put your wheel on a Pug hub (on the car is fine) and rotate it slowly with a wheel-spanner on one of the wheel nuts as a second person cuts with the grinder. These blades are nasty pieces of work, so take extreme care using them. Alternatively you could have the machine shop do this cutting also.
Take your TRX remnants to the machine shop and have them turned down on the outside so that they fit neatly into the back of the Nissan rims. Note that there is a chamfered step in the Nissan rims, near the rear edge, and the TRX rim centres need to sit against it. Remember to check your off-set also, but the chamfered section on the Nissan alloys is a good guide.
When you have this done you need to get hold of some J-bolts and bolt the sets together, so that they run true. This is best done on a lathe also, but can be done on a Pug hub.
When the sets are made up and bolted securely, take them to an alluminium welder and have them seam-welded together front and rear.
Return them to the machinist for finishing the fronts (cleaning up the welds). Afterwards you can paint or polish. If your welder is any good both options will be fine.
Many factory alloys are bolted or welded two or three piece affairs, and the welded ones are never seam-welded right 'round, so I can't see a strength issue with this modification. But it does rest squarely on the quality of the tradesmanship. Which is why I repeat, I do not recommend this for people to do at home. But it is an idea for those who have access to the right tradesmen.
I know of three sets of these wheels and they are fine - and they look terrific - the outer rims are way wider than the originals and 16 inches of alloy is substantially more than 390mm. Also, the wheels themselves are wider, allowing you to fit 215/55/16s to your car. Driving a lowered 505 with 215/55s on is quite an experience. If you think the Michelins were good (and they were!), these will blow you away. Tyre technology has moved on in the last twenty years.
Regards,
John Lane.
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