Disc welding - what is it and why is it needed?

What is wheel rim welding?

In essence, welding of discs is a standard stamping, expanded by welding a strip of identical material. There are also options when the disk is welded from two identical ones, but spread lengthwise and connected with a strong weld.

As for the diameter, tuning of this type often uses standard wheels for a specific car. In the classic version, a wheel rim, for example, with a radius of 13 inches has a width of 6.5j. However, welding allows you to increase the disk to more than 9j.

Advantages and disadvantages

But first, let’s point out what extra-width wheels installed on a car provide.

Among the positive qualities from their use, the following are noted:

Original, non-standard type of wheels;
Ease of production with minimal costs;
Increased contact patch of the tire with the road due to its larger width, which affects the vehicle's cross-country ability.

This is where all the positive qualities from installing welding joints on a car ended.

But this tuning has more disadvantages:

Increased fuel consumption;
Reduced dynamic performance of the car;
Reduced car controllability at high speeds;
Increased load on the axles, which leads to premature wear of the bearings.

This also includes the difficulty of finding tires of increased width, because standard ones will no longer fit on such a rim.

And making changes to the design of the disk itself will certainly affect its strength characteristics. And no matter how well the welds are made, they still cannot be considered safe.

And finally, although it’s trivial, it’s still a drawback. A car with installed welding joints will have to be washed much more often, since the edge of the wheels will protrude beyond the fenders.

Because of this, driving even into a small puddle will be accompanied by copious splashing of the sides of the car.

Therefore, before you start making welding joints, you should think carefully about everything, because you can make a unique car in other ways.

For those who decide to equip their car with such discs, not so much will be required.

The “donors” for creating welds are ordinary stamped steel disks. Cast ones are not suitable for this, since the material they are made of is very difficult to weld, and in general any intervention in their design is fraught with serious consequences.

Steel disks are inexpensive, easy to work with, and they weld well, and without welding they cannot be created.

First, let's go over the design of the stamped disk itself. It consists of the disk itself (with a central and mounting holes) and a rim with beads on which the tire sits. In this case, the rim sits on the disk and is welded to it.

There are two main ways to make a weld - from two disks (easier, but more expensive) or using an insert. Moreover, the second method may differ in the method of execution.

Therefore, we will consider each of them in more detail, using the example of specific cars.

Why are weldings needed?

Installing wheels of this type gives the car a more impressive design (although this is not for everyone - some people prefer to use titans). Mostly, luxury cars or sports cars are equipped with wide wheels. In addition to the fact that a budget car acquires an original design, this type of tuning has a practical purpose. A wider wheel makes it possible not only to draw the attention of passers-by to the vehicle, but also to improve the driving characteristics of the vehicle and its stability on turns. If wide tires are installed on the car, this improves grip on the road.

Some go for such alterations only for aesthetic reasons. However, in most cases this is done to improve the car's handling after technical tuning. Standard stampings are not always effective in combination with a forced engine.

Here are the characteristics that car enthusiasts are trying to improve by installing wheel welders:

Increase controllability, both at the start and on turns;
Improve the stability of the car by making it heavier (the car is pressed harder against the road);
Increase the contact patch with asphalt. Due to this, the driver will be able to use the full potential of the forced internal combustion engine.

Some motorists install standard tires instead of suitable wide tires for unwelding, but this significantly reduces their service life.

When did the leaks appear?

It is worth mentioning that such modernization is not new in the world of auto tuning. A similar technique was used back in the 1950s. American muscle cars had incredible power for those times. Basically, such models had rear-wheel drive, so non-standard wheels with wider tires were installed on the rear axle.

This was necessary so that the driver could control the unstoppable “herd of horses” under the hood. Wider tires improved the stability of the sports car at the start, reducing slipping of the drive wheels.

Fashion migrated to the territory of the Soviet Union in the mid-70s with the development of motor sports.

Preparation

At the initial stage, you need to fully understand the entire process. You should know that the starting material for manufacturing is stamped car wheels. Cast ones will not be suitable, since welding work will be carried out during the process - cast products do not withstand thermal loads.

The rim width of discs can be increased in 2 ways:

a steel plate is welded into the middle;
from two ordinary disks cut in half, one wide one is welded.

You should estimate what width of rims the design of your car allows. For VAZ cars, width 7j is usually chosen. But if you cut or roll out the wheel arches, you can increase the width to 10 j. So, first we need to calculate the width of the rim we want to get.

Types of welding discs with your own hands

Today, in some tuning studios you can find various types of welding. But for most owners of regular cars they are not available due to their high cost. They are mainly bought by participants in various competitions, for example, drifting.