17' Welds won't fit if??

[blazzin1]

Originally Posted by SRT10KLLR

For every one else who has a lowered car don't buy there wheels until they have a solution for you or just don't buy from them period.

Or....better yet, if your car is lowered, or capable of being lowered (i.e. Coilovers), just buy the 18" or larger RT-S Wheels!! And yes, I agree that 94guy was used as a guinea pig, and should be properly compensated in some manner. They never had any stipulations about lowered suspensions until this problem came up on his car. So 94guy, I wish you the best of luck, and sincerely hope they admit fault in your situation. Small claims court maybe??? Just a thought...

On another note, the new RT-S 20" wheels look absolutely incredible!!! But they're expensive as hell!!! Even if I had the money, I don't know if I would buy from them after hearing about their customer service in this situation.

[SJM]

Originally Posted by 94guy

Sjm, weld has not made good on the wheels. also they claim they are custom made when you order. you say not to grind the lower control arm well if you don't you have to buy $500 lower control arms.

You are certainly in a pickle. I do feel for you and others as well as it's not something that you want to deal with, especially when the part isn't a small investment. I know what I'd do, but I'm not Weld Racing. On the other hand, I can see their side as they cannot foresee every customers situation. I'd imagine they have a disclaimer somewhere regarding interference issues.

I would not degrade the stock arms by grinding the beam flange. If your swing arm is already damaged, it needs replaced. I would not consider using a wheel that is damaged as the damaged image shows. I'm not sure what BMR has to offer as a solution. They may have an alternative with benefits over the stock configuration. So the 500.00 may be a good investment. Lee from BMR would have to chime in on that one.

I'm not sure what other help I can offer you other than you consider our Bogart designs or change the lower control arms. Maybe a spacer would help? Our wheels do not have those fitment issues, our Bogart wheel design I believe are much lighter offering better braking and racing performance. We offer ours as drag wheels to optimize drag racing performance. Our front Bogart RT weighs 16lb 4oz Our rear Bogart RT weighs 19lb 2oz.

If I may ask, what made you decide to purchase the wheels you purchased over our designs? Feel free to take it to PM or email as I do not want to clutter up the original post. I merely came in to discuss a few things since our products were in question.

[PTS]

Originally Posted by SJM

Wheel Czar (weld racing), though a competitor, I understand where they (Weld) are coming from so it's a bit difficult to hit every situation on par. Sometimes things bite you in the butt when it comes to fitment issues. Sometimes it's difficult to foresee a modification that is made towards a customer’s car. Worst of all, with the aftermarket components available, it is difficult to meet each demand. Even something overlooked as simple as a brake line or brake line bung can become a hiccup in the final outcome.

I would not advise modifying a swing arm as Tony also mentioned. I could have not said it better with regards to the analogy Tony gave. It is not my place to say what weld should or shouldn't do so I will leave it up to them to decide on how they want to rectify their situation. It appears they have given their answers.

Since our Bogart wheel has been brought into this conversation, I'll comment with regards to our stuff. Our Bogart designs haven't had any fitment issues which I'm aware of. One concern would be the new brake pad design of which was not out when we created our designs. I don't know anyone to date of which has the new design on their car...so I cannot comment regarding fitment. I'd suggest if fitment is an issue with the new brake pad design to continue using the original style…or modify the new style. It is not a structural component that has changed the brake pads. There's only so much we can do to a wheel.

From the first set that we built for a maroon 2010 Camaro to date (I can't recall the nickname of the poster on member on here...maybe he will chime in), fitment hasn't been an issue…lowered or OEM.

The wheels to answer the above question are typically set at ~10" close to 7" backspace. Unlike weld, our niche is customization, so we are building setups that are set to each application, not a one size fits most approach. When you order one of our wheels, they are truly a customized wheel for the application. You are not receiving a mass produced product. When you place an order, wheels are built for your car. Each part needed towards assembly is tagged under your name/company throughout the process.

It would be nice to have a one size wheel fit most, but that doesn't always work in reality....at least when you're trying to stuff a small diameter wheel on a large brake configuration.

Perry,

Give me a call if you need further assistance or you’d like to start carrying our Bogart designs. I know you've spoke with Rich a few times, feel free to give me a call or email me if you did want to continue considering a dealership program...I may be able to help you in a few other areas as well.

Steve
Mechanical Engineer

Hi Steve,

How do I contact you? I spoke to Rich and he is producing a wheel to be test fitted on several cars in the Phoenix area that are lowered and stock height. I am confident that what you have already works but given the would of could of should of, we are just verifying again...

Regards,

Perry
PTS

[SJM]

Originally Posted by blazzin1

Or....better yet, if your car is lowered, or capable of being lowered (i.e. Coilovers), just buy the 18" or larger RT-S Wheels!! And yes, I agree that 94guy was used as a guinea pig, and should be properly compensated in some manner. They never had any stipulations about lowered suspensions until this problem came up on his car. So 94guy, I wish you the best of luck, and sincerely hope they admit fault in your situation. Small claims court maybe??? Just a thought...

On another note, the new RT-S 20" wheels look absolutely incredible!!! But they're expensive as hell!!! Even if I had the money, I don't know if I would buy from them after hearing about their customer service in this situation.

blazzin1, they probably do have a disclaimer regarding interference and fitment concerns. 17's do offer benefits over larger diameter configurations. ...Larger sidewall, lighter rotational mass providing better racing performance in the end. Our Bogart 17's have not had fitment issues as being discussed in this thread. I suppose we can still say now as I have in the past, our Bogart's 17's are the only wheel who provide a direct fit lightweight racing wheel for the 2010 Camaro.

These configurations (skinny/fat) combination are not street setups by any stretch of the imagination. Compared to using them as a street configuration pales in comparison to the stock or larger aftermarket wheels. The skinny/fat combo idea realistically is meant for one thing racing benefits.

Steve
Mechanical Engineer
SJM Manufacturing Inc.

[SJM]

Originally Posted by PTS

Hi Steve,

How do I contact you? I spoke to Rich and he is producing a wheel to be test fitted on several cars in the Phoenix area that are lowered and stock height. I am confident that what you have already works but given the would of could of should of, we are just verifying again...

Regards,

Perry
PTS

Perry,

That's just a discussion regarding slightly increasing face-caliper clearance he may have mentioned...changing the milling profile of the center, not redesigning the wheel due to fitment issues discussed in here. To date, we have not had the need to modify anything since the first design we tested on a car located here: http://sjmmanufacturing.com/gallery/camaro/franbig3.jpg. They were verified and tested in our shop with the customers car.

Those new brake pads which we have zero experience with at this point could be hurdle. It was something I've known about for some time but have not had any vehicles of which I was aware of using these parts. Our customers were notified before purchasing so that they don't have them...or if they did, they may have to modify the dampeners on the pads. Once again, they were not available when we created the wheels...nor have anyone to date had them on their car.

To be clear, our designs (Rich and I), do not have these issues and have had no fitment issues to date. We've had this design since October 15th 2009 of which we posted in here and on other sites. The discussions regarding our designs and what we had to offer as a solution were pruned from this site from the administrators but can be found via google on other forums using sjmmanufacturing 2010 Camaro Bogart...key words like that.

You can call me at 724-478-5580. For others with questions, feel free to email, pm, call or start another thread if you like as I do not want to clutter up this post with questions towards our product designs.

Steve

[Pro Stock John]

I remember when C5 guys had to notch their lower control arms to just run 16's over ten years ago.

So I'm thinking the 18" Welds will work on lowered cars. Given where the 17" makes contact on a lowered car, they might not be able to do anything about it since it's the wheel hoop itself. I'd be interested to see what Scott or Jay from Weld would say... I'll ask Jay as I know him.

[Macrackie]

IMO it is not a wheel manufactures job to make sure they fit on "your modified" car. I do believe that it would be the installers job to check for proper clearance through out all suspension travel. If I only knew how many products I bought and found they wouldn't fit on my modified equipment only to have to sell them to friends or on E-bay. But there was always the option to put things back together stock so I could run that one new part.

[Nine Ball]

PSJ, I've already confirmed 18x10s and 18x11s fit on very low Camaros. They also clear the brakes no problem. Seems like 17s are too big of a PITA to worry about, when the 18s are cheaper and still only weigh 21 lbs each. There are also plenty of 305/45-18 drag radials on the market, which are the perfect height for the Camaro.

Tony

[94guy]

i think it is more a backspacing problem. i think weld is about .500" more back spacing then bogart. the lower arm tends to get further away toward the outside of the car.

[kevin1106]

Originally Posted by 94guy

i think it is more a backspacing problem. i think weld is about .500" more back spacing then bogart. the lower arm tends to get further away toward the outside of the car.

just curious, has weld done anything for you yet? or pretty much SOL?

[Pro Stock John]

I emailed Jay @ Weld, and they are interested in the problem situations. PM me for his contact info. As is already known, the wheels were designed on a stock height car.

[Ovenmitt]

My welds clear my UMI trailing arms at stock height.

The issue is going to be not necessarily lowered cars, but what happens when you get a shitload of weight transfer in a stock height car (launching at the track) and your control arm digs into the inner barrel of the wheel. Catastrophic failure under power and traction? Not good

[kevin1106]

Originally Posted by Ovenmitt

My welds clear my UMI trailing arms at stock height.

The issue is going to be not necessarily lowered cars, but what happens when you get a shitload of weight transfer in a stock height car (launching at the track) and your control arm digs into the inner barrel of the wheel. Catastrophic failure under power and traction? Not good

Definitely not good. That's is why I purchased Bogarts from PTS. For the life of me, I don't know what Weld was thinking when they made these wheels.

[Ovenmitt]

Originally Posted by kevin1106

Definitely not good. That's is why I purchased Bogarts from PTS. For the life of me, I don't know what Weld was thinking when they made these wheels.

That hasn't happened, but in theory, it could.