Has anyone considered machining off-shelf wheels?

[imperator]

I'm stuck on the AZA Z-1 which is available in a 18x9.5 with a 40mm offset. I've seen a few members on here with this wheel, but I know it requires a good bit of fender rolling to fit. There aren't many ways around this, so I started thinking... what if I were to find a machine shop who could "shave" a few mm from the mounting face of the wheel? This would then bring the wheel closer to the control arm.

There are some caveats though... the wheel studs may need to be trimmed down a bit and there's a chance the load capacity would be weakened from removing so much material. The machining must be absolutely perfectly square too.

I'll have a difficult time trying to find a shop with capable equipment with enough confidence to pull it off, but the concept seems simple enough!

[DeepBlueZ]

i thought of it too awhile back. it depends on how much material there is behind the mating surface. It's been brought up once or twice on here, but like a couple other ideas, nobody's pulled the trigger and pioneered it.

[-db-]

As long as you're confident your geometry is correct and there's enough material to safely remove what's needed, squaring the wheel up on a lathe and facing a few millimeters of aluminum from that area should be something any general machine shop can do. I would have no problem doing it myself if this was something I wanted to do and had a lathe with enough swing for a wheel. I'd just dial the wheel in off the original mounting face and go to work.

[nomostang]

uh..you are willing to do this yet are not willing to roll/trim your fenders? dude fenders are a piece of cake. I've had some very creative body shop guys do it on some of my cars for a price easily. ANd I've also done it myself with a dremel on another car, and another time with a rented fender roller. Either way, its easy. And is relatively cheap if you pay to have it done <$200. Just make sure the edge is smooth afterwards and seal it back up with paint/clearcoat on the edges, or some sort of sealant etc. plus from the rear, lower offset gives a meaner, wider looking stance ;)

[Striped04]

I would most definately roll the fenders than mess with a new set of wheels. The fenders don't have to be exact, the machined wheels do.