[Peter Matteson]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

Machining it from solid seems time consuming; I wonder how long it would take to make some with outer "plates" and AL tube though. I think 1625 does something like that.

Originally Posted by JamesCH95

One could take some tubing, machine a rim profile into it, then use radially oriented bolts to connect it to a spider (hub and spokes) made of a different material. This eliminates the (IMHO) silly practice of milling a huge chunk of billet into a wheel, which is just not practical in the real world.

177 has been do this since 2007 I have even posted several pictures on the forum showing how the design evolved.

We use 4" OD 1/8" wall 6061 tubing for the rim and 3/16" 6061 plate for the sides.

We actually put the rim profile in the pocketed side plates by having them extent past the tube, which makes assembly easier and reduces machining and rim weight.

I hope this saves anyone looking at doing this a few design iterations.

The evolution of how the wheels assembled:
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/31102

View of the outside of the prototypes:
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/31103

Wheel assembled with a lexan plate showing how it goes together:
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/31105

Inside view of a wheel plate:
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/31104