New wheels ordered - 22x9 and 22x10 custom from L&B Forged

[Lanson]

Hi folks,

I got to talking with this custom shop from, believe it or not, a Craigslist ad.  The place is called L&B Forged.  I've been in discussion with them and I've placed an order for these:

Exact specs will be (so far)

22x9 front, ~37mm offset (may change), 22x10 rear ~37mm offset (may change)
3 piece (may be 2, depends on offsets and fitment testing in the end)
Forged wheel center and barrel
Center is ball-milled, brushed and powdercoated clear
Lip is polished reverse lip

Build time should be 10 days to fab and paint, so I should see them in a couple weeks.

I'll withhold pricing, but they are more affordable than most 3 piece forged wheels and should be a great value.  I'll also withhold any further review of them until I get them in my hands, and then mounted.

I'll be using 265/35-22 all around, which works well in a 9" as well as a 10".  No stagger issues here!

 

[Bigfoot]

:biggrin:

those are badass.

im in for pricing as well. 

 

[SoCalSHO]

Cool. Nice find. But what will the weight be?

 

[DJE624]

Very cool.  Can't wait to see the "installed" shots!

 

[CooperS7777]

Nice looking wheel!

 

[Lanson]

Yesterday the rear set of 22x10 came in!

Here's some pretty pics:

Very good details, IMO.  Brushed finish means the machine marks are not covered up.  All is coated with a pretty good powdercoat clear finish.  Not perfect, but very good. 

Test fit went well, it is a tight fit but looks like no modification will be necessary. 

Hopefully the fronts will get here today, along with the center caps.  From there, I'll get the TPMS figured out, and get tires on these babies.

Oh, they aren't light at all, BTW.  Being a custom made piece, there was no way to tell how heavy they would be until done.  37.5 lbs by my rough measurement.  I measured them by weighing myself, then weighing myself holding one, then subtracting myself.  The front should weigh less thankfully, but don't purchase this style for its weight benefits!  LOL.

 

[DJE624]

That is gonna be tough looking!

 

[SHOdded]

Very nice!

 

[Lanson]

Thanks guys, hope it all goes well getting them installed and all that.  I've heard 3 piece wheels can be a slight pain to keep up with.  I did find a shop willing to install tires on these, not many shops wanted the job since one slip with the tire spoon and they owe me big time.

Should be just a couple days before I can get these ready to romp, and I'll post more when that happens.

 

[Lanson]

Hello again, fronts came in and I can produce some pics here for you.

The fronts were on my porch when I came in this afternoon, and I tested them out just like I did the rear.  This time, I lifted the car by the frame, then used another jack to lift the suspension control arm and test range of movement.  I'll try to detail what I saw in the pics.  Front wheel is 22x9 and that is mostly due to a smaller lip.  Center caps came in but I'm not happy with their fit, so I'm going to work on that before I show you how they look.

This is how much clearance I have to the strut, looks to be 15-16mm

Compressed the control arm a bit for a drop

This is maximum compression that I could get out of my jack without stressing the arm, looks to be about ride height with lowering

Fits very well, I'd say if I were playing "hellaflush" games, I would have about 5mm before being perfectly flush, but I think with 265 tires this will be a really good fitment

Tomorrow and Friday are my days in mind to get the TPMS squared away, and some tires installed.  Here's hoping it all works out.

 

[DJE624]

Can't wait to see the job done.  It looks like you have a good fit. 

 

[SHOdded]

A game of inches mm's at this point.  Nailbiting suspense!

 

[jomc111]

Rims look nice cant wait to see it with tires mounted

 

[Lanson]

Finally got them installed!

TPMS will have to wait, the expensive adapters I bought turned out to not be compatible with our type of stem.  They work with stem type but not Ford style apparently.  I will likely just have the shop drill a hole in the rear barrel, and mount them there.  They would need the wheels for 24 hours while all the sealant dried up before mounting a tire, so I figured I'd do that on the first "rotation", which will involve the tire coming off the rim and swapping from the 10" rear to the 9" front.  I'll probably do that every 5 to 8k, and it will run me about $60. 

Center caps are still being dealt with, as I don't like the current ones that came with the wheels.  L&B should be sending me new ones that meet my spec better.

They are "flush" in the front and the rear, pretty much.  Hard to photograph this but the lip on both front and rear is right on point for a flush fit.  If I were going for "hella flush, I would need a massive drop and probably a 1/2" more lip on all sides around.  This isn't really my style but I can see the appeal for maybe a big car show or something.  As it stands, this is "functional flush" while still actually sitting a little tall for my tastes. 

Until I can lower it on coilovers or something, this is my ride height and I'm OK with it.  Staggered 1" in the rear with 265/35-22 all around was a good choice, and the Toyo Extensa HP are really good looking IMO.  The tire has a good wheel guard all around and flushes with the rear wheels while actually making a protective ring around the more narrow fronts.  Very happy about that.  They ride better than the stock Goodyears, so far.  Yep, the 18" Goodyears ride worse than the 22" Toyos, I said it.

If you can handle the slight annoyance and expense of staggering (mainly when it comes to rotation is where the cost comes in), I highly recommend it.  We were deeply concerned about the rear brake hose mount hitting a tire or wheel but everything turned out A-OK. 

I'm happy!

 

[DJE624]

Looks really good Lanson!  Hope they get your caps straightened out and to you soon.  The tires look great and with the coil overs you'll really be stylin'!

 

[Lanson]

Thanks!

Yeah, they do look pretty good, definitely a unique looks that sets mine apart from any other in Vegas I think.

If I were doing it again, I'd probably go with a bit more simple spoke style just for weight concerns.

Also I think if done right, this wheel type would look good in a step-lip or maybe also a 20", perhaps with staggered 245/275's. 


Also down the road I might have the lips smoke-chromed for more contrast, and maybe the hardware redone with a color or neo-chrome multi-color.

They do look pretty darn spiffy as-is though.  Thanks for the props! 

 

[4DRHTRD]

I have to wonder if I could fit a 275/40/20 and 315/35/20 on those offsets/sizes.

 

[Lanson]

I have to wonder if I could fit a 275/40/20 and 315/35/20 on those offsets/sizes.

You would most likely strike the coilover/strut on the front (I'm clearing by a tiny nose-hair), and more importantly the rear just would never work, unless you can solve the rear brake line mount issue AND grab some extra wheel well space.

I'm definitely at the limits all around.  The sighs of relief as they went on were heard throughout the shop.

If I were daring I'd add a 1/2" lip to my front-facing barrels, but then I'd need to slam it to make that work out.  Still would have to stick with this tire size though.


If you are willing to poke out the front a bit, I think you can get 275 fronts though.  Just need lower offset to clear your coilovers. 

 

[4DRHTRD]

I have to wonder if I could fit a 275/40/20 and 315/35/20 on those offsets/sizes.

You would most likely strike the coilover/strut on the front (I'm clearing by a tiny nose-hair), and more importantly the rear just would never work, unless you can solve the rear brake line mount issue AND grab some extra wheel well space.

I'm definitely at the limits all around.  The sighs of relief as they went on were heard throughout the shop.

If I were daring I'd add a 1/2" lip to my front-facing barrels, but then I'd need to slam it to make that work out.  Still would have to stick with this tire size though.


If you are willing to poke out the front a bit, I think you can get 275 fronts though.  Just need lower offset to clear your coilovers. 

I left my camera in my flex when I dropped it off but I took pictures of the wheel/tire clearance to the front strut and it's about 3/4" according to the tape measure. That's with my existing wheels you researched and found the offset with 255/45/20's.

 

[Lanson]

I have to wonder if I could fit a 275/40/20 and 315/35/20 on those offsets/sizes.

You would most likely strike the coilover/strut on the front (I'm clearing by a tiny nose-hair), and more importantly the rear just would never work, unless you can solve the rear brake line mount issue AND grab some extra wheel well space.

I'm definitely at the limits all around.  The sighs of relief as they went on were heard throughout the shop.

If I were daring I'd add a 1/2" lip to my front-facing barrels, but then I'd need to slam it to make that work out.  Still would have to stick with this tire size though.


If you are willing to poke out the front a bit, I think you can get 275 fronts though.  Just need lower offset to clear your coilovers. 

I left my camera in my flex when I dropped it off but I took pictures of the wheel/tire clearance to the front strut and it's about 3/4" according to the tape measure. That's with my existing wheels you researched and found the offset with 255/45/20's.

Exactly right.  That's a 20x8.5", with about 19mm of clearance in your situation.  But that's with a 255.  A 275 is ~10mm wider per side, so now you're at 9mm.  Then, your offset of different than mine, which is where the rest goes.  I truly think you can do it but you'll need to poke your offset a bit.  +34ET with a 20x9, that's maybe going to work.  You know a wheel I've seen that does this (but I'm not sure it clears the brakes) is the XXR 526.  Not sure it would look good either, but dropped like yours is it probably would.

Let me just say though, that my 265/35-22 Toyos look AWESOME, and really nice and wide especially on that 10" rear.  It is a lot-lot of rubber, and I'm stoked.  A 275 is going to be awesome-sauce for sure.

Have you considered maybe making some front flares or some form of revised bumper?  Something that could cover the tire poke just a bit?