Splitting ARE wheels help

[alpine_dirty]

So I bought a set of 5 spoke AREs for my e30,I began to take one apart today, but the lip wont split from the barrel. It appears that the silicone has been added between the hardware (some of the silicone were on the bolts). Pretty much don't know what I can do to soften the silicone so I split up the barrel and lip. I did try placing them in the oven for about 5 min in 230 degrees Fahrenheit, didn't really soften the silicone...any advice?
Forgot to mention that the wheels haven't been split in since well maybe coming out the factory, previous owner had never split them apart.

[Zic]

Pretty bad pictures. But are you 100% sure that they are 3 piece?

[Zic]

Poked a little around on google. And as i thought the ARE 398's (those that look like BBS RS) are all three piece, but are welded from the factory making them effectively two piece. So the center is removable from the lip/barrel.
I would not be surprised if those ARE's are welded as well.


This picture here is on the inside of the barrel, and does not help us in determining if the wheels are two or three piece.


Take a picture like this, of the outside. Here you can clearly see that the wheels are welded. ARE 398's.

Hope this helps, keep us updated.


*Edit-
Are you trying to split them to get a hold of some bigger lips?
Only way to do that is sourcing a new set of barrel/lips from another set.
Or cutting of your lips and getting some custom made ones.

[alpine_dirty]

I'm 99% sure the 5 spoke are 3 piece, I am aware the 398s are welded. My iphone camera lens is scratched up so these are the best photos I can take. In one of them you can see some of the white silicone.

[Zic]

What's the name of the 5spoke?
Those pictures are tiny. Upload them to some hosting site, like tinypic.com and then post the URL link here.

[alpine_dirty]

Hopefully these pictures are better..

[Oh, Word?]

Those should split I've seen the same wheels with bigger lips on them. Just go at them with a razor knife on the bead and when you get a spot through the silicone put a small flat blade skew driver in there and either wiggle it side to side or I've had to tap it between the barrel and lip before to get some tension on the silicone and then cut it some more with razor. I had a set of oz fittipaldis that hadn't been split since 92 or 95 that I had to do that on. Just be gentle and you won't mark them up I've seen plenty of people ruin a barrel by stuffing a pry bar in there. A hot ass heat gun certainly helps too my buddy messed up his RH building them and sealed the face as well as the bead and I had to completely strip the silicone then get a screw driver between them and then after heating them up a lot give it a bunch of whacks with a rubber mallet to get the lip off.

[fatielajia]

My iphone camera lens is scratched up so these are the best photos I can take. In one of them you can see some of the white silicone.

[Zic]

There are many ways to split the wheels.
Some are more brutal than others, but are faster tho the downside is if you aren't careful, you can damage the lips/barrels.




Here is a picture of one of the faster ways, just tapping a screwdriver in between the lip and barrel, need to be extra careful here. I would not recommend it.

http://www.stanceworks.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=20794
This link will take you to my wheel refinishing thread.
I did the wheels by still having the tire on, and prying the lips of.


Some people just bang it with a rubber mallet. Works fine too.


This link will take you to this thread.
http://www.stanceworks.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=41584

Good luck with the build mate.

[Karlm30]

i helped him take them apart, these rims are put together like no other rim ive ever seen theyre not mated together like bbs rs's or any other 3 piece rim. you guys thinks a heat gun to melt the silicone a bit should work?