Gibson Racing Wheels - Custom Built Racing Wheels, High Performance Road Wheels & Race Wheels
Gibson Engineering designs, engineers and manufactures precision built, extremely high quality, custom racing wheels for circuit racing cars, high performance street cars, and drag racing cars.
Using extremely high quality materials, and designed & engineered by world renowned engineer Tim Gibson, Gibson Racing Wheels are 100% made in the USA, inhouse at Gibson Engineering in Huntington Beach California.
The Tuners Group are the exclusive national distributors for Gibson Racing Wheels.
Gibson Racing Wheels can allow you to decrease your car's unsprung weight, decrease the rotational moment of inertia, and can allow you to fit larger tyres with a larger contact patch ... to provide better acceleration, improved handling, and better wheel control under both acceleration and braking for your car.
An 18 x 10 inch Gibson Road Racing Wheel weighs under 18 lbs (8.6 kg), yet passed the SAE J238 cornering and fatigue test with a test result of double the SAE J238 test standard.
Tim Gibson, the owner of Gibson Racing Wheels says ...
"The heavier the wheels are, the more horsepower is being used to spin the wheels up to speed ...
With rotating objects, i.e. heavy wheels, you in effect carry the weight twice. You have to move the weight, and you have to spin the weight.
The spin-up effect is dramatic. Anyone who has experimented with different weight flywheels on their engine can understand the difference. The higher the rotational inertia of the wheels, the more horsepower is being wasted in accelerating them.
Our wheels installations are typically larger than stock and designed to accept wider tyres, yet they frequently weigh over 25% less.
This reduction in unsprung weight and rotating mass alone results in dramatic performance improvements.
Add a wider, lower profile tyre with a larger contact patch and you significantly improve overall performance and reduce your lap times at the track."
Gibson does it's own machining inhouse and hand assembly inhouse, ensuring absolute quality and precision at every step of the manufacturing process.
Gibson Road Race Wheels are precision custom manufactured with specialised structural aerospace alloy 2024-T351 aluminium centres.
Gibson Road Race Wheels are available in 3 models of centre design - the Directional Double-Hat I-Beam model (pictured above), the Straight Spoke Double-Hat I-Beam model, and the Ultimate 5 Spoke model. See further down this page for full info for each model.
Gibson Road Race Wheels are custom built in diameters from 15 inches to 21 inches, with custom widths and offsets.
Large brake caliper and brake disk setups can be accommodated, with proper caliper clearance to ensure proper tolerances and to improve brake cooling.
Rim halves are computer designed, custom built to print, proprietary, rotary forged, CNC precision machined 6061-T6.
Gibson Racing Wheels can also be built with with top of the range high strength & light weight titanium fasteners manufactured for Boeing Aircraft, with a special anti-sieze coating developed by the military.
Like a hand made suit, Gibson Road Race Wheels are custom made, to fit your car with custom made precision.
Safety Standards and Racing Standards Testing Info
In terms of safety standards and racing standards testing, Gibson Road Race wheels:
- carry full SFI Foundation racing safety approval
- have passed the Society of Automotive Engineers SAE International tests (with a test result double the SAE J238 test standard)
- have passed the stringent German Technischer Uberwachungs-Verein (TUV) requirements for cornering and fatigue and
- have also passed the critical Society of Automotive Engineers SAE International cornering fatigue tests
... with testing carried out by an independent automotive testing organisation.
Gibson Racing Wheels Are Engineered, Not Simply Designed
Unlike some manufacturers of "fashion wheels", Gibson Racing Wheels are engineered specifically to withstand the high stress environment of motorsport.
Gibson wheels are manufactured with the very highest levels of engineering, safety and quality to produce a truly world class wheel.
Unlike some wheel brands where wheels are manufactured by a third party manufacturer, Gibson Racing Wheels are engineered, designed, manufactured, machined, and assembled inhouse at Gibson Engineering.
So with Gibson Racing Wheels you are dealing with a company that does real engineering and real manufacturing ... not simply a company that markets and sells wheels made by another manufacturer.
Gibson Racing Wheels are built using centres made from specialized 2024-T351 aerospace structural alloy with extremely high strength and light weight.
And when we say "aerospace structural alloy", we mean exactly that - structural alloy that is used in high stress load bearing aerospace applications.
Why Gibson Racing Wheels centres are built using 2024-T351 aluminium instead of 6061 aluminium
Tim Gibson wrote in the technical paper about Gibson Racing Wheels ...
"The 3-piece design allows us the use of a billet 2024-T351 center.
A Gibson Wheel on CNC equipment inhouse at Gibson Engineering in California
The 2024-T351 material is classic aircraft wing spar material. In the T351 temper, it has approximately 50% higher fatigue strength than other wheels.
This means the wheel can be lighter and stronger than a wheel made from forged 6061. The 6 series alloys are usually used for aircraft trim, not airframe components.
Our centers are CNC machined from Alcoa 2024-T351 aircraft grade aluminum alloy 3” or 4” thick plate.
Therefore, a 3-piece wheel made of billet 2024-T351 can be lighter, stronger, and have lower rotational inertia than other wheels."
About Tim Gibson
Tim Gibson (left) and Bill Miller (right)
Tim Gibson is one of the most accomplished engineers on the planet. He is exactly the kind of person you want designing and engineering the wheels on your car.
His experience ranges across multiple disciplines of engineering.
A native of Mobile, Alabama, Gibson started drag racing with the acquisition of his uncle’s 1951 Ford 2-door coupe (originally purchased new by his Grandfather), Gibson’s first car.
Building custom backspace rear wheels for that car was Gibson’s first exposure to wheel construction.
Gibson holds a degree in Aeronautical Engineering from UCLA, won the annual California Engineer's Week flight competition 2 consecutive years, and was elected president of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) ... all while still in college in the 1980's.
From there he has built an incredible engineering career ...
Gibson worked for two years for TRW Space and Defense on Inter Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) aerodynamics.
He then worked for legendary team Dan Gurney's All American Racers, working on Dan Gurney's IMSA Championship winning Toyota GTP program (undefeated from March '92 to Jan '93), Gurney's Alligator Motorcycle project, and Gurney's AAR Indy Car.
In 1998 Gibson left Gurney's to go back to primarily aerodynamics, first for Roland Leong at Don Prudhomme's and later for Wes Cerny at Joe Gibbs Racing. Both of these involved extensive work in the GM wind tunnel in Warren MI.
Gibson served as the Team Engineer and Aerodynamicist for John Force Racing (sponsored by Ford) from 2000 - 2005, and worked extensively in the Lockheed wind tunnel outside Atlanta, and with Ford in Dearborn, on adapting their new Mustang to drag racing.
Gibson designed the Ford Mustang Funny Car bodies and coordinated all aspects of their production. He also worked on special projects for the team.
"Not many people have as much quality time in the Lockheed wind tunnel as I do" says Gibson.
The Gibson Miller Supercharger - Designed & Engineered by Tim Gibson and Bill Miller
In his "spare time" Gibson designed the Gibson-Miller Supercharger and Fuel Injection systems (pictured above).
As a driver, Gibson drove the BME Top Fuel dragster to a best time of 4.59 seconds, and became the only person in NHRA history to qualify and race both a mid-engine TF car and a front-engine TF car at the same race.
Gibson has done it all, both as an engineer and as a driver.
Like we said - he's exactly the kind of person you want to engineer the wheels for your car.
How Gibson Racing Wheels Help You Cut Your Lap Times
By using cutting edge engineering, manufacturing methods and extremely high quality materials, Gibson Racing Wheels can allow you to achieve a reduction in rotating mass and unsprung weight, without sacrificing wheel strength.
As mentioned above, an 18 x 10 inch Gibson Road Racing Wheel weighs under 18 lbs (8.6 kg), yet passed the SAE J238 cornering and fatigue test - with a test result of double the SAE J238 test standard.
Tim Gibson says:
Decreasing a vehicle's unsprung weight and rotational moment of inertia and increasing a tyre's contact patch are two very effective methods of improving performance.
As a driver I was always impressed by how much effect the weight of wheels can have.
The force used to spin up the front and rear wheels on your car is created by the engine’s horsepower.
So the heavier the wheels are, the more horsepower is being used to spin the wheels up to speed - this is called overcoming the rotational inertia of the wheel.
With rotating objects, i.e. heavy wheels, you in effect carry the weight twice. You have to move the weight, and you have to spin the weight.
The spin-up effect is dramatic. Anyone who has experimented with different weight flywheels on their engine can understand the difference. The higher the rotational inertia of the wheels, the more horsepower is being wasted in accelerating them.
Our wheels installations are typically larger than stock and designed to accept wider tyres, yet they frequently weigh over 25% less.
This reduction in unsprung weight and rotating mass alone results in dramatic performance improvements.
Add a wider, lower profile tyre with a larger contact patch and you significantly improve overall performance and reduce your lap times at the track.
The 3-piece design allows us the use of a billet 2024-T351 center.
The 2024-T351 material is classic aircraft wing spar material.
Therefore, a 3-piece Gibson Racing Wheel made of billet 2024-T351 can be lighter, stronger, and have lower rotational inertia than other wheels.
Learn more about the engineering and materials used in Gibson Racing Wheels in the technical paper about the engineering features of Gibson Wheels written by Tim Gibson at the bottom of the page.
Gibson Road Race Wheels Models
Gibson Road Race Wheels are custom built in diameters from 15 inches to 21 inches, with custom widths and offsets.
Large brake caliper and brake disk setups can be accomodated, with proper caliper clearance to ensure proper tolerances and to improve brake cooling.
3 different models of Gibson Road Race Wheels are available ...
Gibson Directional Spoke Double-Hat I-Beam Wheels
- All new design perfect for racing and high performance street applications
- Uses a unique 15 spoke / 30 bolt configuration to optimize strength while minimizing weight
- Gibson proprietary double-hat I-beam spoke design provides ultra high "area-moment" shape factor
- Spoke cross-section created with precision custom made CNC side-cutter form tools
- State of the art MasterCam CAD-CAM produces specialized free-form out-of-plane cutter paths
- Advanced design and manufacturing technology allow maximum strength at minimum weight
- Available in 15" to 21" diameters
- Available for 4, 5 & 6 Bolt applications, traditional centrelock applications and new Porsche centrelock system applications
- Available with super light weight ultra high strength 6AL-4V Titanium fasteners manufactured for Boeing Aircraft
- Available with billet 2024-T351 aluminium centres
- Rim halves are computer designed, custom built to print, proprietary, rotary forged, CNC precision machined 6061-T6
Gibson Straight Spoke Double-Hat I-Beam Wheels
- Straight spoke version of the original 15 spoke directional wheel
- Does not require "rights" and "lefts"
- Same unique 15 spoke / 30 bolt configuration to optimize strength while minimizing weight
- Gibson proprietary double-hat I-beam spoke design provides ultra high "area-moment"
- Spoke cross-section created with precision custom made CNC side-cutter form tools
- State of the art MasterCam CAD-CAM allows free-form out-of-plane cutter paths
- Advanced design and manufacturing technology allow maximum strength at minimum weight
- Available in 15" to 21" diameters
- Available for 4, 5 & 6 Bolt applications, traditional centrelock applications and new Porsche centrelock system applications
- Available with super light weight ultra high strength 6AL-4V Titanium fasteners manufactured for Boeing Aircraft
- Available with billet 2024-T351 aluminium centres
- Rim halves are computer designed, custom built to print, proprietary, rotary forged, CNC precision machined 6061-T6
Gibson Ultimate 5 Spoke Wheels
- New proprietary "tri-bolt" 5-spoke configuration minimizes stress concentrations inherent in many other 5-spoke wheels
- Wheels have no backside bolts or "blind threads" behind spokes
- Spokes are designed for maximum "area-moment" shape factor providing the most efficent spoke strength to weight possible
- All spoke cross-sections created with precision custom made aircraft style CNC form tools manufactured in USA
- State of the art MasterCam CAD-CAM is used "in-house" to produce specialized free-form out-of-plane cutter paths
- The new Gibson 5-spoke wheel's advanced design and manufacturing technology allow maximum strength at minimum weight
- Available in 15" to 21" diameters
- Available for 4, 5 & 6 Bolt applications, traditional centrelock applications and new Porsche centrelock system applications
- Available with super light weight ultra high strength 6AL-4V Titanium fasteners manufactured for Boeing Aircraft
- Available with billet 2024-T351 aluminium centres
- Rim halves are computer designed, custom built to print, proprietary, rotary forged, CNC precision machined 6061-T6
Image Gallery Of Gibson Road Race Wheels
Click here to view an image gallery of Gibson Road Race Wheels ...
http://www.tunersgroup.com/lightboxes/gibson_road_race/index.html
Quality, Engineering, Materials & Manufacturing Info
Pure Craftsmanship And Attention To Detail
Inside view of wheel featuring polished inner rim - unique in wheel industry
Machining is done on highly specialised CNC machining equipment by highly skilled CNC operators, inhouse at Gibson Engineering's workshop in Huntington Beach California.
Unlike some manufacturers of wheels, Gibson does it's own machining inhouse.
This ensures absolute quality and precision at every step of the manufacturing process for Gibson wheels.
Gibson Road Racing Wheels are assembled by hand by specialist experts inhouse at Gibson Engineering's workshop.
What are the advantages of 3 piece wheels ?
1. Ease of repair
The easy obvious reason is ease of repair.
If a 3-piece wheel is damaged, the damaged rim section can be replaced without replacing the whole wheel.
This can significantly reduce repair costs.
2. Info about Billet 2024-T351 Centres
Tim Gibson explains ...
The 3-piece design allows us the use of a billet 2024-T351 aluminium center.
The 2024-T351 aluminium material is classic aircraft structural wing spar material.
Therefore, a 3-piece wheel made of billet 2024-T351 can be lighter, stronger, and have lower rotational inertia than other wheels.
3. Round, true, low run-out wheels
Excellent machine tooling is critical to producing a round, true, low run-out wheel.
Gibson explains ...
Most wheels are machined using a standard axial compression jaw type chuck and a center hold down fixture, but due to their compressive and bending forces, this can easily cause distortion during manufacturing.
Instead, our custom made tooling is designed to maintain precise concentricity and have no compressive or bending forces acting on the wheel at any time.
Also, we incorporate an additional step in manufacturing ...
After all machine work has been done, the wheel is mounted in the CNC lathe exactly as it is mounted on the car, and a final truing operation is done.
This step removes any run-out caused by residual stress, metal removal, induced stress etc.
4. Flexible wheel design with our billet CNC machined centers
Using a billet CNC machined center allows much greater flexibility in wheel design.
Since all Gibson wheels are designed, engineered and machined inhouse, we can accommodate most requirements.
Offsets (or backspace), brake caliper position, or most other requirements present little or no problem.
Titanium Fasteners Information
As mentioned above, Gibson Racing Wheels can be built with with top of the range high strength & light weight titanium fasteners manufactured for Boeing Aircraft.
These are a very special fastener indeed.
Tim Gibson says:
We have a load cell that we test fasteners with in-house at Gibson Engineering.
We've tested a lot of titanium bolts, but the particular Boeing aircraft fasteners that we use are absolutely the top of the top.
I did a lot of "detective" work to track down these bolts.
They have a "flat gold" finish, which is an anti-sieze coating developed by the military so the bolts can be torqued up properly without galling the threads or load bearing area.
A titanium bolt used at high torque levels (structural applications) without some kind of anti-seize treatment will experience galling, making an accurate torque reading impossible.
I never know if people actually read this stuff or not. The other wheel companies talk about "a bold new stance and attitude", and I talk about thread galling and the engineering of fasteners. Hopefully someone is paying attention.
There's a lot to this subject, and the attention to detail we pay to the fasteners we use is a great example of our attention to detail and craftsmanship in all areas of our Gibson Racing Wheels.
Technical Paper About The Engineering Features Of Gibson Racing Wheels
Click on the link below to read an article about Gibson Racing Wheels published in Race Tech International Magazine ...
http://www.gibsonwheels.com/RaceTechDec09.pdf
Click on the link below to read an article about Gibson Racing Wheels published in Drag Racer Magazine, Jan 2010 Issue, Feature Article titled "Reinventing the Wheel, Tim Gibson Engineers a Winner" ...
http://www.gibsonwheels.com/DRArticleJan2010.pdf
Anodizing info
As shown in the photos above, rather than painting wheels to achieve certain colour finishes, often the centres of Gibson Racing Wheels are anodized instead of painted.
Gibson Racing Wheels can be painted of course, but here is some info about the benefits of anodizing vs painting ...
http://www.anodizing.org/Anodizing/benefits.html reads ...
"The unique anodized finish is the only one in the metals industry that satisfies each of the factors that must be considered when selecting a high performance aluminum finish:
- Durability. Most anodized products have an extremely long life span and offer significant economic advantages through maintenance and operating savings. Anodizing is a reacted finish that is integrated with the underlying aluminum for total bonding and unmatched adhesion.
- Color Stability. Exterior anodic coatings provide good stability to ultraviolet rays, do not chip or peel, and are easily repeatable.
- Ease of Maintenance. Scars and wear from fabrication, handling, installation, frequent surface dirt cleaning and usage are virtually non-existent. Rinsing or mild soap and water cleaning usually will restore an anodized surface to its original appearance. ...
- Aesthetics. Anodizing offers a large increasing number of gloss and color alternatives and minimizes or eliminates color variations. Unlike other finishes, anodizing allows the aluminum to maintain its metallic appearance.
- Cost. A lower initial finishing cost combines with lower maintenance costs for greater long-term value.
- Health and Safety. Anodizing is a safe process that is not harmful to human health. An anodized finish is chemically stable, will not decompose; is non-toxic; and is heat-resistant to the melting point of aluminum (1,221 degrees F.)
Since the anodizing process is a reinforcement of a naturally occurring oxide process, it is non-hazardous and produces no harmful or dangerous by-products."
How To Order
As every set of Gibson Road Race Wheels is custom built to suit your car and your racing application, the price of your wheels is quoted on an individual basis according to the centre material, diameter, width and finish that you require.
Please contact us for pricing information for a set of Gibson Racing Wheels for your car.
 | Click here to subscribe free to our RSS blog feed |
Homepage | Online Store | Featured Products | Newsletter Signup | TunerWire Live Blog
Customer Cars Gallery | Videos
The Tuners Group is based in Sydney NSW Australia and we ship products worldwide from warehouses in Japan, Australia, the United States and the UK.
Our company is a racing parts distributor and retailer. All parts sold by Waenick Pty Ltd, except for street legal/DOT approved parts, are racing parts for off road use only. Federal and many State laws prohibit the removal, modification, or rendering inoperable of any device or element of design affecting the vehicle emissions or safety of a vehicle used on public roads.
© All images and text on this website are protected by copyright under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act 1998 (DMCA). Copyright Waenick Pty Ltd. No copying, distribution, nor republication of any kind is permitted without written permission.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in the media, articles or comments on this website by any person who is not an owner or director or employee of Waenick Pty Ltd, necessarily represent only the views of the speaker(s) or author(s), are only the views and opinions of the speakers or authors, may only be attributed to those speakers and authors, and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions held by Waenick Pty Ltd.
websites for