chrome wires

[had17462]

Hi all, could anybody point me in the right direction on the best place to buy chrome wires ,whats the size i need etc.regards nick.

[RogerH]

Hi Nick,

firstly you have two choices

1 - what type of wheel to have.

2 - where from.

 

There are a variety of wheels - 60, 70, 72 spoke, chromed or painted.

The less spokes you have the easier to cleaner - but they are a bit flexible.

Chrome looks great but needs constant cleaning otherwise they go rusty.

Paint looks iffy on some body colours but rather good on others - red & green body looks OK with Grey/silver wheels

White body paint looks cheap (my opinion) with grey/silver wheels.

 

72 spoke chromed centrelace on white body looks ace.

 

Where from - If you go to the major outlets you will get Dunlop wheels made under licence from a foreign country with possibly rather iffy manufacturing quality and unknown chrome work!!!

If you go to a specialist supplier MWS etc you get known quality, but costs a little more.

 

You need to look around and see whats out there.

 

 

Roger

[Don Elliott]

Be careful with chromed wire wheels. With time the chrome will diffuse into the steel wires causing embrittlement and then they will break. That's why they were always painted. If you are planning to trailer your car to car shows, then chrome will be nice. Today so-called "chrome" wires are really stainless steel that has been highly polished to shine like chrome and it will not become brittle, nor will they become rusty. So check with your supplier before making your decision.

[dykins]

Whilst I have only the standard steel wheels on my 4, I have to say that to me chrome wires look a little too "flash"

 

Given a choice (and the money) I would always prefer some nice Minilite alloys rather than the comparatively high maintainance wires.

 

But, each to their own...

 

Regards

 

Peter

[kob666e]

It's a personnal choice and up to the individual and the image you are trying to create. I ditched my 4.5j x 15 painted wires, with 185 Avon classic tyres, (fun if you enjoy unpredictable motoring!!) for a more meaty looking centre lock 5.5j x 15 Minilite with 195/15/65 soft rubber for dry weather use, you still maintain the approx. circumferance of the origional 155/15 tyre. And oh boy did it change the look and the handling immensely, and always a talking point when someone looks at the car. Also I was able to keep the splined hubs and a wire as a spare.

 

They cost about the same as chrome wires, are easier to keep clean and are made in the UK.

[lars]

It's a personnal choice and up to the individual and the image you are trying to create. I ditched my 4.5j x 15 painted wires, with 185 Avon classic tyres, (fun if you enjoy unpredictable motoring!!) for a more meaty looking centre lock 5.5j x 15 Minilite with 195/15/65 soft rubber for dry weather use, you still maintain the approx. circumferance of the origional 155/15 tyre. And oh boy did it change the look and the handling immensely, and always a talking point when someone looks at the car. Also I was able to keep the splined hubs and a wire as a spare.

 

They cost about the same as chrome wires, are easier to keep clean and are made in the UK.

[/quot

 

 

I also have 4.5jx painted wires on my 4a.But now I have a chance to buy some used minilites.They have no centerlock.Do I have to change to longer studs?

 

Regards Lars.

[david ferry]

Lars,

 

Assuming there are no spacers behind the splined hubs, the wheels studs will have been shortened so the answer to your question will be yes.

 

If there are spacers, remove them and you should be OK with the studs you have.

 

You may wish to do a search on the forum to discover some of the problems that others have experienced when fitting minilite replica wheels.

 

Some wheels that are available may catch on various parts of the front suspension and/or brakes. The answer is then to very carefully remove metal from the parts catching on the wheel (in my opinion not a good idea), change the wheels for some that actually fit, or to fit spacers between the wheel and the hub.

 

The point of all this is to suggest that you really should take great care with this change. It may not be as simple and straightforward as it may seem.

 

Hopefully, your wheels will fit without any difficulties.

 

Good luck

 

David

[robgeev]

Enough said in my opinion.

 

PS, notice the jaunty angle of my front bumper-that's what happens when you use the rear bumper of a TR6 as a stopping device! Ooops!

Edited April 23, 2007 by robgeev

[Rob Leech]

Hi all, could anybody point me in the right direction on the best place to buy chrome wires ,whats the size i need etc.regards nick.

 

Hi Nick,

As you know I have lots of 4 & 4A spares which include 6 off painted wire wheels with spinners if you are interested.

Regards

Rob

Edited April 27, 2007 by Rob Leech

[had17462]

Hi Nick,

As you know I have lots of 4 & 4A spares which include 6 off painted wire wheels with spinners if you are interested.

Regards

Rob

Thanks everyone ,i would like the chrome wires but its difficult as whats the best [centre laced] 70/72 spokes,5.5 0r 6, where to get them etc. nick.

[IanR]

Hi,

I think that amongst the cheapest places to buy chrome wires or indeed any other wires is the TR Shop. These are, according to the labels anyway, MWS wires which, despite the above comments, are made under licence from Dunlop in India, as they have been from way back. I'm told that MWS will be willing to do a deal though whether that will be better than the TR shop I do not know,.... but dont buy other than MWS wheels from whatever source, they are the oldest supplier as I understand it. You can of course buy others and I think here you should be wary as MWS now provide SS spokes and chrome steel rims, whereas others may still provide steel chromed spakes .. see comments above

Throughout my rebuild I have always aimed for chromed ww but in the end I bought minilites, apart from asthetics, which may mean everything or nothing, wires have little, none or negative advantage but .. they are nice..

 

Good luck with the cleaning though whatever you buy, 60 spoke are I guess OK on a standard 4a, but if its mildly driven in spirit I recommend 72 spoke.

Hope this helps

 

 

Cheers

[IanR]

PS,

Centre laced will stick out too far ,unless you like that stuff, cross laced 5.5J is what you need. 6J cross laced I think are now difficult to find, thay are all centre laced , ie they stick out even more. See Robsons book page 108 for an example (TR5 but same body so same effect)..

[had17462]

PS,

Centre laced will stick out too far ,unless you like that stuff, cross laced 5.5J is what you need. 6J cross laced I think are now difficult to find, thay are all centre laced , ie they stick out even more. See Robsons book page 108 for an example (TR5 but same body so same effect)..

Thanks again,thats what i needed ,nick.

[AndrewMAshton]

Hello,

 

I have chrome wires (60 spoke) on my white 4A and would normally concur with the comments re cleaning, I once spent a whole day cleaning the wheels after getting caught out on what started as a dry winters day and ended a wet salty day, however my world has been transformed by MWS Specialist Wheel cleaner from Moss and I guess other suppliers, it took less than an hour to clean my 4 wheels and they look good, don't be put off wires because of the cleaning!

 

Andrew

[helicfii]

Old thread, I realize, but have any of you fellows tried the Dayton Chrome Wire Wheels? They have stainless steel spokes, are available tubeless (yes-!) and the manufacturer claims that they will never require re-tuning. And they are beautiful.

 

http://www.daytonwirewheels.com/spline_drive.html

 

Anyone?