minilite wheels

[littlejim]

Dear Dorothy Dix.

The 'to-do' list will soon be completed and I will have to change from 'fixing' the 4A to 'using' the 4A, ('dull' satin though it be).

being new to centre fixed spoked wheels, and despite the trip from Melbourne to Canberra (so long ago) with no problems, I was into belting the wing nuts rather severely before venturing on to the Canberra roads.

However on one of the last excursions before the fixing saga began, I had the disconcerting experience of hearing a metallic 'ding' (luckily in the frequency range I can hear) and, soon after, overtaking the right hand front wing nut. It was a single lane 80KPH road which allowed me to pull off before the wheel went bush, but it is an experience I do not wish to repeat, especially in the outside lane of a 110KPH freeways. The nervous 'tic' starts up at the thought of it.

I'm thinking about getting a set of the 'minilite' type wheels held on by 4 smaller nuts in lieu of 1 big b*gger.

Has anyone had similar experiences with the wire wheels, or rather the 'Jesus' nuts holding them on, or am I just being a wimp who needs lessons on how to do them up properly?

 

Yours faithfully,

Twitchy

[stuart]

Dear Dorothy Dix.

The 'to-do' list will soon be completed and I will have to change from 'fixing' the 4A to 'using' the 4A, ('dull' satin though it be).

being new to centre fixed spoked wheels, and despite the trip from Melbourne to Canberra (so long ago) with no problems, I was into belting the wing nuts rather severely before venturing on to the Canberra roads.

However on one of the last excursions before the fixing saga began, I had the disconcerting experience of hearing a metallic 'ding' (luckily in the frequency range I can hear) and, soon after, overtaking the right hand front wing nut. It was a single lane 80KPH road which allowed me to pull off before the wheel went bush, but it is an experience I do not wish to repeat, especially in the outside lane of a 110KPH freeways. The nervous 'tic' starts up at the thought of it.

I'm thinking about getting a set of the 'minilite' type wheels held on by 4 smaller nuts in lieu of 1 big b*gger.

Has anyone had similar experiences with the wire wheels, or rather the 'Jesus' nuts holding them on, or am I just being a wimp who needs lessons on how to do them up properly?

 

Yours faithfully,

Twitchy

 

Provided you have them fitted to the correct sides Then you shouldnt have any problems. I ran a 3.8 MK2 Jaguar on wires for many years hard driving and never had any problems and they are a damn sight heavier and more powerful than a TR.

Stuart.

[mfperks]

Now I know I'm probably wrong, but did you have the splines on the correct side of the car?

The center nuts should be self tightening and not unscrew. They are threaded L/h and R/h for this reason.

Also, not that many race cars loose the wheels in this fashion ----- ?

 

You beat me to it Stuart!

Edited August 18, 2010 by mfperks

[67_gt6]

Jim, I had wire wheels on a GT6 for 40k miles with no issues. I had wheels on/off a lot and at no time was the spinner on anything other than fully tight when I came to knock it off. In theory they tighten up further as you use them. They only require 3 or 4 good knocks with the hammer - with the wheel off the ground - to tighten up properly. I also found that I could not shift the spinner off at all if I didn't jack the wheel up first.

 

Obviously care has to be taken to make sure the threaded adaptors are on the correct side of the car. Splines on the wrong side of the car, very worn splines or hub studs that are too long to allow the wheel to sit properly on the hub adaptor are possible reasons for losing a spinner. But my experience was that if the components are all correct and in good shape there is no prospect of losing a wheel.

 

When I bought my 4A I inherited brand new chrome wires. I found them such a b*ll ache on the GT6 to get balanced properly and clean that I sold them and converted to Minilites. Never looked back, the 4A is smooth as silk whereas the GT6 always had a little vibe at very high speed.

 

Andy

Edited August 18, 2010 by 67_gt6

[littlejim]

thanks chasps,

trawling through the memory banks I recall that the trip from Melbourne to Canberra was done before I found the PO had paid good money to have the hubs and nuts put on the wrong sides (L on R etc.)

The sad part is I can't remember whether the incident where I was overtaken by the wheelnut, was before or after I swapped things over.

The confident responses mean I'm going to stick with the KO's and just think of England over 80K. (I'm over 70 for Chr#st's sake.)

 

By way of explanation of my doubts, having read the bit about them tightening up, (has anybody measured whether they really do?): I used to

commute to work with two Huey pilots likely to end up in Vietnam at any stage, one of whom was obviously nuts, and was later boarded out of the RAAF for that reason.

They had both been trained that if the brown faecal material hit the fan, the aluminium structure underneath their feet would absorb the crushing forces and that they would survive. To anyone who wasn't a Huey pilot it was obvious that in those circumstances they would dead, enclosed by crumpled aluminium.

 

The wheelnut thing has similar overtones for me.

Edited August 18, 2010 by littlejim

[67_gt6]

Well, if you put them on the wrong side they start to loosen off so I don't think it is too much of a leap of faith that the opposite may be true when they are on the correct side...

 

Andy

[Ian Vincent]

thanks chasps,

trawling through the memory banks I recall that the trip from Melbourne to Canberra was done before I found the PO had paid good money to have the hubs and nuts put on the wrong sides (L on R etc.)

The sad part is I can't remember whether the incident where I was overtaken by the wheelnut, was before or after I swapped things over.

The confident responses mean I'm going to stick with the KO's and just think of England over 80K. (I'm over 70 for Chr#st's sake.)

 

By way of explanation of my doubts, having read the bit about them tightening up, (has anybody measured whether they really do?): I used to

commute to work with two Huey pilots likely to end up in Vietnam at any stage, one of whom was obviously nuts, and was later boarded out of the RAAF for that reason.

They had both been trained that if the brown faecal material hit the fan, the aluminium structure underneath their feet would absorb the crushing forces and that they would survive. To anyone who wasn't a Huey pilot it was obvious that in those circumstances they would dead, enclosed by crumpled aluminium.

 

The wheelnut thing has similar overtones for me.

 

 

Yes they do tighten up (provided that the hubs are on the correct side). Years ago when I had an AH with wires they used to wind themselves tight and were a pain to release - I used to have to give them some welly with a large hide / copper hammer.

 

Rgds Ian