TR Rob Posted January 27 Report Share Posted January 27 (edited) My car has 4 wire wheels and a metal rim as a spare. The metal rim in the case of a puncture is difficult to get out of the spare wheel well and requires additional roadside work to fit in the case of a puncture. It has been suggested by other forum members that I replace the metal rimmed spare with a narrow wire wheel which will overcome my problems….anyone ! Edited January 27 by TR Rob Link to post Share on other sites
BlueTR3A-5EKT Posted January 27 Report Share Posted January 27 That is also known as a 48 spoke wire wheel. Link to post Share on other sites
TR Rob Posted January 27 Author Report Share Posted January 27 1 minute ago, BlueTR3A-5EKT said: That is also known as a 48 spoke wire wheel. Thanks….learning everyday !! Link to post Share on other sites
Tim T Posted January 27 Report Share Posted January 27 21 minutes ago, TR Rob said: My car has 4 wire wheels and a metal rim as a spare. The metal rim in the case of a puncture is difficult to get out of the spare wheel well and requires additional roadside work to fit in the case of a puncture. It has been suggested by other forum members that I replace the metal rimmed spare with a narrow wire wheel which will overcome my problems….anyone ! I had the same issue Rob and carried a steel wheel with a 155 tyre, from memory. I tried a 48 spoke spare but that didn’t solve the issue either! Tim Link to post Share on other sites
John Morrison Posted January 27 Report Share Posted January 27 Just to point out 48 spoke wires are known to be‘Weak’ in service so if you do get one beware if it ever ends up on the car John Link to post Share on other sites
TR Rob Posted January 27 Author Report Share Posted January 27 Oh dear , this is starting to get complicated. My present combination of wire road wheels and a steel rim spare means in the event of a puncture, not only have I got to get a wire wheel off I have to get the wire wheel extension off as well. This seems a fairly onerous task as I imagine getting the extension off at the roadside is no easy matter, as well as having to carry more quite heavy tools ! Anything I am missing here ? Link to post Share on other sites
james christie Posted January 27 Report Share Posted January 27 (edited) Or do what I did, I got seriously pithed off cleaning 60 spoke wire wheels and went for pseudo- minilites with 165 x 15 Vredesteins. The spare is a standard steel rim with 155x15 and something Chinese which slides beautifully into the spare wheel tray. The normal rim nuts are taped together in the wheel, ready to replace the minilite tube nuts. james Edited January 27 by james christie Link to post Share on other sites
RobH Posted January 27 Report Share Posted January 27 With a steel wheel, the thickest points are the tyre walls. No part of the wheel centre sticks out more than that. Is that so for a wire wheel - or does the hub centre stick out beyond the tyre? If it does that would surely make a wire wheel more problematic to get into the cavity. Link to post Share on other sites
Dave McDonald Posted January 27 Report Share Posted January 27 1 hour ago, TR Rob said: Oh dear , this is starting to get complicated. My present combination of wire road wheels and a steel rim spare means in the event of a puncture, not only have I got to get a wire wheel off I have to get the wire wheel extension off as well. This seems a fairly onerous task as I imagine getting the extension off at the roadside is no easy matter, as well as having to carry more quite heavy tools ! Anything I am missing here ? Rob, yes you are missing something. Usually the wheel studs which secure the wire wheel splined hub extension are very short with special thin wheel nuts. Even if you manage to get the extension off, these short studs are not long enough to safely fix the steel wheel. Dave McD Link to post Share on other sites
TR Rob Posted January 27 Author Report Share Posted January 27 22 minutes ago, Dave McDonald said: Rob, yes you are missing something. Usually the wheel studs which secure the wire wheel splined hub extension are very short with special thin wheel nuts. Even if you manage to get the extension off, these short studs are not long enough to safely fix the steel wheel. Dave McD Dave, thanks for that. This seems a right conundrum. So as I see it my present steel wheel which is very difficult to get out of the spare wheel housing won’t fit on the car in the event of a puncture ! A standard wire wheel as fitted to the car will not fit in the spare wheel well, unless perhaps deflated , which means as well as tools to change wheel I need some form of pump to inflate replacement wheel, car is starting to look like a travelling workshop ! This seems a lot of work at the roadside. l am definitely leaning to a 4” x 15”, 48 spoke wire wheel in good condition fitted with a narrow but serviceable tyre and use this set up as a get you home situation ! Any better ideas out there? Link to post Share on other sites
Phil Read Posted January 28 Report Share Posted January 28 I used a narrow profile tyre on my 68 spoke wheel. Not ideal but I consider it as a space saver wheel just for getting out of trouble. Link to post Share on other sites
OldBob Posted January 28 Report Share Posted January 28 21 hours ago, TR Rob said: Dave, thanks for that. This seems a right conundrum. So as I see it my present steel wheel which is very difficult to get out of the spare wheel housing won’t fit on the car in the event of a puncture ! A standard wire wheel as fitted to the car will not fit in the spare wheel well, unless perhaps deflated , which means as well as tools to change wheel I need some form of pump to inflate replacement wheel, car is starting to look like a travelling workshop ! This seems a lot of work at the roadside. l am definitely leaning to a 4” x 15”, 48 spoke wire wheel in good condition fitted with a narrow but serviceable tyre and use this set up as a get you home situation ! Any better ideas out there? Rob, Mine is a late TR2 on wires so I have been through this issue too. First thing I'd suggest is to take off one of your wire wheels and try it for fit in the spare wheel compartment. Early sidescreen cars had shallow compartments, later ones have slightly more depth. (my TR2 won't take a wire in the spare compartment and its the centre hub that causes this). If your wheel fits you are lucky and can simply acquire another identical wire to your set and you're done. If it doesn't fit, first thing is to check your tyre size on the steel rim you are using, a 155 profile tyre should fit the compartment on a steel rim. Mine accepts this arrangement. You then come to the point about wheel stud length as pointed out earlier in the thread - the wheel studs for wire wheel hubs are either shorter or need a 6mm spacer fitted to the longer standard stud to take up the additional length. These spacers are readily available, TR Shop for example. What do you have fitted? If you have standard studs with spacers then at wheel swap time simply remove the wire wheel hub with its sspacer and fit the steel wheel. Don't foorget you need to carry 4 steel rim wheel nuts and a wheel brace for this - the wire wheel hub nuts are different and not suitable. So begin with a wire wheel fit test in the compartment and check tyre size on the steel rim. PM with number if you want a chat Bob Link to post Share on other sites
Nigel C Posted January 28 Report Share Posted January 28 TR Rob, I to used to run with a steel spare (for other reasons) and 70 spoke wires. Your issue changing over on the side of the road is indeed removing the wheel nuts from the spline adapter. If its the back and your hand brake is good then you stand a chance, if its the front and you have no passenger to operate the foot brake you have no chance of undoing the nuts! To resolve this I used two pieces of timber with a nut and bolt in the end and a separate "locking bolt".. Put one end on the brake peddle, the other end on the seat runner. aaaand push down in the centre until the two timbers are straight. Then put the locking bolt through to lock it in place. If you have your measurements correct this will apply enough pressure to lock the brakes on so you can fiddle with your nuts on the side of the road to your hearts content! I know this all sounds a little Heath Robinson but not as daft as you would feel when your on the side of the road, in the dark, raining, looking for a unsuspecting passerby that you can inveigle into sitting in your car long enough to get the job done I wrote about this in one of my reports in the Traction, we are all guilty of jacking our cars up in the workshop, with all our workshop tools in "near perfect conditions". Next time you want to take a wheel off to do some fettling in your workshop just try and do it using only what you carry in the boot. If you can't achieve it then rethink your roadside equipment. I also carry one of those simple/cheap folding axle stands from the "Aldi man isle" and my son has the other for the same reason. IMHO....... As for cutting down studs because you're running adapters, I've never had to do this on three cars. On my present "ride" I have put just a slight angle on the edge of the studs as I checked and they could touch. Just use some "playdoh" to check. Stick a wodge on your nuts fit your wire wheel and tighten up. then remove and see what area you have to play with. I don't use those stupid double chamfered nuts either as they are a pain-in-the-a*"* to tighten up. I'm sure mine are Cortina Mk2? same thread, single chamfer at the right angle and a large enough head that you can tighten easily. Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts