+2 Loose wheels
Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 9:05 pm
I am currently giving my steel wheels a much needed refresh. After removing the tyres, each wheel was mounted on a front hub to check run out. Disconcertingly, one wheel was still loose on the hub when the spinner was bottoming out on the threads. Swapping the front spinner for the rear enabled all play to be removed from the wheel. Fitting the same wheel to the rear hub with the original front spinner also removed all play.
The wheels are in all in reasonably good condition and no damage visible on the locating tapers on the wheels or spinners. Some light corrosion is present on both the wheels and the hub mating surfaces. As far as I am aware wheels hubs and spinners are original fittings. Presumably the wheel centre is distorted in some way or the slight corrosion is sufficient to prevent the spinner bearing on the wheel.
The issue that is really troubling me is that if this hub/wheel/spinner combination is typical then I have assumed that my wheels are under the correct clamping tension because the spinners have all been fully torqued. However, if the spinner is bottoming on the threads then no amount of torque will make any difference to the clamping tension of the hub/spinner. The design of the hub only allows you to check if the there is any play on the hub not the clamping tension.
Although there is information on the web describing how the Rudge-Whitworth centre lock operates, information on the lotus system is less available. It appears to me that the wheels transmit drive/braking torque though surface friction between the wheel and hub flat surface and to a lesser extent the spinner/wheel taper (not the locating pins). The clamping tension must be key to this working correctly. Do the correct wheel dimensions allow the required clamping pressure to be exerted when the spinners bottom out on the hub?
I am wondering if it would be better to turn the spinner to eliminate wheel play and then tighten through a further angle to achieve the correct clamping pressure. This would also help to identify if the spinner was bottoming on the threads as the required angle would not be achievable. I have no idea what this angle should be..
Have other forum members experienced similar problems?
The wheels are in all in reasonably good condition and no damage visible on the locating tapers on the wheels or spinners. Some light corrosion is present on both the wheels and the hub mating surfaces. As far as I am aware wheels hubs and spinners are original fittings. Presumably the wheel centre is distorted in some way or the slight corrosion is sufficient to prevent the spinner bearing on the wheel.
The issue that is really troubling me is that if this hub/wheel/spinner combination is typical then I have assumed that my wheels are under the correct clamping tension because the spinners have all been fully torqued. However, if the spinner is bottoming on the threads then no amount of torque will make any difference to the clamping tension of the hub/spinner. The design of the hub only allows you to check if the there is any play on the hub not the clamping tension.
Although there is information on the web describing how the Rudge-Whitworth centre lock operates, information on the lotus system is less available. It appears to me that the wheels transmit drive/braking torque though surface friction between the wheel and hub flat surface and to a lesser extent the spinner/wheel taper (not the locating pins). The clamping tension must be key to this working correctly. Do the correct wheel dimensions allow the required clamping pressure to be exerted when the spinners bottom out on the hub?
I am wondering if it would be better to turn the spinner to eliminate wheel play and then tighten through a further angle to achieve the correct clamping pressure. This would also help to identify if the spinner was bottoming on the threads as the required angle would not be achievable. I have no idea what this angle should be..
Have other forum members experienced similar problems?