knockon removal for minilites

[bill griffiths]

I fitted original minilites to my Plus two.
They are 1 inch bigger in diameter, but the hammer is inexorably drawn to the contours of the wheel when aiming for the ears!
Several suppliers advertise a solution, but seems to me that the best way is to have a lever of sufficient length with a fitting to place over the ears.
The lever probably has to be at least several feet long, but has anyone succeeded in determining the dimensions?
Regards...and Happy New Year!
Bill

[Baggy2]

I believe the correct torque for the spinners/nuts is 200 (or is it 225?) ft pounds. I weigh around 200 pound so i figure if i put most of my body weight on a lever 30" long I will easily reach the required torque. To date this has worked fine. I usually have a bigger problem loosening the spinners than tightening them.
Its a bigger problem for all you slim guys out there I guess

[elanman999]

Happy new year Bill,
When I had my plus2 I had the same problem with Minilites. I had home made octagon nuts to hold the wheels on and made a spanner to fit. I don't remember exactly how long it was but it did just fit in the boot so I would say it was near to a metre in length. Nothing complicated just a ring spanner to fit the nut welded to a piece of flat bar, say about 45*6mm in section. You could make something similar for spinners.
The key when tightening the wheels is to always check the tightness after 10 or twenty miles.
Hope this helps.
John.
Baggy, just seen your post, I'm one of those slim guys, that's why I needed a metre, LoL.

[Baggy2]

Just looked in the Lotus manual - it says 200 to 220 ft pounds. It also says "check 5 to 10 miles after fitting then every 1000 miles"
Happy new Lotusing
Baggy

[wdb]

R.D. Enterprises in the US has a knock-on tool that works well. Go to https://www.rdent.com/index.html and click on the "Tool Chest" link to see it.

The fellow I bought the S3 from had one and it works very well. He used a breaker bar with an add-on torque gizmo to tighten the wheels. I have a large enough torque wrench which naturally works fine also. The site cautions about fitment with different wheels; I've used it with factory S3 wheels without issue. The biggest problem I have is with the front knock-ons, because the wheel wants to turn. I may try a wheel chock on both sides next time to see if that helps.

[JohnCh]

I have the same tool wdb mentions and also recommend it. No issues with stock S4 wheels, but no idea about the Minilites. Don't forget that if using a torque wrench, you need one that will torque in both directions. I've had good luck with this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BYG66BT

-John

[elans3]

For my last S3, I bought a removal tool made by WheelWidget, Specialist Component Manufacturer (Run by Lionel Roberts.) Lionel has retired now, but similar tools are available from Kelsport etc.
I torqued mine with a 30" torque wrench to 180 Lbs/Ft. Never had an issue, apart from undoing them..... how you guys that torque to 220lbs get them off, God only knows !
180 was difficult enough, even using two chocks.

[stugilmour]

A guy named Sarto (used to be regularly on the forum, but haven’t seen him post in a while) developed the knock-off tool. Username: mac5777 last visited last summer.

Thinking this website might be featuring a refinement or improvement of the original as shown on RD?

https://knockoffspinnertool.com/tool-history/

I use the Federal style Nader Nuts with real Minilites. What is the profile of the seats on your wheels? Mine were a convex curve that didn’t work well with the conical shape on the Nader Nut. I got new seats for the Minilites and no loosening issues since.

Stu

[alanr]

I think the problem the OP is referring to is that when the original spinner is fitted in conjunction with a Minilite wheel it puts the ears of the spinner so close to the webs of the wheel that it is not possible to fit the 'Lionel' type tool and also if hitting the ears with a lead hammer it risks chipping the paint of the Minilite due again to the spinner ear being so close to the Minilite web.
I suspect that currently there is not a solution. It needs a spacer to enable the spinner to be further out from the Minilite.

Alan.

[h20hamelan]

Or take an existing tool, and modify.
I use brass strapping to take up the 1/8inch. I tried Delron and some other things to correct the gap


https://www.google.com/search?q=otc+2+5 ... ent=safari

[stugilmour]

Good point Alan. Does that mean the Sarto / RD tool does not work with Minilites?

I have both 13” and 14” Minilites.

IIRC the 14”, which I assume were originally supplied by Spyder but not 100% sure, did have a pretty thick conical shaped seat that spaced out my Nader Nut a bunch.

The 13” were ordered from Minilite thru their then US agent (since passed away). They had a rounded profile and were much thinner and tighter to the wheel. First attempt was to locally machine the seats to a conical profile, which worked for three out of the four. I think I then managed to source four conical profile seats with better spacing.

Perhaps an easier idea is to order four Nader Nuts? My socket style wrench spaces fine to the wheel as there is a raised ridge to hold the socket proud of the wheel. The real clearance issue is to the rear fender ridge, but it works. Just an idea.

[alanr]

Yes I think the best possible current solution is to only use chrome centre nuts and not eared spinners with Minilite wheels.

Alan.

[bulfin]

I use a short pine 2x4 (4x2?) for my spinners. Place one end on an ear and hit the other. The 2x4 may distort some but doesn't scratch/hurt the ear.

Bob

[wdb]

The RD tool was designed for use with Minilite-style wheels, according to their site.

[richardl46]

I have 14" Minilites from Spyder and found the same problem, with the ears of the spinner coming far too close to the wheel. At first I put a 1/4" sheet of rubber between the spinner and the wheel, but that made the task quite awkward.
Any normal hardwood I used soon shattered, but I came across an old sledge hammer shaft that is probably hickory and so far has worked well with a copper headed mallet. A heavier mallet would very likely be an advantage.
Richard