Minilites / Knock Off / Wheel Spinner

PostPost by: Jolly Jumper » Thu Aug 02, 2007 9:07 am

Just bought a set of Minilites to replace the wobbly steel wheels on my Elan S4.
I went for the 100mm backspace. My Elan has the knock-offs.

The problem is: The original wheel spinners are not up to the job. I do not know how to express it correctly, but the problem is the wheels cannot be tightened, the wheels spinners do not reach the wheel. My mechanic says I need different spinners. Any ideas?
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PostPost by: stuartgb100 » Thu Aug 02, 2007 12:13 pm

Minilite can supply a spacer which fits between the spinner and the rim. It is approx a quarter inch thick.

Is that the sort of gap you have when the spinner is fully tight?

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PostPost by: Jolly Jumper » Thu Aug 02, 2007 1:01 pm

sgbooth wrote:Minilite can supply a spacer which fits between the spinner and the rim. It is approx a quarter inch thick.

Is that the sort of gap you have when the spinner is fully tight?

Regards,
Stuart.


Stuart, my mechanic just found the spacers in the box! :oops:
Now we have a chance!
But we also found out that there different types of spinners, some have less thread than others. Can someone confirm this?
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PostPost by: mac5777 » Thu Aug 02, 2007 3:27 pm

Jolly Jumper,
Does your spinner look like mine? There was a SS or safty spinner for the US, I think for the S4's, where the ears of the spinner bent back ( for safty????) I have never seen one but I would think that the ears would hit the wheel on panasports or minilites
Here is a picture of my Panasports wheel and it has the spacer build into the wheel for a harder surface to tighen the spinner against. If it didn't the spinner's ears would hit the wheel.
I have to say this---- With your new minilites you don't want to hit them with a hammer, soooo look at my spinner tool in the business and vendor section and protect your new wheels.
Thor may still have an extra tool that could be available. Check with him.
I sent him a new re-ground tool that did work with his 10 spoke lotus alloy wheels. So he has the standard tool that fits our spinners and clears the wheels that he was going to send back. If he has not sold it already, or sent it back, PM me about price.
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THIS NEW TOOL INSTRUCTION.doc
This is instructions and pictures of how close the spinner is to the wheel and how the tool protects the chrome on the spinner and it does not touch the wheel.
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PostPost by: PeterDraper » Thu Aug 02, 2007 3:33 pm

I bought a set & had no problem with the spinners & no need for spacers. My poblem was the tyres on the standard wheel I was using were Goodyear 165 GT /65/R13 These have worked well on the standard rims but on the Minilite rims ehich were 1/2" wider it was obvious the old tyre was going to foul the body when the suspension compressed. I am intrested in which tyre you are going to use. I have seen recomended in the Lotus Club News Dunlop SP 10 & Uniroyal R680 or for fast use Michein XAS FF in 115 13 from Longstone Tyres
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PostPost by: Jolly Jumper » Thu Aug 02, 2007 3:59 pm

PeterDraper wrote:I bought a set & had no problem with the spinners & no need for spacers. My poblem was the tyres on the standard wheel I was using were Goodyear 165 GT /65/R13 These have worked well on the standard rims but on the Minilite rims ehich were 1/2" wider it was obvious the old tyre was going to foul the body when the suspension compressed. I am intrested in which tyre you are going to use. I have seen recomended in the Lotus Club News Dunlop SP 10 & Uniroyal R680 or for fast use Michein XAS FF in 115 13 from Longstone Tyres
Peter


Peter, the "spacer" is actually a ring which goes between the wheel and the wheel spinner. You see it on the pic posted above.
As for tyres, I have the Michelin XAS 155/13, but I still fully expect the tyres and/or the wheels to touch something. This is an Elan, after all :wink: . On a more serious note I am sooo fed up with all these wheels troubles, the original steel wheels are so wobbly you cannot drive the car at speeds higher than 100km/h, I got a bad set of remade originals, now I hope the Minilites will help me...

@Mac5777: I have the spinner you see on your pic. But it seems there are remanufactured spanners around which have the original look but less thread inside them.
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PostPost by: mac5777 » Thu Aug 02, 2007 4:12 pm

Measure the inside of the spinner or count the threads and I'll pull one of mine off and do the same. You don't want the spinner to bottom out before it is fully torqued.
The Michelin XAS 155/13 is the tire I want to try if I could find them here without selling the family dog. It is just a bit taller and will keep my revs down on the highways

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PostPost by: tonycharente » Fri Aug 10, 2007 9:17 pm

Jolly Jumper wrote:Just bought a set of Minilites to replace the wobbly steel wheels on my Elan S4.
I went for the 100mm backspace. My Elan has the knock-offs.

The problem is: The original wheel spinners are not up to the job. I do not know how to express it correctly, but the problem is the wheels cannot be tightened, the wheels spinners do not reach the wheel. My mechanic says I need different spinners. Any ideas?


Very surprised by your problem, as surely the Minilites (with or without spacer rings) are much thicker than the original steel rims. I have an S4 and I have both original steels and Minilites, and with the Minilites on there is a fair bit LESS thread showing for the spinner to screw on to, not more. So how can your spinners not reach the wheel if they reached the steel ones no problem?

Or have I misunderstood?
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PostPost by: Jolly Jumper » Sun Aug 19, 2007 2:56 pm

tonycharente wrote:Very surprised by your problem, as surely the Minilites (with or without spacer rings) are much thicker than the original steel rims. I have an S4 and I have both original steels and Minilites, and with the Minilites on there is a fair bit LESS thread showing for the spinner to screw on to, not more. So how can your spinners not reach the wheel if they reached the steel ones no problem?

Or have I misunderstood?


I think the offset is also important. There are also different Minilite wheels on the market, some are called Minilites but are in fact made by a different manufacture tec.
Anyway, with the "spacers" the wheels went on my car without a problem. Now the car is transformed! I can cruise at 90 mph without vibration. I'm in heaven! :P
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PostPost by: CBUEB1771 » Mon Aug 20, 2007 2:51 pm

tonycharente wrote:Very surprised by your problem, as surely the Minilites (with or without spacer rings) are much thicker than the original steel rims. I have an S4 and I have both original steels and Minilites, and with the Minilites on there is a fair bit LESS thread showing for the spinner to screw on to, not more. So how can your spinners not reach the wheel if they reached the steel ones no problem?

Or have I misunderstood?


The Minilite casting is certainly thicker than the steel from which the standard peg drive wheels are pressed. The issue is that the standard steel wheels are pressed in a very three dimensional form. The area contacted by the knock-on nut is quite a distance outboard of the hub flange holding the drive pegs. By comparison the Minilites are essentially planar in this area and the nut has to travel further to contact the wheel. I bought a set of Minilites for my Plus 2 quite a while ago and encountered just this problem. Minilite later revised the design of the thrust rings to be much thicker. This solves the problem of the knock-on nut bottoming on the thread before contacting the early style thrust ring.
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PostPost by: tonycharente » Mon Aug 20, 2007 4:46 pm

CBUEB1771 wrote:
tonycharente wrote:Very surprised by your problem, as surely the Minilites (with or without spacer rings) are much thicker than the original steel rims. I have an S4 and I have both original steels and Minilites, and with the Minilites on there is a fair bit LESS thread showing for the spinner to screw on to, not more. So how can your spinners not reach the wheel if they reached the steel ones no problem?

Or have I misunderstood?


The Minilite casting is certainly thicker than the steel from which the standard peg drive wheels are pressed. The issue is that the standard steel wheels are pressed in a very three dimensional form. The area contacted by the knock-on nut is quite a distance outboard of the hub flange holding the drive pegs. By comparison the Minilites are essentially planar in this area and the nut has to travel further to contact the wheel. I bought a set of Minilites for my Plus 2 quite a while ago and encountered just this problem. Minilite later revised the design of the thrust rings to be much thicker. This solves the problem of the knock-on nut bottoming on the thread before contacting the early style thrust ring.


As we often say on this site, each car is different! Or as I believe the Americans amongst us often say "Your mileage may vary"... On my car with the Minilites on there is definitely much LESS thread showing....

By the way, my Minilites (6 X 13) weigh a fair bit MORE than the original Lotus steels.

Cheers
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PostPost by: msd1107 » Tue Aug 21, 2007 12:49 am

Yes, it is really sad, but Minilite does not seem to be serving the lightweight car market anymore.

In previous years, the 6 X 5.5 weighed under 10 lbs.

The steel Lotus wheel weighs 12-13 lbs.

The new Minilites are heavier, and are more suited for 3000 lbs sedans rather than our 1500 lb Elans.

Panasport has done the same thing.

If you have knock-offs, the situation is pretty grim. However, if you have bolt on wheels.

http://www.superlite-wheels.com/technical.html

have 13 X 6 in various weights (depending on how much you want to pay). They will make the wheel in 3 3/4 PCD with the offset you want. However, they do not look anything like Minilite or Lotus wheels.

Bad situation all around. And unfortunately, Minilite do not appear to be interested in serving our market anymore. Too bad.

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PostPost by: Jolly Jumper » Tue Aug 21, 2007 7:20 am

CBUEB1771 wrote:
The Minilite casting is certainly thicker than the steel from which the standard peg drive wheels are pressed. The issue is that the standard steel wheels are pressed in a very three dimensional form. The area contacted by the knock-on nut is quite a distance outboard of the hub flange holding the drive pegs. By comparison the Minilites are essentially planar in this area and the nut has to travel further to contact the wheel. (...)


This is exactly what I meant! :)

@ msd 1107: I don't know what you are up to. Why is the situation "bad"?? Minilite wheels are available, Minilite care and the quality is much better than the original steel wheels and the reproduction steel wheels. The scale showed 5,5 kg for my 5 x 13 Minilite wheel. I do not know the weight of original steel wheel but I shall find out soon.

You mention a 6 x 13 wheel. This will most certainly never fit a standed Elan, 6inch wheels will rub somewhere, either arches or springs.
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PostPost by: tonycharente » Wed Aug 22, 2007 8:13 pm

Jolly Jumper wrote:You mention a 6 x 13 wheel. This will most certainly never fit a standed Elan, 6inch wheels will rub somewhere, either arches or springs.


The 6X13 Minilites are OK on my S4 but only up to 155/70 tyre size. Compared to the standard rims with these same size tyres the 6X13's make the car feel more kart like. But compared to 155/80's they drop the overall gearing noticeably. But with 165/70's or 155/80's they touch the inside of the rear wheel arch when cornering hard - so I stick with the 155/70's.

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PostPost by: gordont » Fri Mar 18, 2011 4:58 am

does anyone have 13 x 6" minilites that they can tell me the backspace of?
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