Pros and cons of running a full moon disc?

I am leaning towards a set of 16" moon disc for the 36 revamp and was wondering if there were any pros/cons ?

Do the snap on discs stay on? Or are they really fast frisbees?

Do ya hafta unscrew em everytime ya need to add air to your tires?

How's the finish hold up?
Just wondering, the 16's aren't cheap.

 

I used the snap on ones on my wagon all summer.. I got them from mooneyes and they never came off.. We drove from Milwaukee to Indy for the Road rockets show, probably cruised about 80ish the way there and they stayed on fine.

The ones I got were the brushed stainless steel, so I don't think they are going to change in appearance at all.

I did notice that for a daily driver the snap on kind are a bit easier to mess with rather than the screw on or zeus type fittings... Just in case you have to add air, or replace your wheel bearings three times in one summer...... OOOPS.... My fault

Hope it helps.

 

[ QUOTE ]
Do ya hafta unscrew em everytime ya need to add air to your tires?

[/ QUOTE ]

When I ran the screw-on type several years ago, I had my buddy, who worked at a tire store, install long 90* truck valve stems so I could get to them from behind the wheel - still had to lay down to check/put air in the tire, but for me, it beat having to screw/unscrew the discs every time...

They stayed looking about the same for several years...

 

I ran the screw on ones on a couple of daily drivers in the past they were ok. Ran tubes in the tyres so tyre pressures didn,t cause any probs. Never liked the look of the push ons so much.

 

I've been curious about the snap ons too. I have never had a set of those but I LOVE the full disc look. On almost anything really.

Did you try any hard acceleration with your snap ons on the car? I have lost a couple of caps in the past to that little trick.

 

Yeah, the wagon has a pretty decently built small block... Plenty of brake torques and hard launches... Had to break it in nicley...

Along with plenty of trips down to Chicago through the fine pot hole infested city streets

Never had any of them pop off or even budge. I was a bit concerned when I first put them on, about driving on the freeway and having one of them come flying off like a frisbee,, but actually never had any problems... I'd suggest running the snap on ones, but just because I'm kind of lazy and don't want to crawl under the car to add air to the tires

 

I've never cared for the snap-on type, I'm too old fashioned. There's just something about the looks of them, I always look for the screws, a habit from long ago, and when I don't see them I'm always disappointed.

Frank

 

I'll JB weld some screw heads on there,,, you'll never know the difference

 

I've been running a set of screw mount ones on my wagon for a number of years. Someone on the HAMB told me a little trick, put a dab of silicone at each screw hole when you put the caps on, that keeps em from loosening up. Just a touch, you do have to get them off sometimes. I leave the car outside a lot and the caps have become somewhat stained/discolored from getting wet and sitting. I agree with the consensus bout the clip on ones, they don't look right. Go with screw mount style.

 

[ QUOTE ]
I'll JB weld some screw heads on there,,, you'll never know the difference



[/ QUOTE ]

Yes we will....


I'm with Fab32, the snap-ons look good, but they don't look quite right.

They'll come off on hard corners - on some cars - as well.
My pal's east bound 49 Ford coupe lost one turning south off Main Street to Seaward in Ventura, California.

Darned thing rolled right into a TV store on the corner.
Guess who was elected to go get it?
I walked in, got the cap, a couple of salesmen and some customers looked at me and never said a word....

It's not that big a deal to pop the screws off - specially with a T-handled Allen wrench.
Gotta admit though, I do like the idea of the 90 degree valve stems.

 

Root,
I'm running snap on discs on my '65 truck. I haven't tried to zoom it way up in the 200 mph range( ) but they haven't flown off at normal highway speeds.
I don't recall who made mine, but I'm pretty sure that they're aluminum. They'll have to be snapped off to air the tires, and I ***ume that when they salt the roads here I'll have to keep 'em rinsed, but that should be a problem for you.
I like 'em.

 

With screw on discs, you get to see the color of the wheel...which is necessary in most cases.

 

[ QUOTE ]
With screw on discs, you get to see the color of the wheel...which is necessary in most cases.

[/ QUOTE ]

 

"The Look"!!!!

 

I believe the true SCTA racers use Dzuse fasteners to hold them on today, don't know when they started to use them.

 

The 52 Buick has snap on full moons.
freshly painted rims help hold them in place.
none have slipped off since we do that before roadtrips.

 

Thanks.....I found a pic of Dad's old 36 at the track, it had WWW slicks and solid moons on it. Looked right.

 

I ran the "real" screw on moons on my van and 57. After dealing with stripped screwholes we drilled a hole completely thru the rim edge, welded a thin-head fine thread screw in from the back, ground the weld smooth, and used ny-lock nuts on the outside. No more flying sheetmetal screws. On the daily-driver van we used the same fasening method, just drilled a hole for the valve-stem. Just could'nt bring myself to use "snap-ons".

GMB

 

The van

GMB

 

I believe the snap on have a different look then the real screw on style. It is noticeable, if you are going to run full caps, then go with screw on.. not that hard to drill three holes per rim..

 

I'm running the snap on ones on my truck... I dig 'em... But now I may have to put a few screw in 'em for the haters...

 

PROS:

Look way cool on old timey rods & sleds

Can be used as makeshift snow-saucers for the kids

If you hold one up to your ear, you can hear what the dude across the room is saying

Allows you to save a few bucks...no need to buy nice wheels or chrome lugs

CONS:

Often come up missing when you park near frisbee tournaments

Don't easily let brake dust out to coat your wheels

Though concave, they rock too much to make good water dishes for pets

 

I've used the screw-on style on a few of my cars. They look cool but have a few drawbacks.
Mine squeaked. I put a dab of blue-goo under the moon at the attachment points...WRONG! That stuff held so good, I bent the lip of a few moons trying to gently pry them off.
Dog piss stained them. I didn't think stainless would discolor but dog pee will stain the real MQQN discs.
They will gravel chip. The real MQQNs have a clear coat on 'em that really helps to protect them but there will be a little white colored chip in every gravel chip.
Gotta yank the cap to inflate tires.
Still, I love the look although I'll never understand running full moons with whitewalls and I never cared for paint on my moons either..

 

I have an old clip on set that I put on for the HAMB drags. I have run down the strip several times with them and no problems. Fact is they hold tight enough that they are hard to get off.

The ones on the Bonneville race car are held on with small screws. We wanted to hold them on with Dzus fastners but we ran out of time to get that done.

I have always wanted to make my own set but I have not taken the time to do it. They are not that hard to make.

 

I have had them on a few cars and even a trailer, all screw on. Its only 3 screws so it's not really that big of a deal.

i get them clear powdercoated to keep them looking good. another tip is to write down on the rim and the back of the corresponding disc 1234 or ABCD for proper location of what disc goes on what wheel.

believe me however slight it may be the screw holes on them are all different

 

[ QUOTE ]

Still, I love the look although I'll never understand running full moons with whitewalls and I never cared for paint on my moons either..

[/ QUOTE ]

........I've run screw-on Moons on a '78 Toyota, a '72 Monte Carlo, the gay WWW & paint on the 2001..........(you know and on this..........

 

Dumb question, do you let the air out first and then drill the wheel? And if so how does the air stay in while installing them?

It's been a long day.

 

I have the snap on stainless steel ones. In my area nobody ever ran the screw on type on the street. I guess we weren't really after the total compe***ion look. I really didn't want to mess with the screws and I found that the stainless was way less money than the aluminum snap ons. In fact I had given up the thought of the full moon disks until I saw the stainless ones at Hot Rod and Custom Supply, then I jumped on them. They should stay on as good as any full wheel cover.........if put on right.
Good luck,

 

[ QUOTE ]
Dumb question, do you let the air out first and then drill the wheel? And if so how does the air stay in while installing them?

It's been a long day.

[/ QUOTE ]

I like to leave the air in so I can tell if I've drilled too deep.

Billy

 

[ QUOTE ]
Dumb question, do you let the air out first and then drill the wheel? And if so how does the air stay in while installing them?


[/ QUOTE ]

It works well to drill the wheel with the tire removed.
Set a piece of plywood on your drill press table to keep the wheel level if the table is small. Most are.

That said, you can drill the wheels with tires mounted and installed on the car.
Just gotta hold the drill square to the wheel flange you're drilling.

You need a stop on the tap drill to keep from going all the way through the tire bead which will create an air leak.
Tubeless tires seal on the wheel's bead surface.
The wheel flange helps in the air seal dept., but it's not as critical as the seal on the bead is.
Even with a stop you'll go into the tire bead a touch.
The tap will also go into the tire bead a short ways.
(The stop can be a genuine drill stop that clamps onto the drill bit at a particular place or something as simple as several wraps of masking tape and eyeballing the drill depth as you drill. Wrap the tape in the correct direction so it doesn't unwind when you touch the wheel surface with it.)

Even with a hole in the wheel flange, the air seal is intact cuz the rubber from the tire bead is all around the hole whether there's a screw in it or not.
(True for my under construction 31 on 32 rails roadster that has the wheels drilled & tapped for Moon discs. The discs are not installed and neither are the hold down screws. No air loss other than what you'd expect from a car that's been sitting for months.

I find the 8-32 regular or ****on head allen bolts to be a good size for Moon disc retainment.