guys, which american wheel was first, the TTO torque thrust original, or the TTD torque thrust "D" ? the TTO has darker grey spokes that are more sharp with a more polished outer lip, and the TTD has lighter grey smooth spokes with a dull machined lip. thanks much
Are we talking original - traditional here or non traditional repop? Torq Thrust straight spoke was early sixties, D (for Disc brakes) was late sixties....
Yes, I have TTOs on my car: 9 inch with drums rear and Super Bell with disc brakes on front. All four are 15". No clearance problems.
The new TTO repops I think have a deeper hub to clear disc brakes. the originals sometimes had problems and certainly on Corvettes which is why the D spoke or bearclaw or crow's foot as they were also known was developed specifically with the Corvette in mind. I think they only came in two bolt patterns - Chevy 5 on 4.75 and Porsche 5 on 130mm. Note however that the nickname 'bear paw' was also given to another American racing wheel - the very rare 15 x 13 magnesium racing wheel which have a double rib or gusset to strengthen the spokes on what was then a massively wide mag wheel. Jungle Jim ran them on the rear of his Vega funny car - below.... These are original Torq Thrust Ds - note the curvature of the spoke on the back side. they were also used on Porsches of the era but today are considered very rare. The spokes are far more sculpted and elegant than the clunky repops....
The first crowsfeet, (D-Spokes) were made for the mid 60's Corvettes w/ disc brakes. Porsches, used 'em, too! The calipers required the extra room. The straight spoke, came out in the mid 50's..56 I think. Prolly wrong!
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