Hey guys...just picked up some steel wheels for the T and after trying one on a hub I discover that the wheel center hole is a fair bit bigger than the hub. These wheels were put on my car for a test a couple of years ago and the car developed some severe axle tramp so they were pulled back off. Now that I own it I figured I'd give them a try and I'm thinking this sloppy fit is resulting in the wheel being off center...thus the tramp problem. Now I know you can buy specially sized rings to cure the problem, but I have no way to measure the difference that precisely. HOPING someone has had to do the same thing and might give me a heads up on which size they used. The wheels are stock 1952ish Chevy, going on GM intermediate rotors. Just to help ID...this is the kit that Speedway sells with the caliper brk that fits 49-54 GM truck or car spindles. The caliper is a big one, also from the GM intermediate. Just because....anyone ever have any luck simply making their own rings from sheet metal and tack welding them into the wheel center?
The kidney bean wheels on my T center off the lugs , the center hole is much larger, add o that , mine are unilug .... I can't tell a problem , maybe something else is going on w/ those wheels .....or tires dave
Before I got too excited about centering rings, I would dismount any tires that may be on these wheels, mount the wheels on the hubs you intend to use, and spin them while checking the actual run out at the bead. Use a jack stand or other support for a punch or screw driver, place the tip close to the wheel and turn it. You will see both lateral and radial run out. Until sometime in the '70s or '80s, most cars used 'lug centric' wheels and did not have a snug fit at the center of the wheel to the hub. Newer vehicle a commonly hub centric. If you have significant radial run out with your wheels using the method I suggested, it is possible centering rings would help, but they may not. In any case, I would not use some sort of home made sheet metal welded into the wheel. I would trust only rings turned on a lathe for that purpose. Ray
Ok, rocky has a thread going about the same wheel center rings. Also there's a thread (month or two ago) about the studs hole pattern being off in the rotors. Hub centric wheels don't fit with rocket ship tolerance either. I'm sure a set of vernier calipers will get you close enough.
A couple of things come to mind.... First, most wheels can be installed as 'lug centric' (being centered by the lug nuts), the general exceptions being some 'uni-fit' types. Install the wheels, tighten the lugs, then check for runout. If you have some, it's probably the wheels and any centering 'hub' is unlikely to fix it. Second, you mention it's sloppy on a 'rotor'. If you're talking about a disc brake rotor, it's unlikely the wheel will clear the caliper once all parts are on....
X2! Sounds like you've got something else going on there. You don't actually have to dismount the tires to get an indication of runout. Anything that'll be felt will be evident with just an eyeball check as the wheels are spun by hand. More likely its flat-spotted tires.
Hmmmm...ok then! Axle tramp...in this case anyway...would be the jumping up and down of the tires on the front at speed. You can't really feel it in the steering wheel but its pretty obvious to watch! The wheels have been on the car before and driven so caliper clearance is fine and the tires are the same ones the car runs now on the Weld wheels with only marginal tramping at high speeds. The rotors are also the ones the T has been using for 10+ years so they are good as well. Currently there are no tires on the Chevy rims so doing a runout test is pretty easy. I actually have a spindle and rotor set up in my vise to check runout, but putting the wheel on the hub showed this extra clearance at the center hole and I thought I might be onto something! LoL I didn't attach the wheel and check it as I don't have the correct lug nuts at the moment. Lugs for the Weld wheels are totally different. Sounds like I might be chasing my tail until I actually mount the wheel and check things out farther. I'll post what I find...thanks!
Hackerbilt, you mentioned a disc swap kit also. When you check the wheel runout, also check the disc stud pattern for runout. I read a thread recently where the pattern on the wheel studs on an offshore disc, hub was machined off center. Mount the punch as mentioned above and spin the rotor, see if the studs are concentric while spinning it by hand. Also check the outer edge of the rotor.
I think that will be fine...but then again...the Weld wheels did tramp a little so definately will check that too.
Could it be a tire/balance issue? I have had out of round tires that I have been able to balance for improvement but never to an acceptable level.
@Hackerbilt, I have used brake line wrapped around the locater numb on the axle/hub and the with the wheel centered welded to the center of the wheel. it worked like a champ and I have done it more then once. Sometimes you have to knock the lip down on the center of the wheel to get the line to lay down well enough to weld in place.
I've also heard of rims flexing with radial tires mounted to those old tube type riveted wheels,, what type of tires are they?
I'm gonna check them out tonight...if the nuts from my Blazer will fit the studs. If not I'll have to wait till tomorrow and buy some. Blowby....I was thinking it was just a balance problem as we thought the tires hadn't been balanced at all on the last try but I discoverd the wheels had fresh balance weights on them when I picked them up. Obviously they had been balanced. I don't think its the tires because they seem ok on the Weld wheels. P&B...thats interesting and I can't see how it could hurt. Squablow...they are radials. Can't remember the size but I think they were intended for a VW bug. Not very wide! Shouldn't be a wheel flex problem though. It happens going straight down the highway. I'm also in the process of making more effective friction shocks that operate a little farther out on the axle...and that may help a bit as well. The originals were mounted off the center perch and were a little long to reach the shackle plate. Now the arms are shorter to make the shock work a bit harder. I'm also using friction pads on both sides and valve springs for preload. These shocks will connect to the top of the hairpin mount...about 3" farther out on each side from the previous shackle attachment. It just didn't work out visually to run hydraulics unfortunately.
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