Spinner Safety Wiring - Straight In

[Terry Stapley]

A friend that knows a lot about Cobras told me that he was told by a wheel manufacturer to safety wire the spinners straight in toward the wheel, not at an angle toward the tightening side.
Has anybody heard of this?
I do not see an advantage in wiring the spinner this way because it seems it would be more difficult to see if one had any spinner movement with the safety wire going straight at the wheel!!

[wtm442]

Here is procedure I use. 3 spokes away from straight.

http://performanceunlimited.com/cobr...tructions.html

[Silverback51]

Straight in is kind of like pushing a rope. Doesn't work.

[DougD]

I agree with wtm442's post with the following exception. I feel that a 1/2" or so "sag" is needed rather than wiring it tightly. Should the spinner start to loosen, the sag would go away and the wire would appear tight. This gives a visual indication that the spinner is starting to loosen, and can be checked quickly by just glancing at each wheel while walking around the car.

[Power Surge]

Originally Posted by DougD

I agree with wtm442's post with the following exception. I feel that a 1/2" or so "sag" is needed rather than wiring it tightly. Should the spinner start to loosen, the sag would go away and the wire would appear tight. This gives a visual indication that the spinner is starting to loosen, and can be checked quickly by just glancing at each wheel while walking around the car.

You can also use a 3/8" socket extension to create a "loop" in the middle of the winding that makes for a great visual indicator.

[jwd]

OR you can just wire them tight so that the wire will allow no movement without breaking (that's what safety wires are for anyway). A broken wire would be your "visual indicator". I've never seen, in any type of construction, where you are supposed to put in a loop or leave a saftey wire loose. That defeats its purpose.

Jim

[Power Surge]

Originally Posted by jwd

OR you can just wire them tight so that the wire will allow no movement without breaking (that's what safety wires are for anyway). A broken wire would be your "visual indicator". I've never seen, in any type of construction, where you are supposed to put in a loop or leave a saftey wire loose. That defeats its purpose.

Jim

From what I have been told, the wire is supposed to be an indicator first, and a limiter second. You are supposed to check your wire's tightness everytime before you drive your car. A wire that's tightened up means the spinner needs to be tightened.

[Chaplain]

I have to agree with Jim. Safety wire is supposed to inhibit the loosening of a fastener. I have safety wired fasteners I can't readily see for the purpose of ensuring that parts, especially in critical applications, stay fastened. If the wire is moving that means the fastener is loose and loose parts have an inertia that can exceed their design strength and you have a failure. An example is a brake rotor fastened to a rotor hat. Does any body want to climb under their car to check all their rotor hat safety wire to see if it's moving? Wire it right and fugedaboudit.

[Power Surge]

Originally Posted by Chaplain

I have to agree with Jim. Safety wire is supposed to inhibit the loosening of a fastener. I have safety wired fasteners I can't readily see for the purpose of ensuring that parts, especially in critical applications, stay fastened. If the wire is moving that means the fastener is loose and loose parts have an inertia that can exceed their design strength and you have a failure. An example is a brake rotor fastened to a rotor hat. Does any body want to climb under their car to check all their rotor hat safety wire to see if it's moving? Wire it right and fugedaboudit.

Just because it's called safety wire, doesn't mean it has to hold something tight. There are plenty of applications where safety wire is just there to hold things from coming off, not hold them from loosening up.

The problem with using safety wire to SOLEY stop a spinner from loosening, is that you can NEVER get it tight enough, no matter what you do. Both loops at the ends will tighten past what you can do with a tool. And if you go too tight with a tool, you wind the wire past it's stress point.

So no matter how "tight" you think you've got your wire done, it's not tight enough to prevent movement.

Now don't get me wrong.... I use my safety wire in the fashion of making it as tight as I can when I install it. But I ALSO check how taught it is when I drive the car. If the wire has become like a guitar string, the knock offs get a few whacks with the lead hammer and then new safety wire.

[Jamo]

Originally Posted by Silverback51

Straight in is kind of like pushing a rope. Doesn't work.

Well said.

The one protocol everyone seems to forget is that the wire needs to be twisted clockwise on the driver's side, and counter-clockwise on the passenger side.

[Blas]

Originally Posted by Jamo

Well said.

The one protocol everyone seems to forget is that the wire needs to be twisted clockwise on the driver's side, and counter-clockwise on the passenger side.

Unless you live South of the equator...then it just the opposite...

[HI Cobra]

You will need the special order reversible safety wire pliers for this application.

[ZOERA-SC7XX]

Originally Posted by HI Cobra

You will need the special order reversible safety wire pliers for this application.

It doesn't exist. Safety wire twists only one way, and its purpose is to prevent a loose fastener from backing off completely. Seven turns per inch, if I remember correctly.

[Jamo]

Really?

Does your plier have a counter?

[Maurice Johnson]

Jamo,

For those of us who are "safety wire challenged", is a plier one side of a set of pliers?

[JBo]

There exists a reversible safety wire plier set, that is equipped with a TPI (turns per inch ) counter. It has as well a tightness indicator fabricated from unobtanium that is accurate to 10 urgs per mm in tighteness. it also has a feature that allows for the proper sized "tell" to be in the properly twisted wire , depending on the side of car, tightening rotation applicable to that applicatiom in constant urgs or cu's. It is stainless steel with near unobtainium jaws ( works with all wire sizes uo to 1 nu (nano urg or mu maxi urg sized wire). It may also be used to twist hemroids before covering with a band-aid.
My god, just safety wire the damn knock-ons...it may save your car and your life as I can personally attest.

[Jamo]

Heheheeeeee...okay: "s"

[HI Cobra]

Heh heh. Just go back to Warren's reference - good info.

http://performanceunlimited.com/cobr...tructions.html

[Power Surge]

I would like to think Jamo is pulling everyone's leg with the different twist directions as used on Cobra spinners.

But regardless, most of the autotwist safety wire tools have both directions.

[ZOERA-SC7XX]

The FAA regulates AIRCRAFT safety wiring methods, and is where I learned the trade. While not getting too picayune (?) in regards to knock off wheel spinners, basic methods and applications insure the best possible results in preventing the loss of a wheel at speed. Safety wire should be reasonably tight pulling in the direction as to tighten the fastener.
I'm not grandstanding here, just trying to convey the importance of correct safety wiring methods. Much of this is common sense, but if this helps ONE guy keep his wheels on, then it's worth the effort.