Wheel Probs

[byroncobra]

Hi Fellas

Dramas with my tyre/wheel combo that maybe you can shed some light on.
Firstly, can anyone ID these halibrand copy wheels

They are stamped with an ISO number, size 16 x 9.5, and USA. No mention of brand.

Anyway, when I bought the car it came with the wheels that have the 130mm offset that Harrison specifies, however when I fitted them to the rear (the front's ok) they foul on the Nissan R32 brake calipers. The offset doesn't effect this issue, it seems that the raised centre section where the studs pass through is too low leaving no relief for the caliper.

I've now fixed 15mm spacers that I hope will comply with ADRs as they have their own new studs fitted thus not leaving the originals on the hub too short.


Now guess what......the tyres sit outside the guards by about an inch.



I haven't sat the car on its' wheels as I've got it up on a cradle and its a major job to get it off. How much, if at all, are the wheels likely to swing in when it's on the ground. I've jacked the wheels up from underneath but after a few inches of compression the whole car lifts off the cradle.....still looks like the tyres wont clear the guard though.

Am I going to need to flare the guards?

Any ideas?

Greg

[Merv and Sharon]

Read my earlier thread on the same topic Greg. Similar tyre issue but resolved now and through engineering. I did not have the brake caliper clearance problem.

Cheers,

Merv

[iva bigan]

Greg
dragway wheels. DB51
http://www.dragway.com.au/s_5.asp

iva bigan

[Merv and Sharon]

This may help Greg.

Wheel clearance

Merv

[byroncobra]

Thanks Merv
I think my problem is a little different as without the spacers which are 15 mm thick, I probably wouldn't have guard clearance issues.
All I can think of is that the inner face if the spokes may need machining back to provide relief from the caliper. I'm just not sure how much of this can be removed without weakening the wheel.
If I can find out manufacturer, I'll ask the question.
I don't think they are Dragways as Iva suggests as their website infers that they're made in Australia. They're stamped USA.
Greg

[Rebel1]

Greg, I suspect you may find the rims come from the US and dragway make and fit the centers in Oz.

I have Ozwheels ( made in Sydney) and my rims look the same as yours and they also are marked made in US.

Yours sure look like Dragway, which is good cuz they are an Australian Company and should be able to solve your problem.

[Merv and Sharon]

They do look just like Dragway. They are at Slack Creek south of Bris, give them a call/

Merv

[Merv and Sharon]

Also Greg, I found that most of my problems disappeared when the car was lowered to rest on its wheels. Try that first.

Merv

[Rog246]

Hey Greg, on a slightly different note, I noticed from the pic's that your rims have been counter balanced-when you get the clearance issue sorted, you better look about getting the tyre/rim balance problem fixed as well ! In another life I was a rubber grub for about 10 yrs (worked in the tyre trade) and even though its been more than 15yrs since I still look at tyres on cars/trucks at traffic lights etc. You will get a drive train vib coming from the rear if you don't.
The tyre & the rim have not been matched during the tyre fitment ie; the heavy spot in the tyre and the light spot in the rim should be matched-if you want some more info on this pm me with a phone number and I'll call you and explain more if you'd like
Rog

[Aussie Mike]

How much clearance do you need?

I messed around quite a bit with my wheels to get the required caliper clearance. This is usually only a problem on rear wheels as front discs usually have plenty of setback to clear the calipers.

I put some 4 piston calipers and ventilated discs on the rear of my CR. Caliper to spoke clearance was going to be a problem. The calipers I bought were a low profile version so I gained about 8mm clearance over the regular model of this caliper.

When I got the wheels made I asked for the back of the spokes to be machined for clearance. With it all assembled I've got about 4mm of clearance between the outside face of the calipers and the spokes of the wheels. Just enough.



You should be able to gain a bit of clearance by machining the logo off the caliper and even take a bit off the outside face too. Disassemble the caliper and check the thickness of the body behind the piston. With the casting and production machining tolerances I reckon there will be a fair bit of material you could remove and still have plenty of thickness there.

If you have access to a Lathe big enough you could strip the tyres of the rear rims and machine a bit off the inside of the spokes. A mate of mine has a lathe that would do it but you are a bit far away.

I would pursue milling the caliper first as I reckon it's the easiest option.

Cheers

[macloft]

Greg How many mm are you out by. As like Mike says little bit of the caliper (i removed the logo) a little bit off the wheel, might be enough. Hopefully it is not the 15mm that your spacer is.

ROG246 The using of weights while in Gregs wheel seems alot even when you balance heavy side of tyre to light side of wheel I still needed a number of weights. Is this not just the accepted way to balance a wheel tyre combo. Especially when the wheels we play with are so wide. What else do you do

Bruce

[Merv and Sharon]

I also think that the ADR says no spacers as they may place additional strain on the studs?

Others would know more, however.

Merv

[Rog246]

Originally Posted by macloft

Greg How many mm are you out by. As like Mike says little bit of the caliper (i removed the logo) a little bit off the wheel, might be enough. Hopefully it is not the 15mm that your spacer is.

ROG246 The using of weights while in Gregs wheel seems alot even when you balance heavy side of tyre to light side of wheel I still needed a number of weights. Is this not just the accepted way to balance a wheel tyre combo. Especially when the wheels we play with are so wide. What else do you do

Bruce

Heya Bruce, it wouldn't be acceptable where I used to work, & certainly not too me . Unfortuneately a lot of people in the game don 't think about the actual fitting procedure, especially if it happens to be a busy period. Had you come to my shop I would have said to you ' O'kay I want the wheels & tyres here early in the day & you won't have them back till tomorrow PM. Tyre fitting has always been looked upon as semi skilled at best, and yet a far as 20 yrs ago it was recognised by the industry that with the trend to larger dia wheels & low & ultra low profile tyres fitting skills would have to improve in leaps & bounds........and they haven't in the avg. shop, more's the pity.
The use of proper bead lubes, pre check rims for balance & runout BEFORE tyre fitment should be done as a matter of course, at it all takes time-time is money so the rule is/has pretty much always been " get'em in & get'em out asap"
All good tyres & rims for that matter have their high & low spots marked by their respective makers so that properly trained fitters can do the fitment correctly.
If you ask your tyre shop who trained your guys, they'll say we do ! You should then ask " SO, WHO trained you ?!"
It does make a difference !! Sounds a bit like I'm having a whinge but I'm not I'm just telling how it is....more's the pity !!

[Merv and Sharon]

Greg - These things can be stressful - (1) call Dragway and see what they can do. Those wheels are so much like theirs, there must be a connection. (2) Also I would check out the spacer use (see recent Kitcar Mag) and (3) [1?] before you do anything lower the car on to the floor and see how things stand at that stage.

merv

[byroncobra]

Thanks for the help Fellas
A bit of work to do to sort this out, all part of the fun.