Knock Off Wheel Safety Wire

[Ron61]

I use it on mine and I have seen a couple of wheels come off at the track. But that was most likely due to not getting them tight during the pit stop as it happened right after stops. Just a cheap way of giving myself a little more secure feeling while driving the Coupe. And I do check the wheels at every stop.

Ron

[750hp]

Originally Posted by 1985 CCX

Did 289 Cobras with stock spinners use wire?
????

I was thinking the same thing for all the Austin Healeys, MGs, Daimlers, Jaguars and classic Ferraris getting around with pin drive wheels.

[DanEC]

Originally Posted by Snake2998

I have this image in my mind of spinner loosening off on the front wheels and the wheel moving away from the drive pins and suddenly you are at speed with no brakes or brakes on only one side. Not a good time to discover the problem when you are braking heavily.

Also the car steering from loose rear wheels.

Yes, I own a 66 Corvette with KO wheels and on Corvette Forum it's a fairly regular occurrence. Usually the story goes I was driving along enjoying the day and the car was running great when suddenly I heard a clunk and shake at one corner of the car. Then I noticed a rolling wheel and tire passing by the side of my car - and I realized it looked like one of mine. Followed by grinding of metal to asphalt and sparks and then the picture of mangled fiberglass fender once the car is stopped.

Reproduction Corvette KO wheels are machined with small grooves in the threaded portion of the hub and the knock off (something like 5 in the hub and 6 in the spinner) that as the spinner is hammered tight and two grooves line up a pin can be slipped in to "lock" the spinner in place and it's held in by the spinner cap. However aluminum pins are normally used and they commonly will just shear - so the manufacturers (probably after consulting with the lawyers) started calling this system "anti-theft" instead of "anti-lose-a-wheel" pins. Original GM KOs didn't have pins and the chrome plated spinners and wheel design never lended itself to using safety wire.

I use hardened roll pins in mine that won't shear and mark the spinners and wheel cones with a felt tip marker as a witness mark just to be as safe as I can. But a lot of owners run them as GM originally designed them - hammer it on and every couple of drives walk around and give them a couple more taps just to be safe.

There's an old video around of Bill Thompson I believe, test driving the new 63 Corvette at the GM test track way back then and wringing it out good for Zora Duntov. As he pits for a few minutes to consult with Zora, a mechanic walks around the two cars (a split window coupe and convertible with prototype KO wheels) and whacks each spinner with a hammer a couple times. Still the best precaution.

[Detroit Bill]

I use wire but I am not sure it would not break if the spinner was coming lose. I am not sure it matters.

[hawk 325]

I have the K/O's from vintage wheels, they came with safety pins that are installed after the spinner is installed. They will prevent the spinner and wheel from leaving the hub but I like the looks of the safety wire over the safety pin and like obsessive said, the amount of torque that is applied to the rear axle I am not sure if the safety pin would stay in place.

[Tim7139]

I use wire, figure, why not, it's easy, looks cool, makes for a reasonable redundancy.
I am generally surprised by how many folks notice it, frankly.

[super]

Hi

Safety wiring is also a must for me.

But for me the wire is more like an indicator. I wire with a small “eye” in it to see if the tension on the wire increases (in such a case the small “eye” would shut). A decrease of the tension could also be easily checked if you try to bend the wire.

In addition to the wire I also use a safety clip.

see: http://www.clubcobra.com/photopost/s...g/ppuser/53959

That's what I do.

Cheers
Werner

[Bob Lacey]

Hawk

Our clips are a fail safe device for peace of mind ! however we still recommend safety wire -

see link below for full information.

https://vintagewheelsus.com/wheeladm...on=new_product

Bob Vintage Wheels

[JBCOBRA]

I take a Sharpie pen and make 2 dots. One on the wheel and one on the spinner. It is a great quick visual

[lippy]

It looks very cool but it's no substitute for inspection/tightening.

[mrmustang]

Better to have it and not need it, then to need it and not have it.


Safety wire on a knock off is meant to show you when a knock off has loosened, it is not meant to actually keep it tight.

[hauss]

Originally Posted by Detroit Bill

I use wire but I am not sure it would not break if the spinner was coming lose. I am not sure it matters.

Just had my 600hp backdraft rear spinner come loose after doing a quick 2nd gear burn out and yes the wire held for 5 mile trip back home to retighten the spinner with some man sized hits from a mother thumper lead hammer. also used copper never seize and stainless wire

[DanEC]

Vintage also offers a safety clip that inserts in pre-drilled holes in the hub to prevent the spinner from backing completely off and losing a wheel. I installed them also, but if a KO does loosen it would probably still gall the hub and pins even if it all stays together - so I wire them also.

[tortuga]

Originally Posted by vatdevil

Had one spinner loosen up, so always safety wire them. Use it as a check before each track or autocross run. Some event tech inspections require them. I find them fun to install ��

Agree, it is kind of fun to install...it's also the coup de grace for any work that involved taking the wheel off. I usually clean up then put the wire on.

[tortuga]

Originally Posted by vatdevil

Had one spinner loosen up, so always safety wire them. Use it as a check before each track or autocross run. Some event tech inspections require them. I find them fun to install ��

Agree, it is kind of fun to install...it's also the coup de grasses for any work that involved taking the wheel off. I usually clean up then put the wire on.

[CompClassics]

Personally I do not use safety wire on my Cobra. It absolutely will not prevent the knock off from loosening and coming off unless the vehicle is stopped imediately, the wire will break. On my Cobra I use two points of reference to check the condition of my knock offs, I put a paint dot on the knock off that lines up with the wheels valve stem. As you do your walk around of the vehicle before driving you can easily see if the two are out of alignment indicating something is wrong.
That being said I do use it on my clients Cobras as a visual aid when they do a walk around before driving the car. The way I use the safety wire as a visual aid is that I put enough slack in the wire so that it creates a bow from the point that it attaches to the wheel and the point at which it attaches to the knock off, rather than a straight line as you would do with typically safety wired hardware. By doing this my client can tell if the knock off is loose or if everything is ok, a loose knock off safety wire will have a straight appearance because the wire is be stretched during the loosening process and has the bow no longer preset. A bowed appearance will indicate the knock off is tight.

[Danr55]

We have a guy in our club who will testify that these cars are tough to drive, not to mention embarassing, with only three wheels... Safety wire is a must unless you have lock rings on your hubs.

[ACHiPo]

I use safety wire. I've seen/heard the arguments that the wire would break. That seems unlikely--there's not much force on them, just the vibration-induced shaking things loose. Plus, if pilots rely on it to keep their engines and other parts together, it's good enough for me.

[Ron61]

I use safety wire but I put mine on so it will loosen up if the spinner starts to back off. Then before and after each run I go around and tug on the safety wire a little to see if it is still tight. I don't depend on it to keep a spinner on so that is why I did mine backwards to what most people do.

Ron

[kevins2]

Originally Posted by Ron61

I use safety wire but I put mine on so it will loosen up if the spinner starts to back off. Then before and after each run I go around and tug on the safety wire a little to see if it is still tight. I don't depend on it to keep a spinner on so that is why I did mine backwards to what most people do.

Ron

The tug test should work either way. If you install it to tighten if the spinner loosens and the wire strums like a guitar string, the spinner loosened.