Since I can't sell the pin drive knockoff wheels I have on my roadster I guess I'll have to run them. I notice that most cars I see with them on have the wheel and wing nut drilled and safety wired. Is this really necessary ? Is it a race car thing? Is it something I should be concerned about? When I drive the car at every gas stop I get out and give the wing nuts a hit and to date they have never been loose. I have never did any safety wiring before and apparently need to learn if I'm going to run these wheels. And suggestions?
I have no experience with the wheel but do know safety wiring. The HF safety wire pliers are good for occasional jobs. See attached basic instructions. Not sure if they are helpful.....
Short story... Years back, I owned a 61 Impala. I put a hot rod 409, turbo-400 in it. I lowered it a bit, big anti-sway bars and installed a set of Basset, NASCAR wheels. These wheels as you may or not know, are set up for 5/8" dia. studs. So with the axles and front brakes setup to use the big studs, on the wheels went. While at a Pomona (SoCal) swap meet with the car, I walked up (was away to see...stuff), I see a guy pulling, twisting, and tugging on the 1-1/6" hex lug nuts on a front wheel..! I watched him for a minute or two. I asked the guy if he "wanted" something. He answered with, "I wanted to see if they were real". I said "why not just ASK, rather than trying to dismantle a persons car". "Beside, they are torqued with 120lb. ft. of torque, I doubt that you'll be able to get them off". "Any more questions?" He left, no more questions. SO...to answer your...question, absolutely yes, safety wire them ! Mike
Maybe not really necessary but the detail oriented will notice and appreciate the effort. I don’t see a knock off loosening but the safety wire is a nice touch. The wheel is on Jerry Kilberg’s beautiful Deuce Phaeton.
Gary I would say it's only important if you don't want a "surprise" out on the road somewhere. I haven't drilled mine yet but I sure plan to.
SAFETY WIRING PROCEDURE FOR SPINNERS Spinners must be tightened with a lead hammer and safety wired. Please follow this sequence of photos to help you with the safety wiring procedure. Ensure that the safety wire is "pulling" in the same direction as the spinner is tightened . The right hand (standard clockwise) spinner must be on the left side (looking forward from the rear of the vehicle) and visa versa. In other words tighten the spinner in the opposite direction of wheel rotation when the vehicle is being driven forwards.
I can’t speak to design differences but I have owned a number of Italian and British cars for the past 40 years or so and have not suffered any failures in that area. I would consult the manufacture of your wheels.
I would think in some road racing venues where the participants use wheels that require the use of knock offs they would require wiring it to the wheel. HRP
I bet safety wire instructions came about later, more of the lawyers saying CYA than out of actual necessity. My BIL had an MG Midget with no safety wires and I never saw a Jaguar or Corvette with factory safety wiring BITD either. The K/O’s tighten the wheel against a cone and the cone actually takes some of the load off the splines easing the work they do. And then there is the friction of the spinner against the wheel helping things too.
Ran real knock offs on my race cars for many years, never safety wired them. Properly tightened knock offs do not come lose. If anything, they get tighter. Case in point was the left front wheel on my sprinter. We rarely changed this wheel. However, when we did it was a bear to get the wheel nut off it was so tight. Make sure you have the correct hubs on the correct side of the car. Left side should have right hand threads, right side should have left hand threads.
Couldn't you put some kind of "telltale" mark that wasn't noticeable, and then a quick visual should tell you if any loosening occured. Aren't spinners designed so they tend to tighten instead of loosen due to the normal rotation of the wheel? Lefty/Righty ?
Yep, tightened properly they will be fine. Get a lead hammer and I’d refrain from anyone else tightening them for me.
We used to tighten knock off wheels at jag with a THOR hammer big cartoon looking thing with raw hide on one side and lead on the other. we also made a large wooden “ wrench” that slipped over the knock off to give a bit more oomph when hitting them tight . no need for safety wire and Jaguar used safety wire all over there suspension and brake components back in the day. but for what it takes and for safeties sake safety wire is a good idea.
Had knock-off’s on several British cars for hundreds of thousands of miles. Never had one come loose. The safety wire is a great detail on a race themed car, but otherwise I don’t think it’s necessary.
I have knock offs on my Deuce roadster. Ran them for about a year, including a drive from NC to TX with no safety wire. No problem. One day I was bored sitting around with not much to do so I got out the wire and the safety wire pliers and wired ‘em up, just to have something productive to do more than any concern about safety. I guess it does give an added measure of comfort that the wheels aren’t going to come off. ‘Looks cool, I’ve had lots of people comment positively. Somebody commented earlier that the Harbor Freight pliers aren’t much good. I’ll second that. Get a good pair from some place like McMaster Carr.
Mine are drilled and wired. If nothing else it provides a piece of mind when I walk around the car and see the wires are there and taunt. Word to wise when pulling a wheel off the car, get in the habit of moving the valve stem to 6 o'clock, and if you don't spin the drum/adapter the wire holes will line back up the first try. I marked my adapters and drums at 6 as well in case I was doing brakes. It beats hanging the wheel, pounding on the knock off, adding the safety clip and then getting to take it back off apart try it again. Don't ask me how long it took for me to figure this out.
When I had PS make my 10 inch rear wheels I requested more backspace than normal because it is damn difficult to tighten a k.o. with a deep front side, at least without really beating up the wheel and the tri-spinner. On a race car it is not too much of a concern.
I'm curious about the RHT on the left side of the car and vise versa. Is this typical on all or most knock offs? If the rotation of the wheel is trying to turn the nut this would seem bass akwards. But, if braking could cause the nut to loosen, that would make sense. For years NASCAR hubs had the left hand spindle thread is on the left side of the car. These are retained by tabbed washers and corresponding nuts. My understanding is that everyone uses RHT on both sides of the car now. Not exactly the same, but similar. Not arguing, just trying to understand the thinking. I've never seen a pit stop on any KO equipped cars that had safety wire.
Racing and having your wheels safety wired to the knockoffs doesn't make any sense to me. Suppose you've done a number of laps and need a tire change... you in the pits, they jack you up, cut safety wire, remove knockoff, replace wheel/tire, and now they are going to re-safety wire the knockoff ? I don't think so!
Knock off wheels have been around for over 100 years and have been raced from Indy to Le Mans and all points in between since. I personally have been driving cars with them for nearly 50 years and still do. While my best advice to the OP is to call the people who built his and hear what they have to say about it, I feel if they thought you needed safety wire they would have drilled the holes in the knock off themselves as well as the wheels. Cheap insurance, sure, but I think for most folks these days it’s just for show.
I was riding in my buddy's cobra (knock offs that hadn't been messed with in years, and they were safety wired), when the right front went flying off... He was less than pleased.
Small tip: if you do not want marks on the wheel spokes from the wire moving around put a small piece of small black shrink tubing on the loop before you pull it tight and spin it! 50 years in aviation just paid off!!
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