Proper positioning of hub cap / valve stem / tire brand

Hubcaps?

 

Back in the real old days there were valve stems and tube locking studs, so you had more options. Photo stolen from T-Head and his Old Motor website.

 

character

<SUP></SUP>&#8194; <NOSCRIPT></NOSCRIPT>&#8194;/&#712;kær&#618;kt&#601;r/ [kar-ik-ter]
noun 1. the aggregate of features and traits that form the individual nature of some person or thing.

2. one such feature or trait; characteristic.

3. moral or ethical quality: a man of fine, honorable character.

4. qualities of honesty, courage, or the like; integrity: It takes character to face up to a bully.

5. reputation: a stain on one's character.

 

Iron your underwear? That's crazy, just don't have the time after ironing my socks

 

Okay thanks a lot! I'm now officially afraid to look at the wheels on my truck because I'm fucked either way. Because now if things don't line up I will lose sleep, and if I try and get the wife to drive me down to tyre fitters to get them put right she will just flat-out refuse and tell me to stop being such an anal asshole. And she will be correct, but every time I look at my tyres, I will notice, and I will think others will notice, and I would think that everyone who looks at my truck and says "that's cool" will actually be thinking "but it's a shame the valve stems and tire logo don't line up". It will gnaw away at my mind like the sound of a dripping tap at night and I will have to increase my medication to keep what little remains of my sanity until prescribed medication is no longer enough and I will have to resort to alcohol and hard drugs and I will lose my family and my friends and end up in a padded cell in rehab, another quadriplegic junkie in withdrawal sat in a wheelchair in the corner of a padded cell, shivering and sweating and watching the green cartoon worms crawl out of the walls……………

 

Hell muttley you already knew that I was out there.

Ya know what I always try to do it figure out a way to run my carbs backward. Ever since I saw my first Thunder Bolt with the carbs turned around backward I have been hooked.

I think that if it really made any difference to me I would put my tire brand aligned with the name on the hub cap and the valve stem @ 6 O'Clock. I would want them (all 4) to be perfectly aligned with each other at all times. On a 5 bolt I would want the the top of the pentagram to be at 12 O'Clock even if no one could see it. On a 6 bolt I would want two bolts on the top perfectly horizontal. That may take some modification to the wheel as you may have to move the valve stem hole to make it perfect with the lug bolt holes.

Now if I was a religious man and took up satanism then on a five bolt I would want the point of the pentagram pointing down at all times even when I was rolling on down the road. That would take a little majic. On the other hand if my certain religion had a Star of David as a religious symbol I would want to reorient the lugs so that there was only on lug at the top thus making the points of the Star. This again would probably take a little shuiffling of the valve stem hole to make this all work with my 6 O'CLOCK rule.

You are aware that this is all a load of crap with the exception of the note to muttley and the carb thing aren't you?

To those that are particularly sensative I appologize for the religoius reference. I know that it is against the rules here but found it especially appropriate for this particular thread.

 

I mount the hub cap so the name is straight and readable and the valve stem is centered at the bottom of the wheel. I dont usually rotate the tire to a specific position, though.
Been doing this for years and I clearly remember guys lining up tires and caps relative to the valve stem and also scrubing off logos for a cleaner look back in the '50s.
I don't like a lot of weight tacked on the rim either and since I've discovered how well balance beads work I no longer have to worry about that problem.

I admit to being pretty OCD about a lot of things but I don't think paying attention to the small details is bad at all..... If a guy treats every part of the car like it's the most important part then the finished project ends up being much nicer.

 

no hubcaps yet but i did line my valve stems up center with the "GUM DIPPED" logo on my Firestone deluxe champions. i'm sure i'll do something equally crazy with the hub caps.

 

Hahahaha, funny bugger!

Dan

 

You all have got to be shittin' me. What are you, a bunch of street rodders? Drive the damned thing!

Geezus! I'm going to make sure mine are purposely mis-aligned now just to drive your OCD asses crazy.

 

When I was 13... I helped my dad build his concourse winning Model A.

He clocked the letter with the stems... the hubcaps... and even clocked straight slot screws on the car and some hex bolts even.

Ever since then... I have clocked my tires... on everything from my mini bike, to my hot rods.

I can let it go on my daily driver 2008 Silverado... I mean, who gives a crap about that?

Regarding other people clocking tires on their hot rods...

When I go to a show... it's not like I'm OCD and have to checl every car or anything.

BUT, when I come across a car that looks "right"... and I spend a little time soaking up the details... I eventually look to see if he go the tires "right" too.

Some "get it"... some don't.

Sam

 

I thought the screws were to be vertical now I have to change them all.........

 

Sam I get it if you are building a show car. Especially if you are showing and get points for your tires and stems being perfectly aligned. or in the case of your dad clocking screws etc. Although they were probably not clocked from the factory so I can't see that being a realistic restoration. But I know that you do get points for those sort of things on the concourse circuite.

On a driver if you set the wheels and tires identical once you drive it around the block once even though the tire will still be oriented the same the tires themselves will not be oriented the same one to another. So if it is that important, when you park you will need to jack it up on at least 3 wheels and rotate those 3 wheels to match the first.

I guess I am slovenly but it has never really been an issue to me. I don't normally run caps anyway but even if I did or when I do it is just mount balance and fly. Form follows function, I don't think that they will perform any better if the letters align with the caps.

 

Yes screws should be vertical so water runs away.

 

What underwear !!!

 

I've done this tire, valve stem, hubcap thing ever since I was in high school. It bugs the hell out of the guys at the tire store when I make sure they mount the tire that way! Oh, on the wall switches, I like the slots vertical, seriously. lol

 

Since I'm probably in the upper 90th percentile on the OCD scale, I've often been accused of wasting time on nit-picky details (including the valve stem, hubcap and fastener orientation things), mostly by my wife and various bosses!

This thread reminds me of something I heard up on the Minnesota Iron Range years ago: "Don't waste your time trying to pick the fly shit out of the pepper!"

 

Red dot on truck wheels always went to the low point dimple and if the wheel didnt have one then it went to the stem. Yellow dot went to the stem. I've spun balanced 1000's of tires, when they were done on the vehicle and it can make several ounces in weight difference, I can assure you. Should always be performance before presentation, no matter how anal you are.

 

I'll be doing the light switch plate thing now.

 

I am going to go through my whole house and screw up the screws on the light switch striker plates immediatly.

 

Other than aligning the tire dot with valve stem, for ease of balancing,... Not much of an issue here; Dynamic balance is doable,, and any good shop can use the stick on weights, on the inside of the wheel.. Wish that's all there was , to worry about,....LOL !

4TTRUK

 

I must be a little anal, my wife says I need to quit color coding my underwear..... Not sure what she means by that

 

"Now if I was a religious man and took up satanism then on a five bolt I would want the point of the pentagram pointing down at all times even when I was rolling on down the road. That would take a little majic. On the other hand if my certain religion had a Star of David as a religious symbol I would want to reorient the lugs so that there was only on lug at the top thus making the points of the Star. This again would probably take a little shuiffling of the valve stem hole to make this all work with my 6 O'CLOCK rule." Well, we're both gonna get banned for discussing religion on here, but since I'm a theologian and too compulsive to droppit, if needing a Star of David you'd have to drive an early Chevy, right? No way a Ford could be made to work.

I'll have to check out the Service bulletins, but I think on early Fords the dot was the heavy side of the original tires and went opposite the valvestem so stem (a big chunk of machined brass, not a rubber throwaway!) helped begin the balancing...which was at least on early V8's done with wheel assembly already bolted to its drum!
And as pointed out already, of course all had to be lined up so stem was at top...or wazzit bottom? for access on spare with hubcap aligned right. So if you have a hotrod you need to have a correct spare tire mount available in your garage, even though your wheels are later and the spare lives in the trunk...
Ford famously screwed up in '32 (obviously the reason they dropped that piece of crap after a single year!) and made the wheels so stem was drilled offset to its proper place and could NOT be aligned because of its relationship to lug holes. This actually causes the restorers to WEEP in there anguish!
Henry never recovered from this tragic failure and declined steadily into social lunacy until he died.

 

Just wondering, if you had this hi-dollar build and you took it to a famous, important, judged show with one tire on 180 out on purpose, valve-stem-wise, would the judges "get it" and just have a good chuckle and move on without deducting points? Or would they get all huffy and gig the car heavily because of your editorializing "statement" about pointless attention to detail? And how long would it take the car owner kill you after he found out what you did? Gary

 

Nope. COMMANDO! Ala natural~

 

I've never met a judge (of any sorts) with a sense of humor.

Or a serious ISCA points chaser, so probably less than a second.
Larry T

 

I really appreciate all of you input on this unusual thread. The way I have always done it is to have the name for instance FIRESTONE at the top with the FORD hubcap reading it as you would the tire make and the valve stem at the bottom 6 o'clock. Thank You again and I will see you at the Grand National Roadster Show.

Frenchy

 

Bruce,
You're alright I been telling everyone that for years.

I actually go to a tire shop when I can afford to drive that far that will spin the wheel after initial mounting then blow the pressure off of the tire and spin it so that it takes the least amount of lead to balance.

I also have owned wheels with the stem on the backside and currently own some slots with the stem centered in the slot (old Ansens).

All kidding aside I do understand the wanting everything lined up from an asthetic point of view. Sometimes it goes totally against function but I do understand. I have a tendency to be anal about things that no one will ever see, but they are things that are important to me. I do understand anal, trust me.