I really like the looks of wheels with knock-offs and no lug nuts. Is it practical to run wheels with knock-off adapters on the street? I don't really want to drill holes and run safety wire unless I have to.
Most good knock-offs are LH thread on the driver's side and RH thread on the otherl. That mostly prevents the KO nut from backing off on heavy braking. Ask any Corvette or Cobra owner how often their KOs have come loose. Ditto any early Austin-Healey, MG or other similar vehicles.
They should be fine, however i heard of a guy who flipped an austin healy crossmember upside down to put a sbc in it. Both front wheels came off hahaha
I am running knock-offs on my 64 Corvette. I mark the spinners with a sharpe and check them every time before I drive it. Its just a habit I do after reading all the bad stories about them flying off cars...
You can always use safety wire. I always like the looks of safety wire, when I used to road race motorcycles we had to safety wire every bolt were there was fluid behind it. Also as I recall axle bolts and a couple other spots. Heck it's been 30 years since i raced and my memory may be slightly blurred by time. Still the look screams racing to me. chuck I found this picture
i quiet like the look of well done & well placed tiewire but thats just my opinion,maybe try some loctite 277 threadlocker, so long as ya dont go silly with it and only use a few small drops,
The Rudge style KOs you find on brit cars have splined hubs and the KO nut mates with the hub using a taper. If they're tightened properly using a big copper hammer, they won't loosen. Genuine Halibrands are also secure. I have no idea about anything else, never encountered them.
Just the opposite: left side = RH thread right side = LH thread. Hold the KO still, rotate the tire forward, and the KO should tighten on. The rotation of the tire should tend to tighten the KO.
You know Fenders that one had me scratching my head. I would say if you run them you need to get in the habit of checking them.
on our rivera we run them, never had a problem with them loosing up, we just got in the habit of checking them at least once a week. the car is driven hard too, so if they were gonna loosen up they would have by now.
If they're pretty knock offs you can use a wooden "wrench" over the ears and thwap that with your copper hammer. Otherwise, if my memory serves right, copper side to loosen, rawhide side to tighten. I dealt with lots of LBCs for a while and don't remember ever hearin about anyone having issues with them on the street. The only ones I remember being safety wired were on the Cobra. Another good thing about the copper/rawhide hammer is that it doubles as a motivator for your electric fuel pump.
Bad idea, if it was possible to do, the set screws mess up the threads badly when they are tightened down. And the loads that will loosen a knock off spinner would easily overpower a set screw anyway.
The are fine but making a habit of checking them at least once a week,,keep that brass hammer or rubber mallet handy! HRP
DEPENDS...........Check to see what brand wire wheels you have to know for sure which corner gets the proper hub and direction to install and remove the knock off cap. Rudge, Dayton, Buffalo all have their own designs and you need to follow the original instructions. Bob
I lost a knock off wire wheel on my 62 Corvette and it ruined my RR 1/4 panel. It turned out to be a good thing. I swapped the Corvette for a 41 Ford sedan delivery project and cash. My last Corvette. I went back to my roots!! I chased after the wheel and tire as it just missed T boning a late model Ford SW. and went straight up in the air when it hit the curb. My date came back to me and said is this thing any good?...it was the 3 bar spinner. The guy that I traded with lost the left front a while later....so I'm not a big fan anymore. I can only speak for my personal experiences.
On my race cars we always drilled a hole straight through the very end of the axle and put a spring pin through in case it came loose the wheel would not come off. We used wheel knockers to tighten and loosen them. Never had a problem. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I had a '56 Jag XK-140 roadster(yeah, yeah, I know, but it WAS a roadster) that had wires and knock-offs, and as I recall, it came with a brass headed hammer .Previous owner said check them once a week with a couple of "taps"( as mentioned before) , and I drove the tires off that car and never had a problem ( or used tie wire). But I was 24 then (1973), and probably not as safety conscious as I could have been. Play safe and good luck. Mike
62 mgb with a 327 sbc crammed under the hood , never had a problem with mine except the rear ones , they would get excessively tight , only problem I had was bailing the wire rims up , switched to solids and had no more problems , just keep your brass hammer in the trunk and tap them every few weeks .
I ran an MGB (fitted with a Rotary engine) for years and never checked the knock offs and I never had a problem and it saw some rough old roads.
Had them on my MG and never came loose. Needed to carry a big lead hammer to get them on or off. When I build a replica Cobra looked at the options. Biggest issue is most kit widen the wheel base 1-2" which you need to account for in your suspension. I went with conventional,lugs and a spinner cover. From street looks like regular knock off's but lugs hidden under spinner.
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