Wheel wobble

[andrewh]

I must sort out my wheel wobble. After the trip to Bicester it reminded me that it needs sorting out. I know one set of stick on weights has fallen off the wheel so that's a starting point if I can find anyone locally who can balance wire wheels. I was talking to David about the spinners reproduced not locking the wheels up tight, a problem I thought I may have. Has anyone else suffered from wobble on new wheels, hubs, and tyres with new manufactured spinners? I get it bad at about 80mph but it seems less on slight corners when the hubs would be loaded up and it's very sensitive to road surface . Some times it's not there at all. Any thoughts much appreciated

[Stuart Exelby]

Andrew - no help really - but interesting that you took the long way home today, through France....... 80mph indeed!

[cactusman]

Sure it was a typo...70 obviously....

Can't really help with the wobble. Admittedly a bit of a way for Kent but MWS in Slough would be able to help I dare say...

[jjorj]

I always worry about hitting the potholes we have on our roads especially in Kent and that is with steel wheels or alloys on a normal car, it is much more likely to cause some distortion to wire wheels, then there is the problem of flat spots if the car has stood around for any time in the one spot though I find this usually goes after a good few hours driving. Invicta tyres in Wincheap have a new balancing machine but don't know if they can do centre lock but they seem to have most bits, and I find them very helpful.
You can always check if the spinner is not tight by jacking the corner up and trying to move the wheel forcibly, any noise would be bad news, sorry not a high tech answer but best I can offer.

regards, George

[mgcjag]

Hi Andrew....you could have a look at getting yourself a set of the balencing cone inserts for wire wheels......thats the main problem having wires balenced the usual places dont have the correct fittings....can post some links uf you need them......either plastic or alloy are available

[andrewh]

thank you chaps for the ideas here. I have thought about getting some cones, I need to ask my local chap what size his balancing machine takes on the spindle. Thats probably the answer to the wheel balance. Will take a look at Invicta tyres, I am in Canterbury regularly.

The loose spinners discussion is something I touched on before but its so very difficult to identify whether its slightly wheel bearing play, which is acceptable, or looseness on the spinner hub mating. Any clever ideas as to how to determine that for sure would be good. I guess one could wipe the grease off the cones and machine blue the surfaces and take a look after a good drive to see whether they have chattered around at all. Heuer was suggesting that the spinners do not fully tighten the wheels on the hubs and Julian at SNG is thinking about to making his own spinners to correct original specification. I still find it hard to understand how a spinner can be made so that it does not work!

[Heuer]

First thing I would do is get the wheels balanced using a bubble balance. Even with the correct cones automatic balancing machines have difficulty with wire wheels. Ask Dougal at Longstone, he spent a fortune on the latest state of the art balancing machine adapted for wire wheels but no longer uses it. In the meantime try swapping the front and back wheels and see if that makes a difference. If not you need to look elsewhere for the problem.

We have never really got to the bottom of the repro spinner problem. It seems to be an issue with a combination of wheels (original and repro), splined hubs (original and repro) and the spinners themselves (original and repro). Some combinations seem to work whilst others do not. What we do know is the repro spinners are not made to the original specifications or by the original methods. They are above all else made down to a price - I mean ?25 each for a huge lump of bronze, machining, engraving and chroming! Done properly they would be twice the price which some owners may baulk at. To de-chrome, dress, polish, engrave and re-chrome a good original will cost about ?200. On my FHC with MWS wheels, new hubs and repro spinners I had an awful graunching noise when going around corners - I did not dare try the car at speed. It turned out to be an o/s spinner which would not tighten up properly no matter how hard it was whacked. Swapped the rear spinner with the front and there was no problem. I now have NOS Jaguar spinners. Angus had a similar problem with original wheels and repro spinners, solved by fitting originals.

[mgcjag]

Hi Andrew....have you tried fully tightening down the wheel bearing then put the wheel and spinner on you will then easily know if the spinner is tightening correctly becaus any movement in the wheel can only come from the spinner

[Heuer]

And give it a good hammering:

[andrewh]

Thanks chaps, I have not fully tightened the wheel bearing up , but that's a good idea. I need to get the car on the lift and get the wheels off again. I have several sets of original wheels but am reluctant to run old wheels on new hubs in case I transfer any wear to the hubs. I will speak with Dougal and get his thoughts as well. I really must start with the missing balance weights being replaced. I would be red faced if that solves it ! More soon. Thx

[andrewh]

i have been checking around the E type for any obvious issues that may be causing the wheel wobble. At the front end all is tight and no discernible wobble at all. However, when I spin the wheels the tyres on the front have a small up and down point once every revolution. I wonder whether this can be causing the fault. I assumed that all tyres are perfectly round but these are not. I don't think they are flat spotted as the car didnt stand in one place for very long, and in any case, the car has now covered quite a few miles which in theory would sort out any flat spots. Has anyone else noticed their tyres to be not quite perfectly round? I had forgotten that I had in fact replaced the missing weights some time ago, so assuming that they balanced them correctly, then it must be something else.

[Heuer]

In the US lots of companies offer tyre 'shaving' services which ensure everything is concentric. Not sure if this service is because of poorly made tyres over there but I have not been able to find anyone over here who offers a similar service. Incidentally, what tyres are you using?

[andrewh]

the tyres are the Avon CR6 ZZ. I do have an admission to make however. I checked the tyre pressures and they were 22 vs 32. So after inflating them a quick drive didnt throw up the wobble, so it may be that was the problem. If so I feel really rather stupid. I need to get it on a motorway though to tell for sure.

[Heuer]

Try 30psi on the front and 35psi on the rear which is my favoured settings over 55,000 miles.

[Simonpfhc]

Glad to hear that your Avon's are OK Andrew ;-). I am also planning on getting the same setup as you have - how have they been regarding picking up all grit and sandblasting the sills?

BTW - tyre shaving is to reduce tread depth on new tyres when they are destined for track use. It reduces the tread 'block' rolling and rounding off the edges, which will reduce overall surface contact area.

Cheers.

[andrewh]

When I first fitted the Avons they seemed to pick up every chipping. They were very soft on the surface. Now after 1500 miles they seem to do this less and the surface of the tyre feels harder. It's very weird as I have exactly the same tyre on another classic and I have not had any issues with chipping. Perhaps my tyres on the E were a soft batch ? Anyway, I hope to take the E out for a spin the Canterbury tomorrow so can check the wobble. Thanks David I will try the 30/35 tps.