old68

does anyone know who sells steel knockoff safety pins?? I realize I just ordered aluminum ones from zip as spares , and they will be worse than useless

MikeM

Aluminum pins were supposed to be the saviour weren't they?

Ace Hardware sells ten penny nails. Just drive one of them in the slot on each wheel.

jerry gollnick

You don't need them if spinner is torqued properly and if it's not the pin shears and gets ground up make a mess and a PITA to get the spinner off. Get a BIG dead blow hammer with rawhide or rubber end and whack it several times HARD. I put a little tape telltale to watch for the first hundred mile just to make sure.

MikeM

Fixed it for you!

DansYellow66

I used hardened roll pins. I had to work them over on a grinder to put a slight taper on them so they fit. But I use a proper lead hammer and put the spinners on right so the pins are just for piece of mind.

vetsvette2002

How will you get those pins put if you get a flat and have to change it?
DonO

VetteJohn

Man, this is one of those topics that just won't die. If you use the search function and check past posts you'll see that people here are divided on this issue. Some of the people believe the pins are the cure for Knock-Offs never coming off. Some of us (me included) think the pins are, at best, a waste of time and potentially could damage the threads in your wheels.

I've heard many times about wheels coming loose but never by someone who has installed them per the instructions. First the have to be sitting in the proper location on the hub (keyed to locating studs). Then have to be hand tightened. Then, with LEAD HAMMER tigthen with 5 or so FRIM hits to the spinner with the tire on the ground. Many of us have purchased a Mother Thumper 5 pound hammer and use that, not the factory hammer. The Thumper has a couple of advantages, one it's heavier than the factory style and two it reduces the chance of hitting the spinner with the steel part of the hammer.

I've got two C2s with Knock-Offs, they both have aftermarket Knock-Offs set up for pins, I don't use them. Put them on the right way and you'll never have a problem.

DansYellow66

Since I ground a slight taper over one half of the pin they fit like the aluminum pin. I haven't had any removal issues so far. Both aluminum and steel pins- I've had to rap on the spinner occasionally to move it enough to free slight pressure on the pin so I can pluck it out with my fingers. That's probably because I usually tap them lightly when inserting them.

Zip Corvettes

There is a reason the pin is made of aluminum. First off you should torque them correctly and they will not come off, the pin is only a added saftey device. The pin is designed to keep the spinner from going past it, which it works. But it is aluminum so that once it gets pinched by the spinner you can hit the spinner with a hammer and it will still come off and you sacrifice the pin. If this happens with the steel pin you will be using a torch to get that spinner off and the pin will ruin the spinner and the adapter.

old68

one of the pins on my car is oversized steel & stuck, annoying,

old68

I was beating the s@&t out of my wheels today, got them a bit tighter, but the pin holes don't line up, please confirm that its not a problem to leave them out, I'll never get them much further,
I also too a sharpie and made a line across the inside of spinner & spindle, is this a good way to check movement? I would think so,

now I just need to get the steel pin out!!

this old technology is a lost art

Jimbo64

this is exactly correct---I use aluminum pins= a lot easier to get out if peened over- yep happened when I had a tire shop put new tires on and I wasn't there supervising-lesson learned

rayvaflav

I spent close to $2,100.00 to purchase a new set of '66 repro knockoff wheels for my '66 coupe. I did not buy the bolt on k/o's because I love the idea of a mid-sixties GT car that was mass produced that came factory equipped with wheels that would come loosa' the car if you didn't put alla' your *** behind that hammer. BTW, I was advised by alla' my friends that $2,100.00 would buy something bigger than a 15x6 wheel. ....

Ray

Zip Corvettes

I would go ahead and assume that spinner and adapter are done. You need to just keep beating the spinner until it comes off. You can use heat or you can just keep hitting.

old68

can't I just drillit out with a same size bit?

MikeM

Welcome to the wonderful world of removing those stupid steel (or aluminum) pins, especially after someone beat on the spinner without taking them off.

There should be a lesson learned here.

DansYellow66

You don't have to worry about a hardened steel roll pin getting preened over - not going to happen. If it went in, it will come out. At worse the spinner may shift a little and pinch it - but just takes a rap on the spinner to move it enough to slip it back out.

True - a gorilla mechanic at a shop could probably destroy the knockoff and hub if they were ignorant of the issue but that a uninformed mechanic can destroy any knockoff wheel has pretty much been demonstrated on here over the past. If for some reason I were to ever take my car to a shop, I would probably pull the caps and pins first as a precaution.

But as I first said - I concentrate on putting the wheels on correctly and properly hammer on the spinners first - with a big lead hammer and no boards, pads or cushions in between the hammer and the knockoff. The pins then go in because the provision is there and they do no harm.

Zip Corvettes

I would try anything before destroying them

old68

guess I answered my own question, do NOT use steel pins, SOB was dug in like a tick,