Is there any method/Rule of thumb for knowing when your Knock-off wheels are tight enough on reinstall?

 

Heh Millie..

Here's a link to Long island Corvette ..

It's a PDF file on KO wheels.. This should help..

http://www.licorvette.com/pdfcatalogfiles/KOwheel.PDF

:cheers:

 

I tighten mine until a lick with the hammer shows no perceptible spinner movement to the eye. That's probably 7-8 hard licks like the Covette America paper shows. The HARD licks start after the spinner is tight. As those intructions mentioned, it is important the wheels seat squarely and snugly on the adaptor and that the drive pins fit snugly in the wheel. Do not underestimate the importance of this! If the wheel rocks on the adaptor or the drive pins are not snug to the wheel, all the pounding in the world will not hold the wheel on. The other important thing is to have the spinner/adaptor threads and mating surfaces clean and lubricated with "something". I use white grease. Most will tell you to use and anti-seize product.

Marking the spinner/adaptor with a marker pen is a good idea to check for movement and will give you piece of mind knowing the intrgrity of the assembly.

 

Thanks for the advice. I like the line idea!

 

Beat the poopie out of them.........and then tighten them some more....honest!

 

As an ex British car person (I'm much better now) where wire knock-off wheels are the rule and not the exception, the answer is:

RUSTED-FAST TIGHT, thats how tight. :lolg:

Always worried about how to get them off, not how to keep them on....

 

I bought a 6lb lead Hammer to get these wheels on tight You pound till your arm hurts !! Put the safety pin in and pound till the pin is tight !!!

 

I wouldn't do that if I were you.

 

Just to clarify, this is 13 years later and what I described is using the OEM two pound hammer. I don't use hard licks with the six pounder. I don't see where it's necessary.

 

1 - I'm going to go out on a limb here and speculate that most knock-off wheels that come off on the road were not due to not being hammered tight, but by being improperly seated - either not indexed correctly at the hub to wheel interface, or not lined up correctly to where the dead blows were actually tightening the wheel on the hub.

2 - So, be absolutely certain that your wheels are correctly seated on the hubs and snug the spinners up tight with the wheel still off the ground (I recommend use of anti-seize on the threads to ensure that any thread engagement galling does not result in thinking that you are snugged up when you are not).

3 - Then lower the car back onto the ground until the weight of the car is on the tire, and then pound away. The number of blows is not important. While some could tighten to the point of no movement in 1-2 blows, others may need 12-20. Who cares? It's not a manhood thing.

4 - The point of no more blows is when, when given a solid whack with a correct hammer, by a person of average strength, that the spinner moves no more. Some people make "witness marks" on the hub to wheel interface that allows for easy checks of tightness over time.

5 - If your wheels are not on correctly, the aluminum so-called safety pins or anti-theft pins (which are neither) will not keep your wheels on. You can dead blow right through those pins - Ive done it - by pounding the spinner off with a pin installed - remember that aluminum is far softer than the steel of the wheel and spinner.

6 - If your pins are made of something harder you might bugger up your hubs or spinners somewhat by knocking them off when installed, but unless your pins are hardened steel, your hubs and spinners will defeat them, too. (the pins are in shear and the threads are not - mechanical advantage wins). If the pins are of super hard stock then none of the above applies (but I do not recommend doing this as they can be a bugger to get out if you do).

7 - As with lug nuts, re-torque or recheck torque once after driving a bit. If you properly installed them you can again use a witness mark to ensure that they are not moving over time.

Happy motoring!

YMMV

 

Yeah! "Beat the hell out of it....Beat the hell out of it....do it again...mark it."

 

7 - If you properly installed them you can again use a witness mark to ensure that they are not moving over time. Question: How many people worry about the tightness of their five-bolt wheel lug nuts over time?

Happy motoring!

YMMV[/QUOTE]

With lug nuts, I retorque once after driving a bit. They seem to settle in. I recheck the knock-offs once, too, after driving the first time.

 

Assembly manual, section UPC P48, spinner torque is 450 ft-lbs.

 

With lug nuts, I retorque once after driving a bit. They seem to settle in. I recheck the knock-offs once, too, after driving the first time.[/QUOTE]

Good rejoinder there. I do, in fact recheck wheel nut torque after about 100 miles or so. I am adding your comment to my numbered list.

 

Yup - we used a 1"-drive Chicago Pneumatic CP-600 HD Impact, suspended from overhead on a balancer (they were HEAVY), fed from 90-psi shop air through a 1" I.D. line, with a toolroom-made special socket.

 

Here is how I do it. Built myself a special spinner socket and purchased a torque multiplier which has a 3:1 multiplication. Can now easily tighten or remove without breaking a sweat or risking damage from misguided hammer blows.

 

Gotta admit, that is just slick!

 

Wholly unnecessary and dare I say inelegant. By the time he gathers those implements together (and scratches his chrome spinners using them) I can have one wheel off my car with a mother-thumper lead hammer in the manner KH/Chevrolet manufacturer specified.

I have 4 original KH wheels and have never had a problem. As I recall I never needed much more than 4 whacks per wheel.

Dan