[Healeys] hubs .. splines - autotightening

[Al Malin]

I'll never forget an incident that happened back in 1963 while my  
friend Chip, in his Healey, was following me in my  first Tricarb.

My future wife and I was in the lead with Chip and his date behind me  
along with other British sports cars behind them.  We were all headed  
for Lake Michigan for a day of fun and sun on the beach.

Everyone was moving along at highway speeds until I saw, in my review  
mirror, a tire happily running along side Chip's Healey.  It was the  
weirdest sight.  The right rear knockoff had worked itself loose  
allowing the wheel to slide off.  Chip calmly slowed the Healey to a  
stop while it rode on the break drum.  I don't recall any significant  
body damage, if any at all.  The tire was fairly easy to find.  The  
knockoff took a lot longer to find in the roadside's grass and weeds.   
After finding both we jacked the car up and remounted them on the  
hub.  Periodically, for the balance of the trip, he made sure the  
knockoff was on good by getting out the hammer and giving the  
knockoffs a couple of whacks.

What caused the knockoff to loosen to the point of falling off?  It  
turns out Chip had just repaired the differential and during  
reassembly he mistakenly reversed the hubs.  He had put the right hub  
on the left and vice versa.

Al Malin
Tricarb



On Aug 24, 2009, at 9:03 PM, Michael Salter wrote:

> If one would care to look up the original Rudge Whitworth patent for  
> splined
> knock off wheels one would learn that they are indeed designed to self
> tighten.
> However driving a long distance in reverse or putting them on the  
> wrong side
> can have the opposite effect...:-)Good explanation here
> http://www.vtr.org/maintain/wire-wheels-tightening.shtml
>
>
> Michael Salter
> http://www.netbug.net/blogmichael/?p=445
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: healeys-bounces at autox.team.net [mailto:healeys-bounces at autox.team.net 
> ]
> On Behalf Of Steve B. Gerow
> Sent: Monday, August 24, 2009 8:52 PM
> To: healeys at autox.team.net
> Subject: Re: [Healeys] hubs .. splines - autotightening
>
> I can verify properly oriented hubs will cause the knockoff to  
> tighten in
> the course of normal driving. I've been using Sharpie index marks  
> every time
> I remount the wheels and they tighten up every time.
>
> In the several years since I got new hubs & wheels, never yet had one
> loosen.
>
> Read about it on this list several years ago.