[Spridgets] Wire wheel conversion

Dean Hedin dlh2001 at comcast.net
Thu Jun 17 21:21:01 MDT 2010


-----Original Message-----

>On wire wheel conversions: I have encountered 2 wire wheel axle's that
>were loose in the hub. These were on actual wire wheel cars. I don't
>think I would do a conversion by pressing the axles out of the hubs. Only
>by using the correct axle housing's.
>My opinion's, hope there of some use!!
>Kurt.

Kurt, I don't doubt that you came across two axles that had issues.
But how do you mean loose? And how did they get this way? 
For those splines to have come loose in the hub somebody had to do something
stupid in assembly at some point, like not tighten the lug nuts that
secure the hub to the bearing hub and then drove it for a while.

The simple fact of the matter is that there is almost 2 inches of spline
engagement in the hub.  In a correct setup only 1 inch of spline engagement
occurs at the differential.  We are only going to press the axles about .6
inch.  That still leaves about 1.4 inches in the hub.  That is still more
than at the differential.

In a perfect world there should be no side loads on the axles that would
cause them to move in or out of the hub.  However the axles need to be
secured in the hubs by some means so the stay located.

The gentleman I spoke with at Hellertown said he used Loctite shaft
retaining compound to secure his in place.   He said that he pressed
the shafts all the way out and then coated them with the Loctite and then
pressed them back in.  He has been driving with these for 5 years.

In any case I prefer to arc weld mine once they are pressed into the proper
location.

What do you think the factory used to secure the axles into the wire wheel
hubs?


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