Don-
You write, "Did you know that the wire wheel adapters don't sit flush with
the hub? They rest on the shoulders of the studs and never get within about
1/16" of the hub itself".
This is not a good situation. The wire wheel adapter must seat flush
on the wheel hub face (actually the brake drum face) in order to
gain any strength or support, this is the way they were designed to fit, just
as the front wheels are on your TR4. The shoulder of the wheel stud was meant
to register the brake drum on the hub, and should not extend further than the
face of the drum. I am at a loss to explain why yours seem to protrude
further than they should. Replacement thinner drums? Studs pulled out of the
hubs? Weird. At this point, I see two theories of repair. First thought; make
up a spacer the size of the adapter diameter and just thick enough to cover
the shoulder of the wheel studs. The second; drill the hole in the adapter
large enough to fit over the shoulder of the wheel stud. This theory has some
problems in that the wire wheel nuts have very little purchase to start with,
and enlarging the hole will reduce this area. Additionally, if the shoulder
protrudes far enough, the wire wheel nut will then bottom on the shoulder and
never actually hold the adapter on tightly. Another very bad situation.
Every TR that I have owned, had the wire wheels (if equipped)
removed and steel or mag wheels installed, so I have little or no personal
experience to fall back on here...fellow SOL'ers, feel free to jump in here
anytime !
Regarding your idea of removing the studs and having the hub re-faced...
Good theory, hard to do. The screw-in studs are peened over on the back of
the hub. I assume that the studs were screwed into
the hub and then peened when the things were very hot. I say this because the
studs are very hard and the peened area must be "chipped/shattered" out, then
the stud unscrewed. This can be done fairly easily, however, I know of no
easy way to "peen the back side of the studs back down. These are hard little
devils, and every place I have had attempt do a "peen" job, has failed rather
miserably. Anybody else had any luck with this procedure? No,
heating the stud, or welding it in, only destroys the hardness of the stud.
The Car Curmudgeon
Nick
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