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One other thing I do is to cut a 5 to 6 inch piece of 10 or 12 gauge wire, and then pull the copper strands out of it. I then slip this over the safety wire where it comes in contact with the wheel spokes. This keeps the wire from wearing on the wheel, and does not affect the safety of the application.
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I understand what you are saying and I'll put 'em on tight. The reason I asked was when I checked around here, some of the guys that raced cars w / knockoffs said they never used safety wire because the rotation should keep them tight. Others gave me the tight VS loop versions. I figured I'd put it to the forum. Thanks for the illustration, Ivan |
Ivan, for an alternate opinion, many here believe that the wire is/was put on with a slack loop to indicate that the spinner has backed off, not to prevent the spinner from moving.
I don't think safety wire on aviation applications is comparable to its use on knock-off spinners...significantly different forces involved. IMHO, there's no way the safety wire could prevent the spinner from moving; it has no significant strength, and should not be relied on. |
Thanks guys... I've read all the 'spinner tool' threads as well.
I'm gonna try it with the hammer and see if that works before buying the $250 tool. Also, maybe someone here in Chi-town has a tool I can borrow. |
[quote=mr0077;823497]Ivan, for an alternate opinion, many here believe that the wire is/was put on with a slack loop to indicate that the spinner has backed off, not to prevent the spinner from moving.QUOTE]
mr0077, What you are saying is what the "Slack loop" group has been telling me. Just to play it safe, rather than redoing the wires (At least not until I regen more blood cells), I'll put a small kink in the middle of the piece between the two attachments. It shouldn't weaken it and it'll be a good indicator. Probably a good idea to tap the knockoffs every once in a while. The wire spinner I used worked pretty well. It was threading the wire and making the end result look neat that caused the bodily damage. In any case, I think I have the hang of it now for next time. Thanks for the input, Ivan |
knock-ons
65cobra1,
I've had one come off my ex CSX car and it is not a good thing. I was dumb enough to not have safety wire on them. If rotation kept them on, they'd never come off. It is vibration, lateral force changes and force generated in extreme stops that tend to allow them to walk off. Safety wire is designed to stop the problem, not be a "tell", hell if you want a "tell" use string...it will do the same thing. Jbo |
Well, JBo, the safety wires are on pretty tight. I went out to put a small kink in them and no dice. They look good, tho. A nice clean job.
The real deal was the fact that I was able to get the wheels off (After a year plus, clean them up and get fresh anti-seize on all threads and mating surfaces. I also realized that I had originally whacked them on too tight. So, when I re-installed, I just whacked the spinners until they stopped moving and left out the last big hit. I'll watch them this summer and see how all that turns out. Should be OK since I'm a cruiser not a tracker. Thanks for all the tips...Good stuff! Ivan |
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FWIW, I recommend doing it the reverse of these instructions...have the loop start at the spinner, twist the wire and finish the ends of the wire behind the wheels...it has a much cleaner look and you're less likely to cut yourself with the end of the wire at the knockoff ear.
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They came off easy! I did the following: - Jack up the car - Bang lightly on one ear - Rotate to the next ear - Bang on that ear - Repeat Every spinner came off in about 60-90 seconds. Got the new tires on, but I don't have any safety wire, so I'll do that tomorrow. I went from a 340 treadwear rating on the stock SPF tires to an 80 treadwear on these Avons. I'm thinking that should help traction and/or blow up the 8.8" rear... |
I was told the wire was there for two reasons;
1 - to keep the spinner from loosining 2 - to provide a visual warning during pre-driving inspection that there is a problem (if the wire is broken). I like the suggestion of loosening all of the spinners a few turns, and re-tightnening them to keep them from siezing. I will add this to my Spring routine. |
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I have found that the quickest way is to use a blow torch to cut the suckers off and simply put a new set on after you are done doing whatever you wanted to take them off for. It certainly is more fun and less stressful on your rotator cuffs. Guys love tearing stuff up and this is a great opportunity.
Anonymous |
Just a suggestion for those worried about snagging yourself on the ends of the cut safety wire..............
The accepted aircraft mechanic and race bike mechanic method is to grip the ends of the cut and twisted wire and turn it back on itself in a small loop to the inside. This would leave the ends turned in and only a smooth loop to worry about. No snags. The tapered ends of the safety wire pliers help make this work. I think the method of twisting the wire from the wheel side to make the ends less visible is the wrong way. You have to pull and twist to make the wire tight and that's much easier to do correctly when pulling from the spinner. I also favor drilling a hole in your wheel instead of encircling a spoke. That way you can properly chamfer the hole and prevent the harder stainless wire from gouging the softer aluminum wheel spoke. The Cobra Country description is right on about the correct tightness of the twist. 6 turns per inch would be fine for our use with the .032 SS wire. Paul |
Knockons or spinners
The Autokraft AC's (AK's ) came with holes in the compomotive wheel webs for the safety wire and this was for a "nut" that was also safety wired to keep the wheel on. The removal/apply tool was basically a box wrench of about 2 1/2 to 3" with about an 18" handle. You may remember that knockon's were sort of outlawed at one time as dangerous to someone ;pedestrians perhaps. I have added a couple holes in each wheel
as i tend to do two "ears" per wheel (having had one come off (not wired)years ago. I have seen a bit of a twist put in the twisted safety wire with needle nose pliers to put a very small 90 degree kink in the long portion of the wire. |
One more tidbit:
If you get to the point where you need to apply heat to the spinner, cooling the hub rapidly from the inside with a CO2 fire extinguisher will help shrink the hub away from the spinner. Lowell |
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