On 04/20/99 21:04:03 you wrote:
>
>Kelvin et al,
>OK, I believe you guys about towing a wire wheel car backward.
>However there is something that has always bugged me about this. Back in
>the old days Chrysler used right handed thread lugs on one side of their cars
>and left haned thread lugs on the other side. The theroy being, I suppose,
>the same as the knock off that they would not come loose when driving. OK
>fine, I'll buy that. Every other car maker in the world only uses right hand
>thread studs on both sides of the car. Now since we don't see the road
>littered with wheels off just one side of all the cars made EXCEPT Chryslers,
>and LBC's with wires, it must mean that the Left handed threads aren't as
>necessary on cars as Chrysler thought.
>Agreed?
>So why do knock offs come off when towed backward? On a car with all right
>handed thread lugs, at any one time, half of them are going in the "wrong"
>direction and should be comming loose. I can tell you from personal
>experience that if lug nuts get a little loose the studs (all of them) will
>break. Ask me how I know this<G>. The only answer I can think of is that a
>properly torqued fastner won't come loose. Am I missing something here?
>Not trying to start a flame war, just want to understand.
>Rick Ewald
>67 MGB
You are comparing apples and oranges. four or five lugged studs will not be
subjected to the
same forces as one centered knock off. The knock off loosing happens due to
play in the splined
hubs. this play causes the wheel to move in opposite direction than hub. You
tow your car any
which way you like but I have since with my own eyes (and heard of many more
situations)the
wheels fall off cars that have been towed backwards with knock offs. I tow many
cars over 500
miles weekly if you wish to take the advice of some yahoo who towed his car
improperly a half
dozen times and was lucky not to have a catastraphy over my advice then go
right on ahead. Just
do the list a favor and let us know where and when you are towing so we can
stay out of harms
way as those wheels start flying.
Safety Fast,
David Deutsch
|