Theory is a beautiful thing, only problem is some times things don't
work as well in the real world. I found a cheap rubber mallet at Harbor
freight that does the trick without a lot of damage to the ears. I also
give them a tap every now and again just to make sure. If the splines
on the hub go bad the self tightening principle turns into the self
loosening principle. I will second your theory on that octagon wrench.
Don
57' BN4
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-healeys@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-healeys@autox.team.net]
On Behalf Of William Moyer
Sent: Friday, June 24, 2005 5:57 AM
To: healeys@autox.team.net
Subject: RE: Knock off should be Pound On
Fellow fans,
I hate to buck the trend, but I've personally witnessed a wheel come off
a
Healey while in motion twice and it's not fun to look at or experience.
What
the engineers or patents or manufacturers say is little comfort when a
corner
drops to the ground at speed especially if it's a front corner. You
learn a
lot about your reactions under stress when this happens. Now every few
times
I take the car out I give all four corners some medium taps just to say
I did
and I almost always get a little motion in at least one of them. The
stresses
on the system act both when you acclerate and when you brake, so the
knockoff
is going to want to unscrew in at least one of those motions.
Like checking your oil and water it just makes sense to rap them every
now and
again. While I wouldn't go after the knockoff with a 10lb sledge hammer
I
don't particularly care what it looks like. It's purpose in life is to
be
pounded and I doubt if anyone has ever beat the ears off one. The
intent of
knockoffs is to facilitate removal and replacement of the wheel, not to
be
pretty.
I've also read that you are supposed to tighten them with the wheels in
the
air, but I only do that for the initial tightening to seat them properly
because more than that seems to shake the daylights out of the
suspension. I
can just feel the vibrations going through the drive train and/or
steering
mechanics. Kind of like hitting a foot deep pothole at 50 mph. Then,
for me,
they go on the ground for the final comforting few raps. I use a 3
pound lead
hammer and yes, even that makes marks on the ears, sorry to all the
physicists
out there. I actually think that the concours standards should require
dings
on the knockoffs. They weren't stock on my car in the first place but I
defy
anyone to use that horrible octagonal wrench on the original equipment
without
flipping it into the bushes about 5 times. Or worse, into your face.
Bill Moyer, BJ7 with wheels firmly in place
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