Several months ago, I reported to the list that Victoria British sent me the
wrong adapter nuts labeled as the correct part, which I proceeded to install
before comparing with my standard wheel nuts. Subsequently, my front left
wheel came completely off while driving, damaging my fender and netting me a
$50 tow home. VB called after I voiced my complaints with them and offered
to reimburse me for the tow and provide me with a gift certificate for
parts -- neither of which ever materialized.
I bought new hub adapters from Nigel at Spitbitz and immediately noticed the
better quality of the material they were forged from. I replaced all the
damaged wheel studs (that had been stripped) and replaced the nuts on both
front wheels with the Spitbits wheel nuts, but left the VB wheel nuts on the
rears since they seemed to be secure and weren't causing any problems.
Some of you may recall that I subsequently reported a problem with a loud,
single clicking sound from the rear wheels whenever I applied the brakes or
let up on the gas suddenly. Some of you suspected the rear trunions.
Others thought it might be the u-joints (which are fairly new). So today,
after a month of doing nothing to the car and barely driving it because of
the recent heat wave out here, I decided to jack up the rear end to see what
I could do. Everything seemed tight. With the rear end on jack stands, I
fired up the motor, put it in gear, then applied the brakes. "Click"! It
became obvious to be that the problem was in the wheel itself.
With the engine off and the parking brake on good and tight, I rocked the
tire from side to side and was astounded to discover about a half inch of
"play" all together. Fearing the splines were going, I removed both rear
wheels and had a look. The splines looked fine, but I decided that this
would be a perfect time to swap out the cheap-o VB wheel nuts which were
starting to show signs of surface rust!!! What the@#%!. Sure enough, when
compared to the Spitbitz wheel adapter nuts, I could see that the bevel
angle was different and the Victoria British nuts were about 1/16" of an
inch taller, if that. However, eliminating that amount allowed me to
tighten down the wheels just a hare better -- ending the slop entirely.
Now perhaps the adapter nuts that VB sells with their hub adapters are a
perfect match -- I'm not sure where my hub adapters originated from. But I
can tell you with great confidence and authority that the adapter nuts that
VB was selling a few months ago are WRONG for the hub adapter that I'm
using. And making matters worse -- made of very poor quality materials.
Dont get me wrong -- I've bought many things for my Spitfire from VB and
have been quite happy with the results -- but as others have mentioned in
passing before -- when it comes to critical safety components -- you might
want to look elsewhere.
Man! It sure is a beautiful thing to be able to drive without those
annoying clicks anymore!
Best wishes,
Jeff in San Diego
'67 RHD Spitfire Mk3 aka "Mrs. Jones"
Jeff's Classic '67 Spitfire Mk3 site & Vintage Spitfire Webring
http://www.ohms.com/spitfire/spitfire.shtml
home of the NEW Totally Triumph Auction
"By Triumph enthusiasts, for Triumph enthusiasts"
http://www.ohms.com/cgi-bin/TRauction.cgi
and... The Triumph Autos/Parts Wanted Listings
http://www.ohms.com/cgi-bin/TRwanted.cgi
...plus a few other surprises!
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