Do you replace the entire wheel set (all four wheels) outright every 30 -
40 races? Or can you usefully have them rebuilt? What are the warning
signs that a scrutineer type might look for when examining wire
wheels? Where do the cracks first occur on the steel disc wheels?
On the brakes, is there any particular trick to getting drum brakes to work
well, or is it a matter of selecting the right linings and then doing
fairly routine maintenance? Part of my aversion to drums in front is the
charred, destroyed linings I've seen come out of some drum brakes, and the
frustration of the owner when he's just paid big bucks to have them relined
with supposedly guaranteed good material. If I can learn more about them,
then perhaps I can respond more intelligently when people are having
troubles getting their drum brakes to work well.
I've got to admit I'm prejudiced against four wheel drums by a few early
Corvettes that I've raced against - they sure scared the crap out of me a
few times when they did things on the track that I totally didn't
expect. My problem, for sure, but they didn't look very fun to drive!
Brian
At 02:14 PM 11/29/01, Mark Palmer wrote:
>Tom,
>
>
>The more I see, the more I like my 60-spoke Dayton heavy-duty wire wheels.
>They probably flex a bit & cushion the shock to the suspension. They do
>break a spoke once in a while, usually no more than two in a single
>session, when the wheels are getting towards the end of their useful life
>(around 30-40 races). That, to me, is a relatively safe failure mode,
>offering me the chance to change the wheel before further damage
>occurs. The factory disc wheels crack, and the crack propogates very
>quickly and is much harder to detect (in the early stages) than a broken
>spoke or two. We have had a couple of instances of
>sudden/complete/catastophic wheel separation with the factory disc wheels.
>
>There's no perfectly safe solution -- racer beware.
>
>Mark Palmer
>
>
>
>
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