Or, maybe some metalurgy experts will tell us that the stress and vibration through the joint will somehow break down the metal.... Well I guess I will have to come out of the closet and admit that I have a degree in metallurgy. As for the wear, no matter how tight a fit one has between rotating parts there is always some tolerence between the parts. (Even more tolerence if your hub nut is not tight.) During acceleration (and to a lesser degree during braking.) this space is removed and the parts come together causing the material to slowly cold work and change shape. Eventially the material wears away. A lack a grease causes more friction, thus more heat and the metal wears faster. The front wheels since they are not driven wheels do not see the acceleration loads and do not wear out. Keep them tight and greased and they should last a long time. Tom
--------------------------------------
Date: 6/20/96 6:13 PM
To: T Wiencek
From: Roland Dudley
>
> "OK, I have a question. Why do splines wear? If a wheel is kept tight
> and greased from the day it is new, why do the splines wear?"
>
> Well, you've got me. Maybe that's the point. If they are properly
> maintained maybe they don't wear. Or, maybe some metalurgy experts will
> tell us that the stress and vibration through the joint will somehow
> break down the metal. I also understand that the problem with putting
> too much power to wire wheels is not the hubs but the spokes. I wonder
> if anyone ever bothered to tell Ferrari or Maserati that?
>
> Jay
Jay,
Recall the recent posts on the Tiger list about what happened to the proto Tiger with wire wheels the first time it was driven.
BTW, the splines on my snake take a pretty good beating and they still look good. Nice flat-topped sawtooth shapes. I have bent (but never broken) a few spokes though.
The original owner apparently never grease the splines. Right after I bought the car I had a flat and ended up destroying a knock-off getting the wheel off. I didn't have any tools other than a knock-off hammer (one of my favorite tools) and had to use the Model A wheel puller method. This involved jacking up the opposite wheel, undoing the knock-off part way and whacking the hell out of it.
All of the splines have been kept well greased since.
Roland
------------------ RFC822 Header Follows ------------------ Received: by qmgate.anl.gov with SMTP;20 Jun 1996 18:12:53 -0600 Received: from localhost (daemon(at)localhost) by triumph.cs.utah.edu (8.6.12/) with SMTP id TAA16908; Thu, 20 Jun 1996 19:09:42 -0400 Received: (from majordom(at)localhost) by triumph.cs.utah.edu (8.6.12/) id TAA16891 for alpines-outgoing; Thu, 20 Jun 1996 19:09:36 -0400 From: Roland Dudley <cobra(at)cdc.hp.com> Message-Id: <199606202309.AA032472168(at)csx2282.cdc.hp.com> Subject: Re: RE: Wire Wheel-splined hub ...loose fit To: JLAIFMAN(at)PNM.MHS.CompuServe.COM (Jay Laifman) Date: Thu, 20 Jun 96 16:09:28 PDT Cc: gibbons(at)northpole.med.uvm.edu, DBILESKY(at)cln.etc.bc.ca, ALPINES(at)autox.team.net In-Reply-To: <960620221742_555063.0_EHF35-1(at)CompuServe.COM>; from "Jay Laifman" at Jun 20, 96 6:17 pm Mailer: Elm [revision: 70.85] Sender: owner-alpines(at)triumph.cs.utah.edu Precedence: bulk Reply-To: Roland Dudley <cobra(at)cdc.hp.com>