Hub spinner direction

[Paul Blore]

Hi Roger,

If I understand you correctly, you're saying that the insurance company didn't pay out because they claimed the spinners were on the wrong side?
That sounds like a massive cop-out on their part.

I'll get back to you.

Paul

[Paul Blore]

OK, lets have a go....

Provided your wheels are properly and securely tightened, there is absolutely no rotational difference between the wheel, the hub or the spinner. As I said previously, they are effectively "as one".

Also, our cars will accelerate at roughly the same rate as they will brake (typo corrected) and assuming that every journey starts and ends at rest (which it obviously does ) the braking and acceleration forces applied to the rear wheels are roughly equivilent.

Now here's the clincher....., unless your Cobra has 4 wheel drive, there has been no accelerative forces applied to your front wheels, only braking. Therefore, by your logic, the front wheels should have opposite hand threads to the rear wheels, but they don't. Do your front wheels keep falling off? I suspect not.

I have checked on the F1 point I made earlier and I was wrong, they do use left and right hand threads, but the only reason is tradition. That's the way they have always done it.

However, if your spinners aren't properly tightened, all bets are off.

QED

[Roger King]

...our cars will accelerate at roughly the same rate as they will break...

You said it!

[clive]

...our cars will accelerate at roughly the same rate as they will break...

You said it!

Just ask Bill!

[Paul Blore]

...our cars will accelerate at roughly the same rate as they will break...

You said it!

Oops...finger trouble.

You can't argue with the logic though.

[Roger King]

...our cars will accelerate at roughly the same rate as they will break...

You said it!

Oops...finger trouble.

You can't argue with the logic though.

Tell you what, switch your hubs round and try it for a few days (all usual disclaimers)!

[clive]

Kind of obvious which way round the wire wheel spinners go.

[James Baxter]

That's categoric Clive! That's Rudge Whitworth hubs sorted, as we suspected.

Its to do with the taper in the hub-nut being male or female. That's why Lotus's go the other way.

Do all Halibrand tri-spinners have a male taper? Some old tri-spinners (Jaguar D types evidently, and others? Early cobras?) are basically 3 eared rudge Whitworths, ie female taper. I think they SHOULD be Forward-OFF.

Competition cars do loosen their hub-nuts (not all, but many). It's fact. You can't just say "tighten them". Paint movement, dirt, heat expansion, material compliance all play a part to differing degrees.

Thinking about it, few cars wired on (lockwire) their spinners in period. Maybe Cobras had to because they didn't reverse their thread direction when they changed the taper direction. Wow, wouldn't that be a revelation!

[Roger King]

Hi Roger,

If I understand you correctly, you're saying that the insurance company didn't pay out because they claimed the spinners were on the wrong side?
That sounds like a massive cop-out on their part.

I'll get back to you.

Paul

That is indeed the case. Basically the car was not as the designers intended and the insurers had not been notified of the 'modification'!! Neither had I!

Seriously, if you go round a car with the chrome two-eared spinner with a hide hammer, you'll often get a quarter-turn or more extra on the wheels.

[Paul Blore]

My position on this only holds true if the wheels are properly clamped up tight and everything is as it should be e.g. the tapers mate properly, all mating surfaces are clean and true etc.
If anything can move relative to something that shouldn't, then all bets are off.

Here's someone else view on this who has far more credibility on these matters than me: http://www.clubcobra.com/forums/showpos ... stcount=73

Paul