Wheels

[worzel]

Hello all

Not a query just an observation. In the 20 years plus I've had my Sprint I've never been able to satisfactorily solve two irritating problems- namely steering shake and a certain harshness from the back end of the car on the overrun from 60mph plus. I've tried all sorts of remedies- very careful wheel balancing (which worked for a short time before the problem with shake recurred) to shimming the diff mounts to centralise it up and down so there was clearance all round to the chassis- to renewing the mounts, the rotoflexes- having the prop balanced etc. well now I've cured both at once. Fed up with continually rusting wheels I bought a set of minilites (5 x 13), had them carefully balanced and surprisingly no more steering shake (which you'd expect) and even better no more harshness from the rear of the car. In fact the whole feeling of the transmission has improved to an amazing degree. My theory is that the aluminium rims somehow damp out the vibrations from the rear. do any other owners have a similar experience.

Definitely money well spent.

On another note- I retained the 155/13 tyres I had but stretched them on the wider rims- does make a subtle difference to the steering- not a huge amount but definitely "tighter" in feel.

Regards

John

[gjz30075]

John, I made the same changeover about 3 years ago with a set of Panasports. Should have done it 20 yrs ago! Constant battle with car shaking and wheel imbalance is totally gone. I think the flimsy steel wheels just can't hold up to the newer, stickier rubber than what the car came with. I went with Bridgestone RE92 165/65s.

Greg Z.
'72 Sprint

[mac5777]

Greg, I also have just purchased panasport wheels and have the original tires -- 145x13. I am looking for more rubber on the road -- 155x13 or??? I have been told that the RE92 165/13s look small in the wheel well?? and more important, may change the RPM. Have you noticed any of these things? I'm just finishings a rebuilt and ready for paint on a Elan 1967 coupe 36/5785. Thanks, Sarto

[gjz30075]

Sarto, you're right. the 165/65 tires aspect ratio is a smaller diameter than the original 13" tires. The wheel is 5" width which is an ok fit for an S4 and really tight fit for an S1 or S2. The 145 tire might be a bit narrow for the width of the wheel. I would have preferred a 165/70 tire but I just couldn't find a set at the time.

With the smaller diameter, there will be a slight increase of rpms for a given speed

Greg Z
'72 Sprint

[david.g.chapman]

Just to add - I suspect most of the old steel wheels (which I am still running on) suffer from some degree of lateral run out.

I have virtually eliminated the high speed vibration you get as a result, but only by driving and then moving balance weights around the wheels on a trial and error basis. Not for the faint-hearted!

Radial run out on the tyres can also cause problems. A trick to improve things - jack up car to unload tyre, release all of the air, sqeeze the tyre to break the seal with the wheel, inflate to 40 psi, then release air to get down to running pressure. Rotate tyre and marvel at improvement - hopefully!

Dave Chapman.

[wobblyweb]

John.
I too have that "vibration" on the overrun.I have rebuilt the gearbox and the diff and this year fitted a new chassis but its not gone.
What alloys did you fit Minilight Knock ons? Panasport look the part, are they available in the UK?
I would try but only if a direct replacement.

Rae

73 Sprint