I've gotta fit an escort axle in place of the Cortina one. Heard mention of wheel spacers, what are they, where can I get them from and are they 'safe' to use. Wots the maximum safe length I can add using these? Need to see if I need narrow arches now or not.
Wheel spacers basically come in two types - those which use elongated studs as replacements for the originals and then come in varying sizes up to 1
inch wide (sometimes, but rarely, wider).
The second type use studs which bolt on to the originals. This type is to be avoided. They would not pass scutineering for any motorsport event, so
whilst they may be OK for road use I would not use them. I had a set on a mini for a week because I needed something to make the wheels go round after
replacing calipers and could not get anything else, but swapped them for the other type asap. These 1 inch spacers have now been on (at the front) for
seven years with no problems.
The main drawback of spacers is that wheel bearings do not last as long as they should because the loading moves and increases. There have been cars
which come out of the factory with them fitted though - at least some real minis did have.
Hope this is clearer than mud!
Cheers
Jasper,
I thought you were going to fit a Capri axle - what changed your mind?
I've got 19mm spacers on my 306 to convert the Ford wheels (ET35) into Peugeot (ET16). SpeedShack sell all the bits, including the long
studs/nuts/bolts you'll need to get it all to fit together.
Chris
You need to have a good measure up, I have an Escort axle with 30mm spacers and long studs they came from Rally Design I think.
But the Revolution wheels I have are offset to the outside which is quite rare with the prevailence of front wheel drive cars these days.
And my wheels are at least 2" under the arches (wider Caterham ones).
So i'm guessing that with your Sierra offset wheels your wheels would still be well tucked under the arches.
You'd best look at mine on Sunday maybe.
http://www.groovy42.freeserve.co.uk
quote:
Originally posted by Mark Allanson
Jasper,
I thought you were going to fit a Capri axle - what changed your mind?
Whilst we're on the subject - what is everyone's opinion on wheel spacers?
Reason I ask is I fitted them on my cabrio (as I said above) and a few people have told me my wheel nuts will probably snap because of all the extra
force. Now, I appreciate they will be under more stress but I can't see it being enough to snap the bolts. Their reasoning, forgetting the
extra leverage, is that the locating lip on the hubs takes most of the load of the car but now it doesn't reach the wheel. I thought it was just
a way of making sure the wheel was central on the hub.
Anyone care to comment?
BTW I've just got 'normal' flat spacers, not the hubeccentric ones with the locating bits on them - 19mm thick so I can run ET35 wheels
on an ET16 car.
Chris
What I was told - and it may be a pack of lies 
- is that the main force stopping the wheels sliding around is the friction between the mounting
faces. The nuts are there to provide the force that creates the friction.
The locating lip is just that - it makes sure that the wheel is held in the correct place while doing up the fasteners.
But saying all this - I currently have spacers but I'm about to replace my wheels with some that have the correct offset. Hopefully I won't
need any spacers (or very thin ones, anyway).
cheers,
David
The reason for fitting the escort one is weight, the Capri ones are apparently much heavier. As it's such a lightweight car it seems daft to add
lots of extra weight at the back.
I may have to get some narrow arches eventually tho'.
My spacers have replacement long studs in place of the original one's.
Which I guess makes it quite strong.
But I never liked the look of the old bolt on extension stud spacers, although I've never heard of them failing .
Jasper are your arches wide Caterham or the narrower 'Locost'. If they are the latter you may get away with it , but I know that original
Sierra wheels rubbed on my chassis when fitted to my rolling chassis whilst building, and your internal offsets look very wide............
Is that a Mk1 or Mk2 Escort diff?. The later one with the removable rear cover is not much different to a Capri axle, about 2" shorter, so the
weight saving is not going to be that great. I think the earlier one was made from thinner tubing so would be lighter.
yours, Pete.
Hi Jasper have you considered with all the work involved and the small weight saving, it might be easier to go on a crash diet, or leave the daughter
at home. cheers davef. ps thats a nice looking car.
Can't make up my mind here, I need to find out if there is a big difference in weight or not, as the Capri would be a better fit.
BTW, anybody know if the Capri diff will bolt straight onto the Cortina prop?
And cheers Dave.
If its any use, the Capri axle has the same diff input flange as the sierra (probably the same as the cortina), it weighs 47Kg's complete with brakes and drums - any one know how this compares with the Escort?
Cheers Mark - I'm gonna go for the Escort as Hicost has some 2" wheel spacers he's gonna let me have (and if they handled the power on his they will be fine on mine!). That way I can get things like LSD's etc easily later on.
Sorry to borrow your thread jasper, but I've found some caterham 14" minators (minilite copies) at a bargain price, only problem is that
they're et19. the sierra running gear i have is desgined for et38 as I see it. Will i be able to run these wheels? tried to convince myself by
drawing the offset etc out, the rims will stick out further on the bodywork.
anyone tried this or had any problems or advise against it?
thanks,
Ned.
Ned, check out tyre availability for 14". If you go with 13" I'm sure they get much cheaper.
Jasper, 185/60 r14's (yoko a539's) are on them at the mo. I plan to have two sets, one for road use (and getting the thing running) and one
for track - eventually. problem with 13" is i'm going sierra rear discs which you can't get a 13" rim over!
Ned.
If you are going for a lighter axle surely sticking 4kg of metal on each end is defeating the object of the excercise.
yours, Pete.
quote:
Originally posted by ned
problem with 13" is i'm going sierra rear discs which you can't get a 13" rim over!
Ned.
Most Mk1 Sierras had 13" wheels as standard, did they change the brakes when they upsised the wheels?
It's not so much the added weight (anyway they're ali so not too heavy) but the availability of aftermarket parts (LSD's) and other ratio's, trying to future proof it.
my (early) sierra donor was on 13" steels with rear drums (that fit obviously) i'm going to use a later sierra rear disc axle that was
fitted with 14" steels.
It as age thing with brake type vs wheel size...
Ned.