scootz
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| posted on 6/11/10 at 08:05 PM |
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Weller Steel Wheels...
Anyone know much about them... the word 'steel' implies heavy, but then they're used on Formula Fords, so can't be that
weighty... can they???
It's Evolution Baby!
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marcjagman
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| posted on 6/11/10 at 08:11 PM |
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Steel wheels aren't any heavier than the average alloy, some are lighter.
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snakebelly
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| posted on 6/11/10 at 08:12 PM |
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not incredibly light compared to modern alloys but very very strong and not as heavy as you might think, i have 3 sets for racing and am very happy
with them.
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Stott
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| posted on 6/11/10 at 08:23 PM |
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I can't claim to know anything about wellers but IMO steel wheels are always lighter than alloys except in the extreme cases such as TD pro
race's, superlegggeras etc.
I was a mechanic for years, lifting the bloody things on and off, day in day out and steels were always easier! lol
This "lightweight alloy wheel" sales blurb is just that as far as I'm concerned, it's all bull as alloys are so chunky so they
don't break they end up weighing a ton. As stated above though, if you went out and bought speedlines, compomotives, OZ magnesiums or team
dynamics pro race etc etc etc, they would be lighter than the steel counterparts, or so you'd hope..................
Stott
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T66
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| posted on 6/11/10 at 09:24 PM |
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The little Fiat might be getting modular wellers with hubcaps....
For a retro look
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iank
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| posted on 6/11/10 at 09:25 PM |
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I weighed a 13"x5.5" Weller on my bathroom scales (wheel+me) - me method at 5.45kg.
Lighter than most OEM alloys.
--
Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience.
Anonymous
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scootz
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| posted on 6/11/10 at 09:27 PM |
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5.5kg is perfectly respectable!
It's Evolution Baby!
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Stott
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| posted on 6/11/10 at 09:30 PM |
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I had 15" superleggeras that were 4.7kg each!!!! 
IIRC, they were lighter than the tyres
but I bent one in a pothole and couldn't get a replacement 
as I said though super specials like these are the exception
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trextr7monkey
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| posted on 6/11/10 at 09:37 PM |
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Hi, I can claim some knowledge on this topic as we have had 19 vehicles mostly sporting Wellers- made originally by Les weller in batches often to
suit kit cars with deeper offsets than readily available,
Come in 2 sorts- the 8 spoke - favoured by Jeep type vehicles - Jago, Rickman Dutton Sierras Eagle RV s etc and latterly made fro Suzukis and Land
rovers- powder coated usually white and very stong although they do come in chrome and badly rusted flavours too, the other has circular holes and
is usually called "racing" as it was used more on track/ road cars than the 8 spoke.
Helpfully the measurements are always stamped on the wheel - diameter and offset etc
10" were made in spectacular widths for Minis, 13" popular with some of the classic ford guys , 14" commonly fitted to a lot of the
jeep type vehicles and 15" are sought after as not so many about. All sorts of odd sizes were made so it is a case of watching out for sizes you
might want.
Have a set of 15s with big tyres stashed somewhere and some 14s with BFGs fitted, all Ford (as in Mk 2 escort) fitment
We once collected a set of 13" x 10 " wide dragster wheels for a mate from an e bay deal. 
hth
Mike
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14016102@N00/ (cut and paste this dodgey link)
Our most recent pics are here:
http://s129.photobucket.com/albums/p211/trextr7monkey/
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TimC
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| posted on 7/11/10 at 12:36 AM |
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I'm not sure what the current situation is, but when I last spoke the Weller, the massively amiable chap on the other end of the phone explained
that they were in administration (or near-as-dammit; I can't quite recall) and as such they were unable to offer anything but shelf-stock... He
sounded genuinely gutted that he couldn't help.
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hobbsy
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| posted on 7/11/10 at 01:32 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Stott
I had 15" superleggeras that were 4.7kg each!!!!
IIRC, they were lighter than the tyres
but I bent one in a pothole and couldn't get a replacement
as I said though super specials like these are the exception
Yeah OZ Super/Ultra Leggeras are one of my faves. They don't make SuperL's anymore so I guess that's why you couldn't get a
replacemet. Usually fractionally lighter than the TD 1.2's and better looking IMHO.
5.5Kg for a 13 inch wheel is good for a steel but not that great for an alloy.
You can get Citroen C5 alloys that are made and look like steels but are alloy and are sub 5Kg.
CXRs are around 5Kg in 13x6 / 13x7.
I had a set of MB R500 mag 3 pieces 13's at around 3.5Kg but worried about their fragility, plus you really need to get them stripped and crack
tested yearly which adds to the total cost of ownership significantly.
There are some others Dymags, and some cast wheels they made for Hondas which could maybe be re-drilled to 4x108 which are very light.
Image and Superlites never seem to be quite as light as they could be for 3 piece wheels, not much better than the best cast wheels but a lot more
expensive.
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iank
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| posted on 7/11/10 at 10:09 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by TimC
I'm not sure what the current situation is, but when I last spoke the Weller, the massively amiable chap on the other end of the phone explained
that they were in administration (or near-as-dammit; I can't quite recall) and as such they were unable to offer anything but shelf-stock... He
sounded genuinely gutted that he couldn't help.
When was that? The had recovered from one of those a few years ago and started selling direct from their web site - where I got mine. Last I looked
they'd stopped selling direct but Polleysport and the mini companies are still advertising them.
http://www.wellerwheels.com/
http://www.polleymotorsport.co.uk/polley/index.asp
--
Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience.
Anonymous
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