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MG MGA - Problems with steel disc wheels?

I am looking for an MGA project car, and have a couple of options. One with wire wheels, one with disc wheels.

On Barney Gaylords excellent website he comments on cracks developing in his disc wheels:

http://www.mgaguru.com/mgtech/wheels/wl101.htm

Is this a problem more of you have experienced?

Tore
Tore

The steel wheels are 40+ years old and fatigue is definately an issue. The wider the tires and better the brakes the more likely they are to crack. I run Saab wheels on my race car for this reason. Wires are more prone to failure if not properly maintained.

I would suggest that you at least take the discs to be magnafluxed and if not drivng harshly then you'd probably be ok.

my2c

j
JohnB

Hi Tore. Wire wheels are a real pain! They easily go out of true, the wheels can seize onto the splines making removal difficult, the splines can wear, causing the wheel to spin on the spline, necsssitating EXPENSIVE replacement of hubs and wheels, the wire wheels are hell to keep clean, and the wire wheels require inner tubes to hold air! Yes, disc wheels can fatigue and crack, and they should be magnafluxed like John says. However, the steel wheels don't seem to have any other major drawbacks except that they are not near as pretty as wire wheels! Somehow and MGA looks magnificent with wire wheels! How much misery are you willing to accept in trade for beauty? ;-) Glenn
Glenn

I've been abusing my steel wheels for years, and I checked them last weekend to find all in order. They are definitely stronger and more reliable than wires.

Barney breaks his wheels because he does extreme sports with them.
dominic clancy

I have converted to 72 spoke wire wheels that are made by Dayton. They use stainless steel for spokes that are polished like chrome. These wheels are also tubeless. The stock wheel is only 48 spoke and 72 spoke makes it real beefy. Use a little wire wheel cleaner and a paint brush to clean the wheel real good or just use the cleaner for a nice job. I use copper slip on the hubs to prevent them from sticking to the wheels. If your hubs are worn, they will need to be replaced. With proper maintance and cleaning they look great and will last for years. The ones on the car have been there for over 45 years and who knows how may miles or what the maintaince was like. I like the looks of the spokes better for this old classic car.
jeff becker

Question: Is it practical to have the center hub of a wire wheel replaced, or is it better to just buy new wheels when the splines are worn? My dad bought new 60 spoke wheels and hubs for my car during the mid 80s, but for whatever reason he never installed the new hubs, just placed the new wheels on the old ones. I've pulled the wheels to check spline condition, and 3 of them look okay, but one of the rear wheels is showing some severe wear at the splines.
Del Rawlins

I'd summarize Glenns feelings for wire wheels with:- "Wire wheels are great. On someone elses car!"

I've got steel rims on until I find time to swap on the 15" SAAB/Shelby alloys I've got.

TTFN

Derek Nicholson

Dominic is right. I crack steel wheels regularly when autocrossing (or I used to when I still used them). For any kind of competitive driving I recommend stronger wheels. These steel wheel cracks come from long term stress fatigue, which is greatly accellerated by regular heavy side loads which induce flexing in the rims. However, I have only encountered one crack when touring, and that came only after some years of regular autocrossing. For normal touring duty this is generally not a problem, and the stock steel wheels may never see a stress crack.

For wire wheels I may have fewer objections than people might imagine. My primary issues there are cleaning problems and spline wear. The stock 48 spoke wheels are strong enough for normal touring, assuming you "ping" the spokes occasionlly and tighten any which may work loose ("thunk"). For mild competition work, occasional autocross and rough roads while driving on modern street radial tires, I recommend the stronger factory optional 60 spoke wheels. For any driving at all using sticky race tires you ahould have 72 spoke wheels, which are MUCH stronger than the 60 spoke wheels. The 72 spoke wheels are otherwise too "busy" looking for my taste, and generally overkill for normal street driving.

One advantage of wire wheels is that the spokes are repairable when you apply sensible periodic inspection and tightening as needed. You can even true up a wire wheel that may be slightly out of plane. The wire wheel equivelent of a stress crack is a broken spoke, and broken spokes can be replaced where a steel wheel with a crack is instant trash. Furthermore, I suspect that 60 spoke wheels are as strong as stock steel wheels, and 72 spoke wheels would be stronger than the stock steel wheels.

For what it's worth, the MGA 1600 type steel wheels are stronger than the 1500 type. The 1600 wheels have one gage thicker center disk and one gauge thinner rim material. Result is a stronger wheel center and two pounds less over all weight per wheel. These wheels are physically interchangeable. The 1500 type wheels will fit on a 1600 car with disc brakes (surprise), although I wouldn't recommend that move. Some 1500 cars did have the later style wheels during late production, just before introduction of the 1600 model, but otherwise the later wheels tend to look a little strange on the 1500 cars.
Barney Gaylord

Thanks for valuable info. The two cars I have in mind is a 1500 on wires and a 1600 on steel wheels, so I will at least have the stronger type of wheel if I go for the 1600.

Tore
Tore

This thread was discussed between 20/09/2006 and 21/09/2006

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