Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Australia Forum

Racing => Rear Wheel Drive => Topic started by: Neil Choi on July 29, 2013, 07:19:00 PM

Title: Wheel nuts for racing car or just in general use
Post by: Neil Choi on July 29, 2013, 07:19:00 PM
Hello all and the brains trust,

Didn't know where to put this so I will go here.

What is the general opinion of wheel nuts?  Normal ones are made of steel and heavy, Alfetta being M12x1.5, correct?

How do you all feel about light weight wheel nuts in the acorn sharp, made of alloy, 7075 grade aluminum, forged and machined I think.

Will this sort of thing hold and is there a risk?  Are they junk?  I am using steel ones at the moment and I torque them up to 80 Nm with torque wrench religiously, check twice, all the time.

I tend to like my wheels staying on the hubs.

Neil
Title: Re: Wheel nuts for racing car or just in general use
Post by: Mick A on July 30, 2013, 08:06:50 PM
They are on Hung's car and his wheels haven't fallen off yet!
Title: Re: Wheel nuts for racing car or just in general use
Post by: Beatle on July 30, 2013, 08:12:07 PM
http://oxwheel.com.au/index.php?option=com_djcatalog2&view=item&id=382:forged-alloy-wheel-nuts&cid=163:wheel-nuts-forged-alloy

http://tracksformations.com.au/949racing-alloy-wheel-nuts-p-174.html
Title: Re: Wheel nuts for racing car or just in general use
Post by: Evan Bottcher on July 30, 2013, 08:46:43 PM
Quote from: Paul Bayly on July 30, 2013, 08:12:07 PM
http://oxwheel.com.au/index.php?option=com_djcatalog2&view=item&id=382:forged-alloy-wheel-nuts&cid=163:wheel-nuts-forged-alloy

http://tracksformations.com.au/949racing-alloy-wheel-nuts-p-174.html

Are those recommendations Paul?
Title: Re: Wheel nuts for racing car or just in general use
Post by: Neil Choi on July 30, 2013, 09:26:46 PM
Apologies for my stupidity.

What about some of those ebay ones?  I am wearing my race suit at the moment.

Neil
Title: Re: Wheel nuts for racing car or just in general use
Post by: hmd on July 31, 2013, 10:21:48 AM
Neil,

Which one on ebay? There're good and bad stuffs on it  ;)
My experience and understanding is the good quality ones have deep threads and hold wheels in real well.
They are softer than steel ones so after repeated use with a rattle gun say they will have a tendency to round-off on the outside only.
If you hand torqued them they should last long.
Title: Re: Wheel nuts for racing car or just in general use
Post by: Neil Choi on July 31, 2013, 04:46:51 PM
Okay, tight arse alert.

These, as an example.  Crap?

http://tinyurl.com/k5g77e3 (http://tinyurl.com/k5g77e3)

Or are the ones Paul recommended good?

Or any others.
Title: Re: Wheel nuts for racing car or just in general use
Post by: Neil Choi on July 31, 2013, 04:48:41 PM
I will only be using hand tools to get off and on.  So no rattle gun.  But I do want my wheels to stay on for obvious reasons.
Title: Re: Wheel nuts for racing car or just in general use
Post by: Beatle on July 31, 2013, 07:03:26 PM
Sorry, not recommendations.  Merely showing that alloy nuts exist.

However, I'd be very picky about where I sourced al alloy wheel nuts.  No-name brands from some bloke in Outer Mongolium with nothing more than a mobile phone number for a shop front  probably doesn't provide good product support after your front wheel taks off at a tangent in turn one at Eastern Ck or PI ;)
Title: Re: Wheel nuts for racing car or just in general use
Post by: Craig C on August 01, 2013, 10:43:32 AM
I noticed that these are all chamfered and that some of my original alfetta wheels are countersunk whereas the others aren't.  Was there a change in design along the way and is it signicant which nuts go with which wheel?
Title: Re: Wheel nuts for racing car or just in general use
Post by: Ross Flood on August 01, 2013, 06:12:26 PM
I have had a set, bought from Demon Tweeks in UK for about 5 years with no problems - some wear of the anodising colour. always hand tightened.
Title: Re: Wheel nuts for racing car or just in general use
Post by: redsky on August 01, 2013, 10:57:58 PM
I've run factory alloy wheel nuts on Triumphs for much of the past 15 years, no problems during road use or motorkhanas but i have had one or two strip their threads. I would think that the quality would (or could) be better than back in the 70's though.

Darren.
Title: Re: Wheel nuts for racing car or just in general use
Post by: hmd on May 19, 2014, 09:02:58 PM
I bought a set on eBay, $50. After repeated use their soft thread would strip against the steel studs.
Unless you get a good quality set like a genuine Rays Engineering from Japan which would cost about $200 a set. Don't bother.

And just for you Neil, they weigh 26 grams each compared to steel ones which weigh 43 grams. Saving of 272g for 16, just don't eat breakfast ;)
Title: Re: Wheel nuts for racing car or just in general use
Post by: jazig.k on May 20, 2014, 07:04:58 AM
That's a weight saving of around 2 cups of tea? Hard to justify spending a couple hundred on the brand name nuts, which in my opinion would be THE ONLY safe choice. It's cheaper to buy good nuts than trying to plough through a tyre barrier or another car...

I'd but yourself a set of dimple dies for the same price [or cheaper] and go nuts with those. Might save a kettle of tea and a pack of biscuits if you're keen
Title: Re: Wheel nuts for racing car or just in general use
Post by: colcol on May 20, 2014, 02:28:52 PM
But with the lighter nuts, you would save some unsprung weight which would help the handling, always prefer soft nuts that buy the farm, and can be replaced easily, rather than stripping a stud, which is a lot more work to replace, Colin.
Title: Re: Wheel nuts for racing car or just in general use
Post by: Mick A on May 21, 2014, 11:07:59 PM
Quote from: hmd on May 19, 2014, 09:02:58 PM
I bought a set on eBay, $50. After repeated use their soft thread would strip against the steel studs.
Unless you get a good quality set like a genuine Rays Engineering from Japan which would cost about $200 a set. Don't bother.

And just for you Neil, they weigh 26 grams each compared to steel ones which weigh 43 grams. Saving of 272g for 16, just don't eat breakfast ;)

Or take a shit before you leave for the track.
Title: Re: Wheel nuts for racing car or just in general use
Post by: Mick A on May 21, 2014, 11:08:57 PM
Quote from: colcol on May 20, 2014, 02:28:52 PM
But with the lighter nuts, you would save some unsprung weight which would help the handling

It's not F1 Colin, it will make no difference on vehicles at this level of racing!
Title: Re: Wheel nuts for racing car or just in general use
Post by: LaStregaNera on May 22, 2014, 10:24:10 AM
I'd take nuts that aren't going to fatigue the thread out and fail over saving 100gm per wheel...
Title: Re: Wheel nuts for racing car or just in general use
Post by: festy on May 25, 2014, 12:49:16 PM
I use open ended steel 'acorn' nuts - they're 17mm across the flats, 20mm of thread, and weigh ~30g each (compared to about 60g for the wheel nuts they replaced).
Title: Re: Wheel nuts for racing car or just in general use
Post by: hmd on May 30, 2014, 09:56:51 AM
Quote from: Choderboy on May 21, 2014, 11:07:59 PM
Quote from: hmd on May 19, 2014, 09:02:58 PM
I bought a set on eBay, $50. After repeated use their soft thread would strip against the steel studs.
Unless you get a good quality set like a genuine Rays Engineering from Japan which would cost about $200 a set. Don't bother.

And just for you Neil, they weigh 26 grams each compared to steel ones which weigh 43 grams. Saving of 272g for 16, just don't eat breakfast ;)

Or take a shit before you leave for the track.

Is that the reason for you were often seen frequented the toilet block at Philip Island.