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The Black Beasty - 1970 GT6+ |
A strange find, concerning 5 Slot Alloy Wheels
| ...update... 11/29/04.... I've been told calling them 'Western Wheels is a bit confusing to some. Apparently, at least the fronts, have been identified as Appliance Wheel due to the stud/lug design. But...there are others that can identify them as Western Alloy, as well as U.S. Indy Mags. so in the text, just replace Western with whatever you're use to calling them :-) The Black Beasty came equipped with a set of Western 5 slot alloy wheels. So what's so special about that? Well it's more the wheel studs and nuts that hold them on that's VERY interesting. I've never in my life seen a set of studs like what's on the front. I've seen a lot back in my VW bug days, but none like these. More on that in a moment. First off... let's take a look at the rears. Since I had to install a temporary set of axles, I also simply used a stock set of Triumph lugs that are normally used on Spits and GT6's. The 'stock' lugs fit 'inside' the holes of the wheels. It was enough that we could at least roll the car onto the trailer. I wouldn't have tried to drive on them as they were not a 'good' fit. But they worked in this 'light duty' situation. OK...let's digress for a moment. This car came to me shod with BF Goodrich 215/50R13S382 series tires mounted on 13"x6" rims up front, and 13"x7" rims in the rear. Now that's some serious rubber! If you look back at a few of the other pics of this car, you can see the rim width is different front and rear. The rears, surprisingly, are 'centered' on the lug pattern. That is to say...the offset and backspace are such that the centerline of the tire is still centered around the drum and bearings and not 'sticking out'. Remember...this is roto-flex suspension car by design, but currently (temporarily) has a set of late model (read..1" longer each side) swing axles installed. Hence the nice wide stance at the rear, with the tires fully filling out those wild wheel well flares. The Rear Studs...... |
The shot above shows both the 'stock' lugs (top hole and one laying in the slot at the bottom) as well as the supplied Western Wheel lug (that today I did find in a bag inside the car). The Western lug does not have it's shoulder washer installed. It is only partially screwed in to show it's shank DOES fit 'inside' the hole of the Western Special Edition wheels.
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This is a direct side by side comparison of the stock Triumph lug (left) and the Western lug (right). The stock lug has it's oem plastic washer on it, the Western, a machined metal ring. Both internal threads match the stock oem wheel studs. The hex portion of the Western wheel is larger, and the shank is shorter than the Triumph unit. Where the stock nut would ride on its taper on the wheel, the Western rides entirely on the shoulder of the nut. The metal of the wheel is thick enough that even the stock nut did not bottom out before the plastic washer made contact with the wheel. I'll try and add actual physical dimensions to these to nuts in the near future.
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The Front studs... |
These front stud have got to be
the oddest variety I've ever seen. The hex part is more like a cap nut then a wheel
lug nut. The cap is pretty beefy, as the hex part took a 15/16" socket to loosen it!
The partially unscrewed cap you can see in the above photo (at the 5 o'clock position) is
to show the massive diameter of the stud it threads onto. The stud is the same diameter as
the hole in the wheel itself! That means the stud is as large a diameter as the shank of
the stock wheel lugs and the Western lugs on the rear wheels of this car (pictured further
up on this page). Wait a minute... how the heck did they mount studs that big a diameter
on the spit/GT6 hubs? |
Ha! That's how! The 'stud' is a fake! That large diameter stud, has a smaller internally threaded hole that matches the stock wheel stud. Also note that the center hole is off-center. Apparently the hole pattern on these front wheels are a larger PCD than the Triumph stud pattern. By threading these adapters/studs onto the stock Spitfire/GT6 studs, then positioning them all outwards from the wheel center, allows them to match the larger PCD. pattern of the wheel. These HAVE to be Western supplied right? Who else would manufacturer an adapter to make them fit the stock stud, fit the wheel hole diameter AND PCD so perfectly? Just as a frame of reference... that's my thumb in the picture for a size comparison of the internal thread size of the cap. I wear a size 11 ring, so I don't have small hands. |
©1987-2010
All material copyright© Teglerizer 1996-2008last edited
3/15/08
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