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Cragar Unilug wheels - what are they?

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JPSmit

JPSmit

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I've been chatting online with a fellow who has a set of cragar mags for sale. He says they have unilug holes - and that somehow they have different dimensions (they seem to be oval?) Can someone please explain this to me and help me understand whether they are a safe and viable option? (Including stud diameter?)

thanks!
 
Unilug was a cheap way to try and make a universal fit wheel. Instead of having the bolt circle drilled to the specific dimensions used for a certain car, they made these wheels with elongated holes. To mount them you needed to have a set of special washers and lug nuts with shoulders on them to pass through the washers. There were several patterns of these washers with the holes in them placed in different locations along them. You needed to place the wheel on the hub and then place the washer over the stud and into the elongated pocket on the wheel. When this was done you needed to check to see if the wheel/tire combination was rotating concentric to the hub. If you got confused with the washers the wheel would run eccentric and the car would vibrate wildly. Best thing I was ever told by an old racer about Unilug wheels was, since they are not hub-centric to just stay away from them.
 
JP, best advice I can give, stay away from unilug wheels! I have never seen one yet that would pass a dial test. As Roman said, they were a cheap way to make a universal fit wheel. If you balance one and then remove it and then put it back, it has to be rebalanced. Plain English, regardless of what anyone tells you, their junk! Don't waist your time or money! PJ
 
"Cragar Unilug wheels - what are they?"

Junk.

Actually they would be a good source of raw material for me. :eagerness:
 
I do wish this thread had not been truncated in the upgrade, but, it was. There was a photo posted of a ring with five circles around the edge. Fragile, pot metal.
That was NOT a Unilug adaptor. It was a wheel spacer, especially if put between the wheel and hub as stated in the original posting.
Using cast pot metal pieces like that, while quick, are not very good. Machined steel with specific thickness throughout is far better.
Dave
 
TOC said:
I do wish this thread had not been truncated in the upgrade, but, it was. There was a photo posted of a ring with five circles around the edge. Fragile, pot metal.
That was NOT a Unilug adaptor. It was a wheel spacer, especially if put between the wheel and hub as stated in the original posting.
Using cast pot metal pieces like that, while quick, are not very good. Machined steel with specific thickness throughout is far better.
Dave
Click to expand...

Thanks for the clarification Dave - I did see the pic
 
Here is that picture. The "spacer" is not pressed between the hub and the wheel. It resides in a female recess (in the back of the wheel) shaped exactly as it is. It acts as a locator for the shouldered lug nuts. Different spacers were sold to allow the wheels to fit different bolt patterns. If the Cragar SS wheels that JP is considering are of this style, they will not be able to be fitted to a vehicle without them. TOC, the lug washers you referenced came out with the Keystone Klassics wheels. Those washers will barely work with this style of Cragar and I don't see how one could ever install them with no run-out.

Cragar Lug Adapter.jpg


IMGP1636.jpg
 
I had these wheels on my 69 Mustang back in high school. What I remember is the offset washers were separate and went on between the lugnut and the face of the rim. If the bolt pattern was small, the "fat" portion of the washer pointed outward. If the bolt pattern was big, the "fat" portion pointed inward. Maybe I was lucky, maybe I was dumb and maybe I was lucky and dumb, but I never had a problem with them.
 
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