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TR2/3/3A TR-3 Wheels

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Vaark01

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I have a great TR-3B with stock steel wheels. I have bought several steel wheels in the past few years only to find they are not true.

I had my wheels balanced a week ago and they are better but the car still shakes around 55 mph.

I found a place in the UK that makes aluminum wheels that replicate the steel wheels (racemettle). The problem is they don't make 5" wheels only 6" wheels.

You can't use the original hubcaps with their wheels. They do make a fake knockoff spinner that does look nice.

Does anyone know of a place that replicates the stock wheels in 5"? If not, does anyone know of alloys that are 5" and can use the fake knockoff?

I have new V-stein tires that are 165R15.

Thanks.
Paul

Thanks.

Paul
 
Paul, I'm assuming that you WANT a 5" stock-looking wheel? Aren't the original steel wheels only 4.5" wide? I don't know of anyone making new steel wheels, but I have heard of companies that can straighten stock steel wheels at a (usually quite significant) price.
 
actually stock tr3 wheels are only 4" wide. I just traded a really nice set of steels for a set of wires to put on my car. Hate the tubes but IMO wires look better on a TR3.
 
I'm under the impression that a TR3B (and TR3s & 3As after TS13045) would have 4.5" wheels. Some confusion may arise from how/where one measures the width.

As noted, wire wheels are available and if you go with the painted 60-spoke not terribly expensive. Since you have the long disc-wheel studs you could use a spacer (rather than decapitate the stud) for the wires to keep your options open for the future (that's what I did).

May be just me -- but wire wheel seem less sensitive to things that cause vibrations (whether driveline, wheel or road). Like I said, maybe that's just me.
 
My experience has been the same as Andy’s. Often the bent wheel happens when an inexperienced person strips the tire off and caches the lip of the wheel on the tire machine. Many tire machines have to be opened up for the 15 wheel and often tr3 wheels are confused as 14. If this happens, the wheel bends right at the four bolt pattern. An experience tire person can usually fix this BFH and some backing. I was at a tire shop once taking with the younger crowd about a bent wheel with no luck and this old timer comes up with a couple of opened wrenches and a hammer and straitens it right out leaving no visible marks.
Steve
 
I'm with you Steve. Funny how some of those "old-timers" don't know that something can't be fixed; they just go ahead and fix things, usually at least as good as new! Sadly, those folks are disappearing along with the rest of their Depression/WWII generation of fixers and savers and make-doers....
 
There are numerous 5-1/2" alloy wheel options that will fit your existing tires.
I recently bought a set of Panasports from TRF when they were having one of their weekend 20% off sales. They are good looking, straight new wheels that nicely addressed the vagaries of my 51 year-old steel wheels.

Also -- the globe roundels from my hupcaps are a perfect fit in place of the Panasport logos on the center caps.

Another thing: In the 55 - 60 MPH range (usually, depending on wind speed/direction) the wind buffeting around the windshield does cause the scuttle to shake in a way that feels a lot like front end shimmy in TR3s. Look at your fender mirror (if you have them) and compare what you see to the dash mirror. If your front end is shaking, the amount of shake in the mirrors will be similar. If the fender mirror looks more stable than the dash mirror, you are experiencing scuttle shake. It's interesting that both of these phenomena seem to like 55 mph.
 
My 1958 TR3A came new with steel wheels. Hence I want to keep it looking "as original". As I was finishing my restoration in 1990, I took 9 steel rims to a tire shop and asked them to mount the rims using "the proper adapter" and grade the rims from best to worst. I put new tires on the best five, had them balanced using "the adapter" and it drove fine with no shimmy or vibration. I put the best two on the front, the next best two rims on the rear and the 5th best has the spare tire on it.

In 2007, I took the tires off 4 of those 5 rims (the spare had never been used) to have them resprayed, but I decided to check with several of the new shops which straighten and repair mag wheels after they become damaged or dented. I found one who could do steel wheels. His machine was like a 24" lathe. For $300.00 he improved the 4 best rims. Then I had the rims re-sprayed and took them to my friendly tire shop. I had the tires re-mounted and balanced, once again making sure they would use "the adapter" during balancing. They re-mounted these same tires using one of the new special machines which are designed not to damage mag wheels during installation of the tires.

I am still very pleased with my steel wheels and my Vredestein 165-15 radial tires. I have driven 105,000 miles on these rims (third set of tires) since 1990.

The reason for the adapter is that TR2 to at least TR3A rims cannot be balanced or trued perfectly round because the center hole is not a truly round and centered "pilot" hole like on a modern rim. Our TR rims have to be set up and balanced using the 4 stud and nut locations. If your tire shop wants to balance your tires using a "cone" to "center ??" the rim, it cannot be done properly, because that center hole in our TR rims is not a true center. Take a minite or two and go look at the center hole on a TR rim and you will see what I mean. Find a tire shop which has the "adapter" that secures the rim to the machine using the 4 holes.
 

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Modern alloys are hub-centric while the old TRs are lug centeric. That's why they need to bolt the wheels for a proper balance on original disc wheels.
 
Wow, you learn something every day. I will have to go and have another look at the wheels on my TR3. Maybe this is the answer to the wobble that I have not managed to resolve in 19 years! Thanks guys.
 
Gentlemen,

I appreciate your sound advice. I took my two spare wheels to a shop that repairs all kinds of wheels and he said could not fix them as they were too far out. Ugh.

Looks like I will try to buy a 5 1/2" set of Panasports. For those of you who have or have had that type of wheel, I would appreciate it if you would check the following website (racemettle). They make a nice looking aluminum wheel that does look close to the original steel wheels. Unfortunately, they don't make a 5 1/2" wheel. In addition, you can't use hubcaps on their wheels. I would like to know if you think their fake knockoffs will fit on a Panasport.

Thanks.

Paul
 
NickMorgan said:
Maybe this is the answer to the wobble that I have not managed to resolve in 19 years!
Click to expand...
Something else to check, if you haven't already, is whether the hubs run true, and the hub/brake assembly is properly balanced. I found that one of my hubs had a whole bunch of runout, which turned out to be caused by a small "dent" in the bore where the bearing race sits.

Highspot.jpg


Lowspot.jpg


Also, the brand new rotors I was installing were significantly out of balance.

The car still has a lot more vibration at speed than it should, so I need to revisit this topic. I'm hoping to have an on-the-car wheel balancer by then ...
 
I just ordered a set of Panasport wheels (15 x 5 1/2) from TRF. They won't have them until the end of the year.

I appreciate all your advice.

Thanks again.

Paul
 
Paul --
Some advices:
1) The Panasports will come with a hexagonal plastic snap-in center cap. The Panasport logos are stuck onto these with a double-sided adhesive tape. They are easily removed by poking them out from the inside of the cap with a dowel (or something) through the thoughtfully provided center hole. The globe logos from your hub caps are the same diameter. Due to the convex shape, the 10-32 threads on the back of your globes won't reach through this hole -- so -- what I did was get some 10-32 threaded rod and couplers (long nuts). I jammed the threaded rod and the globe threads together inside the couplers and used nylock nuts and fender washers to affix them to the center caps. The threaded rod must be cut off flush to the top of the nylock nuts, or they won't fit on the rear wheels. The fronts are more forgiving. They look great!

2) They will also come with nice metal valve stems. Don't be an idiot, like I was, and overlook these until AFTER the tires are mounted!
 
Nick - The 19-year wobble you mention might be caused by the twisty roads you have in Scotland - especially on the late ride home from the pub on a Friday or Saturday night.
 
Thanks for the outstanding advice. I will do same when I get my wheels. I would have never thought about putting my hubcap globes on the new wheels. Since I go to great pain to keep my car looking original, the globes will look great at shows.

Paul
 
Moses,

If possible, I would appreciate a picture showing how you mounted the TR caps to your Panasport centers.

Thanks.

Paul
 
Unless Moses thought to take pics at the time -- I think a meaningful photo may involve removing the wheel and certainly disassembly of a center cap.

I did mine (not Panasports) similar to what he has described except the threaded couplers get a screw rather than a threaded rod and nut. With the screw you have to (by trial and error) get it the right length and also use a lockwasher.

As he notes, the tight bit is getting the rear one shallow enough that it doesn't foul on the hub.

I think if you get all the parts in front of you then you'll see the possibilities.

Centre%20Cap.JPG
 
Thanks George. Great looking wheel. Thanks for the information. Your picture and description will make it much easier for me to do same.

Paul
 
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