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I picked up a nice set of Shelby alloy slot wheels on Ebay that are 5.5 " wide. I want to install them on my 3. I've heard that there are GM bolts ,of the right spec and longer, for this application that I could get fitted into the 3 hubs. I'm wondering if there will be any extra stress on the hubs using the wider wheels? Seems like I read somewhere that the 3 hubs arent that strong and they tended to break when raced back in the day? (I wont be all out racing...maybe the odd autocross). Any one done this conversion or have any info on doing this mod? PS I'm going to have to have new bolt holes machined into the alloy wheels for the bolt pattern on the hub to match up. Does this weaken the alloy wheels to any significant extent? Karl
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TR2/3/3A TR3 Hubs & Shelby Alloy Slot Wheels.
- Thread starter karls59tr
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PeterK
Yoda
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Re: TR3 Hubs & Shelby Alloy Slot Wheels.
The hub weakness was on very early TR3 models that used a rear axle flange that had 4 mounting bolts instead of 6. Inspect the back of your rear brakes to check yours. The failures were generally high-speed racing failures and not in street driving.
The trouble you will have with the Shelby (Saab) wheels is the offset. Try clearance first but I think these require a pretty thick wheel spacer to clear the suspension: leaf spring in the rear and upper a-arms in the front.
There is a GM stud the you can replace in the rear that will give you an additional 1/4". It requires that you remove the existing studs and drill out the hole for the GM knurl. It is from an 80's Chevrolet with 7/16" lug studs. Ask for it at your parts counter, there were only two different Chevy studs used back then.
My best advice is to use a long sleeve mag-style lugnut that extends all the way through the wheel mounting flange and into the wheel spacer. I don't know what kind of lug nuts your wheels use so this may or may not be feasible. But I'm not sure these wheels will work on a TR anyway because of the offet differences. TR3 minilite style wheels generally have 3.75" - 4" backspace. 4" has clearance problems w/o spacers. Measure backspace from the outside of the back of the rim edge to the back of the mounting flange.
You can also get Moroso racing studs which are 3" long (versus 1-5/8" long) and have your hubs and wheels modified so that they will fit. But this ends up making it a big job and mucking up a lot of originality on both the car and the wheels.
I don't know of any GM studs that will work on the front hubs without machining.
YMMV.
The hub weakness was on very early TR3 models that used a rear axle flange that had 4 mounting bolts instead of 6. Inspect the back of your rear brakes to check yours. The failures were generally high-speed racing failures and not in street driving.
The trouble you will have with the Shelby (Saab) wheels is the offset. Try clearance first but I think these require a pretty thick wheel spacer to clear the suspension: leaf spring in the rear and upper a-arms in the front.
There is a GM stud the you can replace in the rear that will give you an additional 1/4". It requires that you remove the existing studs and drill out the hole for the GM knurl. It is from an 80's Chevrolet with 7/16" lug studs. Ask for it at your parts counter, there were only two different Chevy studs used back then.
My best advice is to use a long sleeve mag-style lugnut that extends all the way through the wheel mounting flange and into the wheel spacer. I don't know what kind of lug nuts your wheels use so this may or may not be feasible. But I'm not sure these wheels will work on a TR anyway because of the offet differences. TR3 minilite style wheels generally have 3.75" - 4" backspace. 4" has clearance problems w/o spacers. Measure backspace from the outside of the back of the rim edge to the back of the mounting flange.
You can also get Moroso racing studs which are 3" long (versus 1-5/8" long) and have your hubs and wheels modified so that they will fit. But this ends up making it a big job and mucking up a lot of originality on both the car and the wheels.
I don't know of any GM studs that will work on the front hubs without machining.
YMMV.
Karl, I'm sure I'd seen a set used on a TR4 several decades back, but have no idea what the guy had to do to get them on the car. Peter and Jeff's comments cover it all. If the offset works out AND there are no casting holes or depressions around the wheel/hub flange mating surface(on the backside)you could have the old holes heliarced/filled before redrilling (aluminum only). I have 5.5's with 185/70's on mine and they do OK.
Tom Lains
TS8651 & 58107
Tom Lains
TS8651 & 58107
I dont have the specs I took on the offset last year but I'm pretty sure it was OK with 6mm spacers at the front. I never thought of having the slot wheels heliarced an then drilled. That would be a better solution The 3 hub bolts almost fit into the slot wheels but not quite...out by just enough. I picked some 185/70's at wrecker from an older Volvo that were in decent shape and i'm going to run those. Apparently that size tire is getting harder to find. Do you find that the car is a bit more stable with the wider stance? Did you have to install the 3 degree trunnions for wheel alighnment with this setup? Were you able to use your stock wheelbolts? Karl TR3A TR4A
Thanks for the info on the studs Peter. The slot wheels I have are the kind you used to see on "rat rods" in the 50's or "Wolfrace " wheels like I've seen in a pic in "How to Restore Triumph" by Roger Williams. I actually picked up a set of the Saab wheels from a 900S at a wrecker. They look identical to Minilites but the offset is so far off it was totally impractical to make work Do you know of anyone who has installed those Saab wheels on a TR3?....I've seen it mentioned on othersites that they will fit a TR3 but dont see how? Karl
PeterK
Yoda
Offline
Re: TR3 Hubs & Shelby Alloy Slot Wheels.
The Saab wheels are usually ET40mm offset. TRs need around 12mm to fit properly so you're over an inch out.
The "slot" wheels might have been "uni-lug" made by ET Wheels. I used to work in a speed shop back then that sold them. They used washers that fit into the oval recess around the lug slot and that were drilled for the bolt circle you needed. That way, we only stocked 1 wheel that could potentially fit many bolt circles just by changing the washers. The washers took tapered lugs, not the shank type on custom fit wheels. Maybe you could have some made cheaper than filing and redrilling.
Here are ET Unilug slotted wheels (pic from ebay)
//i9.ebayimg.com/02/i/000/95/ef/de44_1.JPG
The Saab wheels are usually ET40mm offset. TRs need around 12mm to fit properly so you're over an inch out.
The "slot" wheels might have been "uni-lug" made by ET Wheels. I used to work in a speed shop back then that sold them. They used washers that fit into the oval recess around the lug slot and that were drilled for the bolt circle you needed. That way, we only stocked 1 wheel that could potentially fit many bolt circles just by changing the washers. The washers took tapered lugs, not the shank type on custom fit wheels. Maybe you could have some made cheaper than filing and redrilling.
Here are ET Unilug slotted wheels (pic from ebay)
//i9.ebayimg.com/02/i/000/95/ef/de44_1.JPG
YankeeTR
Luke Skywalker
Offline
The early TR2/TR3 used the 'Mayflower'-derived rear axle (AKA Lockheed) and the axles tend to fail at the inner spline where it goes into the diff. There are many opinions on why this occurs but one thing you don't do is fit any larger wheels on this style axle.
Your car, no doubt, has the later 'Girling' unit. Take a close look at the thickness of the hub flange and compare it to any other car and you will see that it is very thin...no place to go drilling extra holes. Race-style hubs are in order if you plan on doing any real hard driving. But I know of one TR3A owner who has fitted 5.5" wheels and 195/60's to his car and has driven it tro8ble free for eleven years....but this is 'normal' driving and i think he's pretty easy on his cars.
Your car, no doubt, has the later 'Girling' unit. Take a close look at the thickness of the hub flange and compare it to any other car and you will see that it is very thin...no place to go drilling extra holes. Race-style hubs are in order if you plan on doing any real hard driving. But I know of one TR3A owner who has fitted 5.5" wheels and 195/60's to his car and has driven it tro8ble free for eleven years....but this is 'normal' driving and i think he's pretty easy on his cars.