Help... Can't keep Knock-off Spinner Tight!!

[Roger P.]

Hey guys,
It was a beautiful morning today here in South Florida, so I went to visit a friend who lives an hour away from me. Most of the drive is at highway speeds (65-75 MPH). The car drove great, but as I exited the expressway, I began to feel the back getting "loose" and was starting to find it difficult to keep the car tracking straight. When I got to his house, we found the right rear KO spinner very loose. This would be either shocking or disconcerning to most people, but the same thing - on the same wheel - happened to me last week!! I keep one of those aftermarket spinner tightening tools with me as I believe it is much better than smashing the spinner with a lead hammer. My friend has a lift so we raised the car, took the wheel off, remounted it on the hub, and when it was back on the ground, he torqued the hell out of it with his 200+ pounds of brawn. We checked the other 3 wheels as I did last week and they were all still very tight. After our visit, I was driving back home on the expressway and, before making it to my exit, I was once again on the side of the road using the tool to tighten my EXTREMELY LOOSE right rear spinner!!! What the heck is going on here? I have absolutely no confidence driving my car by myself, and certainly not with my wife or kids, until this serious issue is corrected. Any thoughts before I beat it with a sledge hammer??

Thank you,
Roger (50141)

[John H.]

Re: Help... Can't keep Knock-off Spinner Tight!!

Roger -

Is the wheel correctly indexed on the adapter? If you don't have the correct "long" lug nuts on the adapter, the wheel can be indexed ten different ways on the adapter, and five of them are wrong and will result in the wheel coming off due to inadequate thread engagement between the spinner and the adapter.

Get a REAL lead hammer and wail on the spinner - it won't hurt the spinner at all. Google "M o t h e r - Thumper". Forget the hammer that came with the car - it's for one-time roadside emergency use.

[Wayne M.]

Re: Help... Can't keep Knock-off Spinner Tight!!

Roger -- here's an old thread on this subject. Check my post # 15 for comparison pic of the 6-pound "m_u_t_h_a" thumper hammper, versus GM-supplied.

https://www.forums.ncrs.org/showthre...t_h_a&uid=7745

[Joel T.]

Re: Help... Can't keep Knock-off Spinner Tight!!

Hey guys,
It was a beautiful morning today here in South Florida, so I went to visit a friend who lives an hour away from me. Most of the drive is at highway speeds (65-75 MPH). The car drove great, but as I exited the expressway, I began to feel the back getting "loose" and was starting to find it difficult to keep the car tracking straight. When I got to his house, we found the right rear KO spinner very loose. This would be either shocking or disconcerning to most people, but the same thing - on the same wheel - happened to me last week!! I keep one of those aftermarket spinner tightening tools with me as I believe it is much better than smashing the spinner with a lead hammer. My friend has a lift so we raised the car, took the wheel off, remounted it on the hub, and when it was back on the ground, he torqued the hell out of it with his 200+ pounds of brawn. We checked the other 3 wheels as I did last week and they were all still very tight. After our visit, I was driving back home on the expressway and, before making it to my exit, I was once again on the side of the road using the tool to tighten my EXTREMELY LOOSE right rear spinner!!! What the heck is going on here? I have absolutely no confidence driving my car by myself, and certainly not with my wife or kids, until this serious issue is corrected. Any thoughts before I beat it with a sledge hammer??

Thank you,
Roger (50141)

Roger;

Couple of observations/suggestions...

Check out the cones and make sure that they are all the same size... Sounds dumb but I had two sets of knock-offs... one fairly original and the other a current repop. If I mixed the cones up I would get what you are experiencing... I forget which one was which but one cone was a tab longer (higher) than the other and would give false sense of being tight.

The second thing.. I am not sure what tightening tool you are using but it should be the one which Dennis Portika sells (out of Hamburg NY). I use his tool, with a hand held sledge, (a dozen good whacks with two hands) and those suckers never come loose.

Good luck,

Joel

[Tom H.]

Re: Help... Can't keep Knock-off Spinner Tight!!

Hopefully you have this issue solved. If not. Look at this thread and read John's post #19. This response is a great one and includes a photo.

https://www.forums.ncrs.org/showthre...apter&uid=6193

[Roger P.]

Re: Help... Can't keep Knock-off Spinner Tight!!

John, Wayne, Joel, and Tom,
Thank you all for getting back to me with your thoughts & suggestions. Each time the spinner & wheel became loose on the road, I returned home and removed the wheel to make sure it was installed properly on the hub. The hub pins were set in the proper smaller holes even though I don't have the longer lug nuts. Joel, my tightening tool was purchased from Eckler's. It is a heavy duty, 3-piece tool that is convenient to keep in the car for garage or roadside service, and was described as a tool that "tightens better & easier than a hammer". I put a rag over the spinner before using the wrench to protect the chrome from the aluminum of the tool (although they claim it won't damage the spinner). I attached a photo of the tool so you can see what it looks like. If a helper applies lateral pressure to keep the wrench on the spinner, you can put a great deal of force on the extension handle to torque the spinner. I will also check the length of the cones this weekend to make sure they are the same, re-mount the tire - yet again - and after tightening it down with the Eckler's tool, I will hit it hard 10 times with my new 6 lb. ***** Thumper that I ordered online today. I will also follow the instructions and pound the spinners again after traveling 100 and then 500 miles. Then, I will index the spinners with a pen to visually check for any movement. Once I know they aren't moving, I will insert the safety pins for whatever they're worth. If it gets loose again, I will have to assume that the hub or spinner threads are messed up, and would have to replace the bad part or try Loctite first. I never want to experience that "losing control" feeling ever again when a wheel is about to fall off the hub... pretty darn scary!!

Thanks again for you help guys,
Roger (50141)

[John H.]

Re: Help... Can't keep Knock-off Spinner Tight!!

Roger -

Also use a light film of anti-seize on the threads and on the conical mating surface of the spinner and wheel; that way the torque applied to the spinner (450 ft-lbs.) will go to establishing clamping force in the joint instead of being wasted overcoming thread friction and galling of the conical mating surface.

Give the spinner one or two whacks with the wheel off the ground to seat the wheel, then finish tightening it with the wheel on the ground. You can't hurt the spinner with that big lead hammer - wail on it.

[Don H.]

Re: Help... Can't keep Knock-off Spinner Tight!!

At the risk of being a smart a__, I have direct bolt knock offs & love them. No problems. Don H.

[Roger P.]

Re: Help... Can't keep Knock-off Spinner Tight!!

At the risk of being a smart a__, I have direct bolt knock offs & love them. No problems. Don H.

Don,
If you bought your KO's, then you're a smart guy, not a smart a__. If they were already on your Vette when you bought it, then I'd say you're a lucky a__. My KO's came with my car, but I can't get the darn thing to stay tight. Maybe I'm just a dumb a__??

Roger (50141)

[Joel T.]

Re: Help... Can't keep Knock-off Spinner Tight!!

John, Wayne, Joel, and Tom,
Thank you all for getting back to me with your thoughts & suggestions. Each time the spinner & wheel became loose on the road, I returned home and removed the wheel to make sure it was installed properly on the hub. The hub pins were set in the proper smaller holes even though I don't have the longer lug nuts. Joel, my tightening tool was purchased from Eckler's. It is a heavy duty, 3-piece tool that is convenient to keep in the car for garage or roadside service, and was described as a tool that "tightens better & easier than a hammer". I put a rag over the spinner before using the wrench to protect the chrome from the aluminum of the tool (although they claim it won't damage the spinner). I attached a photo of the tool so you can see what it looks like. If a helper applies lateral pressure to keep the wrench on the spinner, you can put a great deal of force on the extension handle to torque the spinner. I will also check the length of the cones this weekend to make sure they are the same, re-mount the tire - yet again - and after tightening it down with the Eckler's tool, I will hit it hard 10 times with my new 6 lb. ***** Thumper that I ordered online today. I will also follow the instructions and pound the spinners again after traveling 100 and then 500 miles. Then, I will index the spinners with a pen to visually check for any movement. Once I know they aren't moving, I will insert the safety pins for whatever they're worth. If it gets loose again, I will have to assume that the hub or spinner threads are messed up, and would have to replace the bad part or try Loctite first. I never want to experience that "losing control" feeling ever again when a wheel is about to fall off the hub... pretty darn scary!!

Thanks again for you help guys,
Roger (50141)

Roger,

I will get you a picture of the tool I bought from Dennis up in Hamburg NY. It is one piece with a soft reversible insert which totally protects the spinner. It is made to be used with a hammer only.... you can not just torque it by hand. If you call Dennis, he will claim that it produces like 700-800 pounds of torque. I keep it in the back of my '63, along with my (heavy) hammer.

Check those chrome cones... I foolishly assumed that they were all the same size; set of wheels to set of wheels... wrongo! The ones from China were just a bit taller and if installed on the vintage wheel, the cone would absorb the torque verses the wheel hub proper. This would give the sense of being tight while not... I would get only a couple of miles and I would feel the wobble you mention... scared the heck out of me, considering the consequences of a wheel actually falling off... will really ruin your day!

Regarding bolt on KO's... My '65 came with a set..... I sold them!

Let us know how you make out..

Joel

[Joel T.]

Re: Help... Can't keep Knock-off Spinner Tight!!

John, Wayne, Joel, and Tom,
Thank you all for getting back to me with your thoughts & suggestions. Each time the spinner & wheel became loose on the road, I returned home and removed the wheel to make sure it was installed properly on the hub. The hub pins were set in the proper smaller holes even though I don't have the longer lug nuts. Joel, my tightening tool was purchased from Eckler's. It is a heavy duty, 3-piece tool that is convenient to keep in the car for garage or roadside service, and was described as a tool that "tightens better & easier than a hammer". I put a rag over the spinner before using the wrench to protect the chrome from the aluminum of the tool (although they claim it won't damage the spinner). I attached a photo of the tool so you can see what it looks like. If a helper applies lateral pressure to keep the wrench on the spinner, you can put a great deal of force on the extension handle to torque the spinner. I will also check the length of the cones this weekend to make sure they are the same, re-mount the tire - yet again - and after tightening it down with the Eckler's tool, I will hit it hard 10 times with my new 6 lb. ***** Thumper that I ordered online today. I will also follow the instructions and pound the spinners again after traveling 100 and then 500 miles. Then, I will index the spinners with a pen to visually check for any movement. Once I know they aren't moving, I will insert the safety pins for whatever they're worth. If it gets loose again, I will have to assume that the hub or spinner threads are messed up, and would have to replace the bad part or try Loctite first. I never want to experience that "losing control" feeling ever again when a wheel is about to fall off the hub... pretty darn scary!!

Thanks again for you help guys,
Roger (50141)

Roger,

Here are some shots of my KO tool... The red plastic insert is reversable based upon what side you are working on. Notice how well pounded the handle is... gives you an idea as to the torque it applies...

Joel

[Clem Z.]

Re: Help... Can't keep Knock-off Spinner Tight!!

the wheel has to be on the ground when you use the hammer or it will not be tighten. i bet some owners hammer the spinner with the whee off of the ground.

[Joel T.]

Re: Help... Can't keep Knock-off Spinner Tight!!

the wheel has to be on the ground when you use the hammer or it will not be tighten. i bet some owners hammer the spinner with the whee off of the ground.

Clem;

The real trick is to get the tool on the spinner and to position it so that you are pounding down but have enough clearance with the wheel on the floor to fully tighten the spinner before the arm of the tool hits the ground!

Don't ask me how I know this...

Joel