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Abuse Limits Of Steelies and 1/2" Studs

65Fury440

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I was getting a high speed vibration in the driveline of my car. After poking around, found that the spring perches were bending, allowing the pinion rise too much.
After looking around , decided to go with the fancy Smith Racecraft perches that eliminate the up bolts. While I had the rearend out, cutting the old perches off, noticed the studs on one side were all bent. Also noticed the holes on my wheels may have had some movement between the conical nuts and the wheel holes.
I always torque the wheels to 100 ft lbs.
My race weight is 4000 lbs, stick shift car with a stroker, so there is a lot of stress going on.
Who races with steel wheels, and who had to upgrade at what level?

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I’ve heard of problems with steel wheels and high HP and weight levels.

the thick centered aluminum racing wheels with the shank lug nuts that go inside the wheels are better for that. Also the 5/8” wheels studs that are snug in the wheel with nuts and washers to clamp it down.
 
I’ve heard of problems with steel wheels and high HP and weight levels.

the thick centered aluminum racing wheels with the shank lug nuts that go inside the wheels are better for that. Also the 5/8” wheels studs that are snug in the wheel with nuts and washers to clamp it down.
Yea that would be ideal, I really wanted to keep the steelies. For the nostalgia classes I want to race in, steel wheels look the part.
 
We had this issue on my sons 62 Savoy turbo car. The issue is there isn't enough surface area of the wheel where it sets against the rotor/drum. We solved it by welding a machined steel plate to the back side of the wheel. Also swapped to 5/8" studs.
Doug
 
We had this issue on my sons 62 Savoy turbo car. The issue is there isn't enough surface area of the wheel where it sets against the rotor/drum. We solved it by welding a machined steel plate to the back side of the wheel. Also swapped to 5/8" studs.
Doug
I have done this to a couple pairs of steelies over the years also.
 
I got the Steele Dan wheels with the 5/8stud holes

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You guys do know that an early dog dish cap will hide the holes on a Weld Drag Light. No one will be the wiser. And ther all over the place used and cheap. All it takes is a little fab work.
Doug
 
Here is a shot of my son's Nova with the weld drag light and dog dish hub cap. The guy at Bogart told me not to use the wheels like on the red car if you are using a trans brake and some big power 800/hp torque as you can distort them because of not having full contact on the rim to the center.

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You guys do know that an early dog dish cap will hide the holes on a Weld Drag Light. No one will be the wiser. And ther all over the place used and cheap. All it takes is a little fab work.
Doug
Here's a traditional Centerline wheel with the rivets being hidden by a special custom spun hub cap and gloss black paint just like DMV said. They are on a certain Mopar and the front 15 X 4's are of the very first batch of Steely Dans that were released. LOL.
The Centerline trick has optically tricked many an enthusiast, including fellow maniacal Moparites. Very street worthy and super light and from two feet away it looks the part of heavy steel.

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Here's a traditional Centerline wheel with the rivets being hidden by a special custom spun hub cap and gloss black paint just like DMV said. They are on a certain Mopar and the front 15 X 4's are of the very first batch of Steely Dans that were released. LOL.
The Centerline trick has optically tricked many an enthusiast, including fellow maniacal Moparites. Very street worthy and super light and from two feet away it looks the part of heavy steel.

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Here's a wheel that Centerline also released about 15 or so years back called Elite series. They were purchased right off the display table at SEMA. They looked a little bit stock, but the stamped center recessed area was a giveaway if you looked hard enough. Black paint made them more covert. When the Steely Dans came out, these found their way to another garage.

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The guy at Bogart told me not to use the wheels like on the red car if you are using a trans brake and some big power 800/hp torque as you can distort them because of not having full contact on the rim to the cente
The Steelie Dans use a shank lug. Not sure why having full contact with the center would make a difference.
 
I'm running Wheel Vintiques 15x10's and drilled the hole out for 5/8 studs. last year was the first year and I didn't seem to have a problem... other than I had to keep re-torqueing the wheels, So I torqued them to like 150' lbs and that seem to solve the issue.

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I haven’t seen it mentioned but Steelie Dans are not steel wheels. They are aluminum. A pair will set you back about $1200.
 
I haven’t seen it mentioned but Steelie Dans are not steel wheels. They are aluminum. A pair will set you back about $1200.
Correct, they are not steel. They are billet aluminum just a tad heavier than a centerline, but lighter than a real steel wheel.
The image above is of a Steely Dan aluminum 15" X 4" with the optional black epoxy Finnish. Very handsome and convincing to the naked eye.
 
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