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Motorspot, Inc. 760-731-8303 |
Discount Wire Wheel Headquarters
Home Page |
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The finest wire
wheels that money can buy.
As used by America's top collectors, restoration
shops and kustomizers. |
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Frequently Asked Questions
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Q:
What is the
difference between stainless steel spokes and nipples and chrome
steel spokes and nipples?
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A:
Stainless steel spokes and nipples do not rust while chrome steel
does. Stainless is also stronger than chrome steel and is better
suited for heavier cars or where the horsepower and handling of the
automobile has been improved. Stainless steel is not as shiny as
chrome steel and has a satin-type patina to it. It is not all that
noticeable without careful inspection. Please click here to view a
comparison between stainless steel and chrome steel spokes and
nipples. Stainless steel is expensive compared to our chrome steel
spokes. For owners who are not able to keep the spokes and nipples
as dry as possible or who live in a high humidity locale, we
strongly recommend upgrading to stainless. Finally, stainless steel
is a premium metal and we believe the prestige factor of having this
metal used in your wheels is an important point to consider,
especially if your automobile is going to be a permanent part of
your collection. Please be aware that in all applications, the wheel
hub and outer rim are still chrome steel and must be maintained to
avoid rust or corrosion.
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Q:
Do wire wheels require a lot
of maintenance?
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A:
Wire wheels will require more maintenance than a conventional steel
or mag wheel. They are not as easy to clean as the aforementioned
style. It is not as easy to get between the spokes to remove any
dirt or debris. If your car is in daily service as opposed to a
weekend driver or trailer-queen, you can expect to have to clean
your wheels frequently if you want to keep them as attractive as
possible. Some enthusiasts have no problem with this task and
consider it part of the overall detailing demands of owning a
collector car, while other owners are less tolerant with the task
and may even consider it a burden. You should not consider
purchasing wire wheels if you are not prepared to perform regular
maintenance. Over time, if you keep your wheels relatively clean, it
will hardly seem like it is taking that long at all to keep them
like new. In our view, no other form of wheels looks as great as
wire wheels.
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- Q:
Is
it true that wire wheels are prone to rusting out?
- A: Due
to the architecture and design of wire wheels, they tend to
trap water. Our wire wheels use a style of chrome plating
that is of a very high standard but permitting water or
moisture to accumulate or remain on the chrome surfaces can
eventually lead to a surprisingly rapid appearance of rust
or corrosion. This is true with nearly all chrome wheels,
not just ours. Our warranty against rust is 90 days from
your receipt of your new wheels. Although this short period
of time may surprise you, our competitors offer no warranty
against rust at all deeming it to be an issue of owner
maintenance alone.
- When considering the
purchase of wire wheels, you should be mindful that if your
wheels get wet, you should take steps as soon as reasonably
possible to dry off your wheels. If you wash your car, start
by driving it around the block a few times to get water out
of and off the surfaces and then dry the wheels thoroughly.
If you have an air hose or even a garden blower, you should
use this to remove any remaining water. Some owners will
apply a thin application of WD40 or other rust inhibitor on
their wheels, especially if the vehicle is going into winter
storage. It is generally the spokes and nipples that will
rust out first. For this reason, upgrading to stainless
steel spokes and nipples may be a smart move.
- Q:
How can I keep
my wheels looking like show quality?
- A:
This is a question we feel confident we can answer
because our wheels are used by many owners of Concours
cars and we have received many thank you cards, emails
and phone calls from our show-winning customers. We
recommend using soap and water to keep your wheels
clean. A dish-washing liquid detergent is sufficient.
Even though our chrome plating is rugid, harsh
detergents and especially abrasive and bleach containing
products can cause serious harm to your chrome surfaces.
This may not occur suddenly but over time, harsh
cleaning agents will eventually spoil your chrome. If
you insist upon using a cleaner, we recommend the
Wizard's brand cleaner we sell and also Simple Green.
Between cleanings, spraying on a very thin coat of WD40
may help to minimize rust or corrosion, especially
during winter storage. Some customers of ours report
success using polishes available from Maguires, Mothers
or X-treme.
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- Q:
Do you have
any advice on how to mount tires on wire wheels?
- A:
It is best to find an installer who has some experience
with wire wheels. They are not as easy to mount tires on
as a common steel wheel and do require the utmost of
care. Find an installer that use a "touchless" type
mounting system where no metal comes in direct contact
with the rim itself. Our wheels are build as
"lug-centric" and must be balanced from the
wheel bolt holes or on
the car. An experienced tire installer should have one
or the other option available. Most quality tire shops
have "finger" attachments that enable balancing from the
wheel bolt holes. Balancing by the center
hole instead of by the wheel bolt holes will result in a poor job
of balancing.
- Sadly, a lot of
tire shops have little or no experience with wire wheels
and may not realize that wire wheels have very small
amounts of movement or wobbling compared to a modern
CNC'd or billet aluminum wheel. Aggravating the
situation is when the installer attempts to balance wire
wheels from the center hole using a cone for centering.
Few installers bother to have their cone checked for
accuracy and if the center hole is not perfectly round,
the wheel appears to have a side-to-side or up and down
movement. This is normal. Do not let an installer
balance your wheel from the center hole and look for an
installer with the proper equipment and knowledge. Don't
let an inexperienced installer tell you that your wheels
are bad or defective when the installer doesn't have the
equipment or knowledge to make such a statement. The
proof of the pudding is how your wheels perform on your
car.
- For cosmetic reasons, the weights should
be attached from the rear, not on the front side of the
rim. It will spoil the appearance of your wheels
although it may result in a superior job of balancing,
having weights on both sides of the wheels. We favor the
glue-on or stick-on type weights over the clip-on style
which can harm your chrome if the weights scratch your
chrome finish. Inspect your wheels carefully before and
after to make sure there are no scratches or dents left
on the rims by the installer. An experienced and
responsible installer should not damage your finish. We
have seen dents, scratches and other marks left by
careless installers or by out-of-date equipment. Any
questions regarding balancing should be referred to us
for friendly advice.
- Q:
Can I use my current
tires on the new wire wheels or must I buy new tires?
- A:
It is perfectly O.K. to
run your current tires if they are the correct size for your
new wheels. It is important to make sure that you return the
tires to their original position on your car once mounted on
the new wheels. In other words, if you take a tire off the
left front wheel, you should return the same tire to this
location. Also, we recommend checking your alignment once
the new wheels are installed and realigning your car if
necessary.
- Please
carefully follow our balancing instructions for maximum
performance of your new wheels. Read all instructions
carefully before installing.
- Q:
Do I need to
run inner-tubes with wire wheels?
- A:
You must run tubes with our Thunderbird wire wheels and
any wire wheels that are "lip-laced" or "bead-laced".
These wheels feature spokes that are close to the outer
rims as shown on this link:
BEAD LACE. All of our other style wheels such as
our center-lace or classic cross-lace Cadillac wheels
are prepared as tubeless and do not require inner-tubes.
Please click on this link to view a
Center or Cross Lace wheel. Our warranty
provides that if we sell you a wheel that is designated
as a tubeless type and it subsequently leaks, we will
send you free of charge an inner-tube. Because there can
be many causes for a leaking wheel, including
installer's negligence, rather than trying to prove what
was the cause and origin of the leak, we will simply
send you an inner-tube so that you can get on your way
as soon as possible. Some customers choose to run
inner-tubes in their tubeless type wheels as an extra
precaution against leaking. We think this may be a good
idea, especially if you do not drive your car very
often.
- It is imperative
that if you run inner-tubes in your tires that you
carefully and thoroughly check that any inspection tags
in your tires are removed. Do not cut them out. Use a
hair dryer to heat up the tags and remove them. These
tags can puncture your inner tubes and cause flats or
rapid loss of air. Do not trust your tire installer to
check for these tags alone. Double-check that all tags
have been removed. Also, look for any sharp edges in
your tires such as "mold-marks" that could puncture your
tubes. Do not place electrical tape or any tape inside
your wheels. This tape can become brittle and end up
puncturing your inner tubes.
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- Q:
Where can I purchase new tires, especially whitewalls at
discount prices?
- A:
Please visit our discount tire website at:
www.widewhitetires.com for the best selection
and prices on the web. We also offer wheel and tire
packages at attractive prices that are a convenient way
to purchase wheels and tires.
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Q:
Do you recommend your wire wheels for modern cars,
1990 and newer?
- A:
Our collector car
wheels are best suited for cars 1980 or older. The
collector series wheels are made just like they were
built in the 50's, by hand. Although our replica wire
wheels are built to precision standards for this type of
rim, more modern cars require more precise tolerances
and using this style of rim may lead to unwanted
vibration. For modern cars, we do have other styles of
wire wheels that will offer better performance. We can
help you select the best wheel for your application.
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- Q:
When it comes to tires, which is better, bias-ply or
steel belted radials?
- A:
The advantages of bias-ply tires are: 1) Most
authentic, period-correct look for a vintage car. 2)
Less expense generally. 3) In most cases, wider
whitewalls and more choices of brands and whitewall
sizes and appearances. 4) The most notable appearance
features are the straight up and down or vertical side
walls, the attractive "pie-crust" edges of the tires
that resemble scallops and the period-correct looking
tread patterns. A good example of a bias-ply tire with a
wide four inch tire can be seen on this link:
BIAS PLY TIRE. The disadvantages
of bias-ply tires are that they do not ride as nice as
steel belted radials will or perform as well on
cornering or in wet conditions. They tend to follow
cracks or seams in the pavement and they will
"flat-spot" if they sit too long without use, although
the tires will smooth out after driving for a given
distance. If you are running bias-ply tires presently
that are over 9 years of age, they are probably in need
of replacement and new bias-plys will probably perform
much better than outdated rubber will. Bias-ply tires
probably will not have as long of an estimated tread
life and may not have a high enough speed rating if you
have a need for speed.
- The advantages
of steel-belted radial tires are: 1) Superior
ride and performance. 2) Attractive design. 3)
Period-correct appearance and whitewall stripes for more
modern cars. 4) Longer tread-life and 5) Speed rated for
higher speed driving. The disadvantages are: 1) Higher
cost. 2) Can cause cracking or harm to antiquated
wheels. 3) May detract from a vintage presentation on an
older car. 4) In tight quarters, a steel belted radial
may be wider than needed and could rub or make contact
with a fender skirt or body panel. Please click here to
see a fine example of steel belted radials on a
collector car:
STEEL BELTED RADIALS.
- To discuss the
correct choice for your car, please feel free to call or
email us with your questions.
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Q:
My wire wheels need repair. Can they be fixed?
- A:
Yes. Simply let us know the nature of the problem and we
can give you advice on how to remedy the situation. We
work with repair facilities that can perform repairs
such as fixing leaks, straightening out dents and
replacing spokes.
- Q:
Do you think it
is a good idea to purchase used wire wheels?
- A:
Unless you intend to have them restored immediately or
you collect old wheels, we would recommend against it.
Most used wheels we have seen have unknown histories.
They could be 10, 20, 30 years old or even older. Sadly,
the spokes could have small cracks or defects in them
that are hardly visible. Rust can be hiding like a
cancer eating away at the spokes which could lead to a
serious failure. The wheels could leak from dried out or
damaged inner liners resulting in costly towing bills.
We have seen cases of wheels that have suffered
catastrophic spoke failures which could lead to a loss
of control of the automobile. You just can't be sure
enough to risk your safety on used rims.
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- Q:
I own a set of
wire wheels already and I am thinking of restoring them.
Does it make more sense to just purchase new wire wheels
or restore the ones that I have?
- A:
We are one of the few wire wheels vendors that can offer
restoration and also sales of new wire wheels. For a
general explanation of our restoration services, please
click on this link:
RESTORATION SERVICES. In most cases restoration
costs will exceed the cost of purchasing new wire
wheels. However, a show-quality restoration can be
justified for the following reasons: A) The wheels are
unique to the car and originality is required. B)
Sentimental reasons (for example, the wheels belonged to
the owner's late father). C) The wheels have unusual
hubs, spoke counts, offsets that cannot be duplicated.
D) The restored wheels will add great value to the car
and can be restored to a higher standard than purchasing
new wheels. E) The hubcaps or center emblems are not
available anywhere else.
- Restorations can
take from four to eight weeks depending upon the nature
of the services required and materials specified by the
owner such as stainless steel spokes or copper plating.
- Purchasing new
wheels has its advantages because new wheels may be much
stronger and safer than even old, restored wheels.
Thicker metals, more spokes, stronger outer rims and
better suited off-sets are available in new rims. Most
styles are available off-the-shelf or can be prepared
within a few days or weeks.
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Q:
I own a late model Cadillac. Can I put your Collector
Style Cadillac wire wheels on my car?
- A:
We discourage using our Collector wheels on post 80's or
90's automobiles. Our wheels are made by hand and
although they are precision-built, the tolerances and
specifications we use may not be adequate for more
modern cars where modern construction techniques result
in much higher levels of precision. Also, some modern
cars have tire pressure monitoring systems which our
wheels do not have. We can fit more modern cars with
Dayton brand wire wheels as shown on this link:
Dayton Wire Wheels.
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- Q:
During the
balancing of my new wheels, I saw the front lip of the
wheel weaving up and down very slightly, as though the
edge is not straight. Is my wheel out of round or
defective?
- A:
Before any wheels leave the factory, they are triple
gauge-tested for accuracy and roll out. No wheel is ever
shipped that isn't within specification. However, the
front edge of our wheels are not perfectly flat and
smooth like an aluminum rim would be. These outer rims
are formed in the same manner as the originals in the
'50's and 60's, and in
most instances have slight rises in them that can appear
to look like a wobble upon rotation. If your wheel was
not damaged during shipment or during mounting, the most
probable cause of this condition is the edge of the
wheel not being perfectly straight. This does not affect
performance and in most cases is concealed by the
mounted tire. Tire installers who are not familiar with
wire wheels and this type of outer rim will often report
the wheel to be "out-of-round" or to be wobbling, when
in fact it is not. The outer rims are made by the same people
who make Cragar wheels in California and are of the
highest quality. If you aren't certain about this, please
feel free to call us for technical support. Don't be
surprised to see weights attached in the amount of 3-5
ounces or more. If higher amounts are called for, ask
the installer to rotate your tire 180 degrees and
re-balance.
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Discount Wire Wheels
Discount Whitewall Tires
Motorspot,
Inc.
Orange, California 92867
Telephone: 760-731-8303 (all calls returned)
email:
sales@hobbycar.com |
Truespoke is a registered trademark
America's Favorite
since 1974
M-F 9-6 PST
Fast & Friendly Service
is a telephone call away |
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