Weight of pin drive wheels...how much can you save?

[Ron Earp]

Anyone have rough ideas of the differences with pin drives and bolt ons in the weight department? I'd hate to go to the trouble of worrying about weight in various areas of the car, and then simply miss out on XX lbs of weight reduction on something such as this.

Pin drive wheels are going to have an adapter, spinner, most likely a spacer plate in some cases - all of which a bolt on wheel won't have. And all of it is unsprung weight which is the worst of all possible weight if you are on a weight elimination campaign.

Are the pin drive wheels heavier than lightweight bolt on counter parts? I have never weighed a pin drive wheel by itself. Seems an aluminum spinner and adapter are going to be around 2-4 lbs by themselves for sure. If the wheel is heavier than a bolt on by a similar amount or more, then there might be a lot of weight savings here.

R

 

[Mark Worthington]

There is definitely weight to be saved by ditching the pin-drive adapters, probably more than 5 pounds per corner, based on the steel adapters I have. I plan to get a "track" set of wheels for my car that consists of some nice, light CCW wheels or something similar with proper backspacing to eliminate the pin-drive adapters. The 17" BRM replica wheels that RF supplied to me were enormously heavy - the rear wheels weigh 33 pounds each. I think that I can lose more than 60 pounds of unspring, rotating weight just by going with a set of track tires and wheels. That's huge.

 

[Frank Catt]

Ron, we make hubs/spindles that are one piece, no dangerous adaptors !!!

 

[Ron Earp]

Never really though of adapters as dangerous. Properly installed, they seem work very well and appear on cars all over the world.

Back to the question at hand, it looks as if there is significant weight savings with some bolt ons over pin drives. The RF wheel sounds very heavy, I wonder if other pin drive wheels fit this pattern? Also something to think about for those that want the 17"s and other wheels - they are going to be heavier than 15"s.

Still, if for some cars there is significant weight savings and something to think about and make a decision on depending on your intended usage.

Ron

 

[Brian]

Hi Ron, never weighed 'em, but my PS 17" BRMs are remarkably light.
Next time I've got a scale handy, I'll let you know what we have for tire and wheel combo weight.

The adapters are heavy though, like depleated uranium heavy!!!!. If I would have known that 1 piece hubs were available, would have gone with them.

Maybe when I do my first batch of upgrades

Brian

 

[Richard Timte]

Pin drive wheels don't need to be heavy, my 16x10's weigh 18 lbs and the 16x14's weigh 21 lbs. Also I don't need any stinking adapters. So the 16x10 wheels with 23.5X10.5-16 tires weigh 34 lbs and the 16x14 with 27.0X14.0-16 weigh 44 lbs.

Ron, one thing you might think about if you plan on running the enduro race is (tire change times). Don't use a spinner but use a big nut and a good air gun. My axle's have auto lock on them, slide the socket on the axle engages the locks and the nut comes off, no socket and the nuts can't come off. Just something else to think about.

 

[Ron Earp]

Ron, one thing you might think about if you plan on running the enduro race is (tire change times). Don't use a spinner but use a big nut and a good air gun. My axle's have auto lock on them, slide the socket on the axle engages the locks and the nut comes off, no socket and the nuts can't come off. Just something else to think about.

Well...in some ways it is a mote point, that is, my posting on the weights. SCCA and NASA won't allow these types of retaining schemes to run in the sanctioned events for which I got the supps. Sounds like there is a big difference in wheel weights across the board. The RCR adapters are very light and no trouble there, the wheels might be light too but I've got tires on mine but will weigh one and find tire weight to subtract.

Ron

 

[Richard Timte]

SCCA and NASA won't allow what CART and IRL do, interesting, as the upright are off a Indy car.

 

[Ron Earp]

Not saying it is right or wrong, just what the supps are for certain races. I am not sure that is the case for all races and all over, just is the case for the one race I'm interested in doing with the Lola. Might be to discourage their use and allow high dollar teams to have an advantage in an "amateur" enduro. I'll look in the GCR and see if it makes any general mention of how wheels are to be afixed for class rules.

Ron

 

I have some old Halibrand pin drive, 15x10
And on my bathroom scale, witch is not the best.
They come in at 11 to 12 lb's each.
That might even be on the heavy side ?
The scale changes each time I weigh them.
As I said, not the best scale !
But something else to compare to.

Cheer's !

 

[Frank Catt]

You are absolutely right, Ron, Adaptors in themselves are not dangerous, the concern comes from how they are mechanically fixed to the hubs, and I have seen several frightening examples of this, very dangerous installations that would have been lethal if left unattended.

 

[Ron Earp]

Curtis, that is quite light for a wheel of that size and I don't think anyone would be able to save anything using a bolt on over those!

 

Ron,

Got Lucky when I found them for sure !
And they even have a bit of history to boot.
But that's another story !

Cheer's !

 

[/QUOTE]Ron, one thing you might think about if you plan on running the enduro race is (tire change times). Don't use a spinner but use a big nut and a good air gun. My axle's have auto lock on them, slide the socket on the axle engages the locks and the nut comes off, no socket and the nuts can't come off. Just something else to think about.[/QUOTE]


Where can I find some information on the auto locks?

 

[Richard Timte]

MBelcher,

The auto locks are little triangular spring loaded catches. When the socket is slid on it engages the locks and the nut can come off. Here are a couple of pictures.

 

[Julian West]

Anyone have rough ideas of the differences with pin drives and bolt ons in the weight department?
R

Hi Ron,

Fwiw I upgraded from GTD/Ford hubs to one peice peg drive hubs. the peg drive hubs are heavier, about 2lbs each, than the ford items. I haven't weighed the wheels yet, but i suspect there isn't much difference.

Next time I jack the car up i'll weigh a wheel & tyre, & post the weights.

Regds,