Ford "steel-spoke" wheels vs. regular wire wheels

ericr

ericr

Well-known member
at least some of youse guys have competing cars from the era like Chevrolet Dodge Brothers, maybe Essex.

is it your opinion that the Model "A" wheel is indeed superior? It certainly seems like the Model "A" wheel has survived in any event.....
 
  • There are 2 types of wire wheels, those with welded spokes and those mechanically fastened.
  • On wheel with welded spokes, all of the spokes carry loads. On a wheel with mechanically fastened spokes, only about half of the spokes carry loads.
  • Because the alternating loads are much higher on a mechanically-spoked wheel, the fatigue life of the spokes is much less.
  • Mechanically spoked-wheels need periodic maintenance to adjust the spoke tension and straighten the rim.
  • There is one other wheel that enters into this discussion, and that is the cast iron artillery wheel which has a solid metal disk from the hub to its rim. In the early days of automobiles, engineers did not get the design right, so artillery wheels had a habit of short term fatigue cracking.
 
Bob Bidonde said:
  • There are 2 types of wire wheels, those with welded spokes and those mechanically fastened.
  • On wheel with welded spokes, all of the spokes carry loads. On a wheel with mechanically fastened spokes, only about half of the spokes carry loads.
  • Because the alternating loads are much higher on a mechanically-spoked wheel, the fatigue life of the spokes is much less.
  • Mechanically spoked-wheels need periodic maintenance to adjust the spoke tension and straighten the rim.
  • There is one other wheel that enters into this discussion, and that is the cast iron artillery wheel which has a solid metal disk from the hub to its rim. In the early days of automobiles, engineers did not get the design right, so artillery wheels had a habit of short term fatigue cracking.
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wow, that's a lot of interesting info, thanks. I always thought old touring cars looked best with artillery wheels.
 
My MGA had wire wheels. They would pop (break) wires when cornering hard. It was a constant maintenance issue. The wire wheels were an option and disk wheels were standard. Sure looked good though.
 
I can't quite wrap my head around the statement that mechanical spoke wheels carry only half the load of welded spoke wheels.thus are prone to early fatigue.
 
RandyinUtah said:
I can't quite wrap my head around the statement that mechanical spoke wheels carry only half the load of welded spoke wheels.thus are prone to early fatigue.
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Possibly because mechanically fastened spokes are only able to accomodate stretching forces - not compression forces - due to the way they are fastened to the rim. Thus only half the spokes contribute to carrying the load at any given time - and thus the wheel is carrying the weight on fewer spokes at any given time.

Bob please correct my if I'm mistaking :)
 
DkFordor said:
Possibly because mechanically fastened spokes are only able to accomodate stretching forces - not compression forces - due to the way they are fastened to the rim. Thus only half the spokes contribute to carrying the load at any given time - and thus the wheel is carrying the weight on fewer spokes at any given time.

Bob please correct my if I'm mistaking :)
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Interesting. So it would follow that with screw adjustable spokes, the ones that are carrying the load are the ones on the top of the wheel. The weight of the car is hanging from the spokes on the top, while those on the bottom are pushing through the rim and meeting no resistance.
 
Will N said:
Interesting. So it would follow that with screw adjustable spokes, the ones that are carrying the load are the ones on the top of the wheel. The weight of the car is hanging from the spokes on the top, while those on the bottom are pushing through the rim and meeting no resistance.
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Sort of. From Wikipedia:
Wikipedia said:
... Some authors conclude from this that the hub "stands" on those spokes immediately below it that experience a reduction in tension, even though the spokes below the hub exert no upward force on the hub and can be replaced by chains without much changing the physics of the wheel. Other authors conclude that the hub "hangs" from those spokes above it that exert an upward force on the hub, and that have higher tension than the spokes below the hub, which pull down on the hub. ...
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I doubt any spokes are actually pushing through the rim - rather the tension is reduced somwhat in the lower half of the wheel. Thus also invalidating the idea with only half the spokes carrying... :confused:

But we're diverging from the topic now :p
 
So mechanical attached spokes, the upper carry the load like a suspension bridge and lower ones keep the hub centered by pulling against the load but don't carry the load.
 
regarding 1931, I would venture to say my chevy wires are "vastly superior" to the A wheels


just my opinion. The chevy was a heavier car.
 
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