Spokes

[Great Lakes Greg]

So, in this ongoing saga of my wheel rebuilds, here is what's the latest. I was going to replace all the spokes on my wheels with new lumber because of the safety factor. I knew one had issues because the spokes had physically ran against something and were chewed up. I assumed the other three wheels were in need of replacement.
After some pretty harsh probing with an awl, I have come to the realization that the spokes on my "good" wheels are really, REALLY solid. These hickory pieces are 91 years old, but seem to have plenty of life left in them.
I am inclined to run them without replacement. Money isn't the issue, labor and the possibility of crap reproduction parts is. If they are solid, they are solid, right?

 

[David Martin]

As long as you are taking a close look at your wheels, there are a couple of other things to check out. With the full weight of the car on the wheels, examine the spoke in the 12 o'clock position. If there is any gap at all between the felloe and the end of the spoke your spokes are wearing lengthwise. The more it wears, the faster it wears. This condition can be repaired and further wear stopped. The u shaped shims used to correct this condition really do not work very well. The danged things keep falling out.

Pull all the wheels and check the tightness of the wheel bolt nuts. There is a 90% chance you'll have to tighten them. After you do this, be sure to re-peen the ends of the bolts to prevent them from loosening again.

And finally, once you remove a hub bolt, never re-use it. Replace it with new.

 

[mark1fin]

Send the wheels out to stutsmans in Ohio. They will be perfect when they come back and will cost the same as buying all the spokes from a parts vendor.

 

[Great Lakes Greg]

I am learning by leaps and bounds. The peened bolt ends explains why the nuts were coming off like I was pulling the threads. Also, Stutsmans service sounds appealing, as I am close to the Ohio border. I'll do a google search for them. Thanks everybody, for your continued patients in this endeavor.

 

[dumb person]

The labor is not all that bad if you enjoy it, but solid is somewhat solid, unless they have dries out and become brittle. i guess you test that by bending them until they break. i have jumped old tight spokes (some wheels have a mixture of newer spokes too) over curbs and had the car on 2 wheels a few time so i guess mine are solid enough.
When in doubt, soak them in linseed oil, maybe with kerosene or turpentine mixed with it, it appears to give the old wood cells more life.

 

[Steve Jelf]

If these are steel-felloe wheels, you can buy new spokes from Stutzman, build a Regan spoke press, and install them yourself. The old saying applies here: It ain't brain surgery.

 

[Willie in Houston]

A little different approach.
If the spoke ends are not worn to a point where they enter the steel felloe, all you need to do is tighten up the spokes.
I remove the wheel and remove the hub from the wheel. Next I get my porta-power jack an insert it from the outer rim to between two spokes in the center of the wheel with a piece of tapered wood to prevent damage to the spokes. Next I start to jack and the two spoke ends will seperate in the center. I insert a shim in the opening, remove the jack and move over skipping a spoke. By the time I make it all the way around, the wheel is usually is tight. If not, it was very loose and I insert shims between all spoke ends. This works as the ends are tapered and the shim will push the wheel away from the center.
Do not forget to tighten the hub before using the wheel. If you feel uncomfortable with the extra space around the hub, place some spacers around the hub.
It works and I have driven some wheels many miles with this fix.
I use a very hard paper called "Fish Paper" that is used for an insulator in the electrical world. Metal or brass would also work, but not the very thin type.