wheel spoke woes !

ussnj62

Junior Member
Hello fellow model A'ers !

After inspecting my A's wheels I have discovered one with a broken spoke down at the rim. Question, is it ok to weld this to repair ? Obviously I would dismount the tire/tube first. And two other issues involving greasing the chassis......I have a kingpin that will not take grease on bottom and a rear spring shackle that will not take grease either at one of the zerk fittings. Am I looking at taking these items apart to rebuild ? Or should I try something less intrusive first ?
As always thanks for the great responce and advice !

Donald W.
 
Either a heat gun or torch might get the fittings to take grease. If the fitting has a spring loaded check ball you don't want to get it hot enough to take out the spring temper though.

Drill a hole in the rim from the outside towards the center, where the original weld was, then plug weld the spoke through and to the hole. This way the weld will cool and pull the spoke tight, as it should be in tension.
 
To weld the spoke use Toms method.When fittings wont take grease,Ive sometimes had to take the weight off the part being greased,remove the fitting & dig out some of the old grease & spray some Liquid Wrench in the hole-after its been heated-put the fitting back in & they will usually take grease.I use modern grease fittings as they will take much more pressure from the grease gun with out leaking.If the car is greased regularly-I do mine every 500 miles- you should not have this problem.
 
Either a heat gun or torch might get the fittings to take grease. If the fitting has a spring loaded check ball you don't want to get it hot enough to take out the spring temper though.

Drill a hole in the rim from the outside towards the center, where the original weld was, then plug weld the spoke through and to the hole. This way the weld will cool and pull the spoke tight, as it should be in tension.

To weld the spoke use Toms method.When fittings wont take grease,Ive sometimes had to take the weight off the part being greased,remove the fitting & dig out some of the old grease & spray some Liquid Wrench in the hole-after its been heated-put the fitting back in & they will usually take grease.I use modern grease fittings as they will take much more pressure from the grease gun with out leaking.If the car is greased regularly-I do mine every 500 miles- you should not have this problem.

Thanks to Tom and to Columbia for your help ! Both grease fittings now take grease as per your directions to correct the problem. I have not gotton to welding the spoke yet. I am not a welder so I need a little outside help for that. I recently bought this "A" and am just getting to know her ! I do not know what the prevous owner's maintenance schedule was like, but I will strive to do all maintenance as suggested and as the manual recommends from now on !!!:)
Thanks!
Donald W.
 
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