Peter Mears Posted December 11, 2001 Share Posted December 11, 2001 Having changed to 13inch superlight wheels from 14 the rears are fouling on the de dion tube very slightly, I believe this is a common problem and need to know what course of action to take? Is it ok to take a file to the offending part or is there another solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMMO Posted December 12, 2001 Share Posted December 12, 2001 Peter My De Dion car was fitted with 13" wheels when I bought it. It came with 5 mm aluminium spacers between the wheel and hub. Removing the spacer caused the wheel to touch the De Dion tube. I considered grinding the De Dion tube but ended up leaving the spacer in. I fitted longer wheel studs as I wasn't pleased with the amount of thread engaged in the wheel nut. AMMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WILL FLY Posted December 12, 2001 Share Posted December 12, 2001 Is this a common Phenomenom ? Caterham fitted spacers to Rob Margel's car on the PBC because they said the wheels were fouling but I'm not sure if it was the rears on the DeDion tube or the fronts on the big brakes. Thye said it was because he'd used superlite wheels instead of minilites, but it sounded like bullsh*t to me. I'm thinking of using 13 inch wheels for the track and 14 for the road, if I need spacers for the 13inch wheels can I use these for the 14 inch ones as well since I'd probably need to fit longer studs with the spacers which may be too long for the wheel nuts with 14 inch wheels without spacers. See willfly.net for more info. If you don't spin you ain't trying smile.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick M Posted December 12, 2001 Share Posted December 12, 2001 You could always use open-ended wheel nuts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Turner Posted December 12, 2001 Share Posted December 12, 2001 I have used Caterham supplied 6 x 13 supalites on my 93 de-dion since new and there is ample clearance. When I used 8 x 13 supalites on the rear I had to radius the corners of the de-dion ears not because of the wheels but because the stick on weights were just catching. I have not had to grind the actual tube. I know there has been several specs of tube, is this the problem and have I been lucky. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelspeed Posted December 12, 2001 Share Posted December 12, 2001 I have used various different 6 inch wheels. None of these fouled the de dion tube until the latest set, 9J x 13 SLR500 wheels (or are they 8.5's?), these foul the end of the de dion tube with the inner edge of the inner rim just because they are so wide. None of the 6J wheels come close. Are you using the right offset? Some rims intended for front wheel drive cars have all the rim width behind the mounting face so a narrowish wheel protrudes inwards a long way. MkIII Escort or Pogo 205 wheels would have the right pcd so would fit but would have this wildly wrong offset. The SLR500 wheels foul the top and bottom rear corners of the flat plates welded to each end of the de dion tube. This bit of the flat plate does nothing, it protrudes from the round section of the tube. I just took the angle grinder to this plate and rounded it off to the profile of the tube and weld. Worked fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robmar Posted December 12, 2001 Share Posted December 12, 2001 Will SPIN (whoops I meant FLY teeth.gif) mine where alledagedy fouling on the front brake caliper (large ones) on the bottom, not the rears rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike ashurst Posted December 12, 2001 Share Posted December 12, 2001 I have a 96 dedion with 6 x 13 minilites (superlite I think) fitted at the factory as far as I know, and have no problem with the rears fouling, so maybe it is an incorrect offset problem. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simos Posted December 12, 2001 Share Posted December 12, 2001 I have 6*13 minilites (supplied by factory) on a '90 chassis with a '97 beefed up de-dion. I do not have spacers. As noted above I have a new de-dion because my old one split nearly in two (9/10 of the circumference of the tube) exactly at the point of a small witness mark where the tube brushed one of the tank clips at full deflection. Moral of the story is be careful what you file... Ok so you're filing the ear which isn't so stressed but even so... care! Simon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelspeed Posted December 12, 2001 Share Posted December 12, 2001 Once Caterham started selling SLR500's they modded all de dion tubes to give clearance so if you have a post 1996 or 1998 or something car or replacement de dion tube since that date then it'll come ready modded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Turner Posted December 12, 2001 Share Posted December 12, 2001 I think my memory has been playing tricks on me, it was not the ear I had to file but the thin aluminium plate that fits between the ear and tube whose only purpose in life is to seal the tube ends. I filed it to the same shape as the de-dion tube. If the wheel weights had been place slightly differently it would have been OK, it was easier to file the thin plate than have the wheels rebalanced. Remember that this was on 8 x 13 wheels. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Flatters Posted December 13, 2001 Share Posted December 13, 2001 Deleted Posting Edited by - Steve Mell on 13 Dec 2001 17:24:46 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul jacobs Posted December 13, 2001 Share Posted December 13, 2001 I've also had this problem in the past, when using 13" 3 piece lightweight wheels, I just got out the angle grinder and took off the corners of the flat plate at the end of the DD tube. There appear to be no downsides to doing this, just make sure that it's painted again to stop the rust. I'm also currently using small spacers on my 21 because of exhaust clearance probslems, with no detrimental affects, although it is essential if doing this, to put in longer studs, which is actually quite a big job as the rear hubs and discs have to be removed to get at them. It is recomended that you should be able to do up wheel nuts by at least 6 turns, possibly more if they are ali. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Mears Posted December 16, 2001 Author Share Posted December 16, 2001 Thanks for the help, got the angle grinder out, took a bit off the flat plates and bingo, all sorted. I think this seems to be a problem with the older de dion tubes and you still have to be carfull were balance weights are stuck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul McKenzie Posted December 17, 2001 Share Posted December 17, 2001 Peter, Just out of interest I think the problem actually lies not with the older De-dion itself, but actually with the rear hubs which appear to have changed in the early nineties. I say this because my mate bought some 13 inch superlites and couldn't get the centre caps to fit. We then changed his hubs for new ones and lo & behold the caps fitted and the rear track increased slightly, just as if we had fitted spacers. Paul I think this is in-line with Ammo's earlier comments Edited by - Paul McKenzie on 17 Dec 2001 17:54:06 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Mears Posted December 17, 2001 Author Share Posted December 17, 2001 Yesthat may be the case as my car is 1989 with the original disc brakes and hubs as fitted in the factory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Flatters Posted December 17, 2001 Share Posted December 17, 2001 Does anyone know what year they changed the hubs. Was it pre '94? Steve Mell PTM 88 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul McKenzie Posted December 17, 2001 Share Posted December 17, 2001 I imagine Len Unwin knows the answer if he's around - alternatively a call into Caterham ? Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lennie Posted December 18, 2001 Share Posted December 18, 2001 The rear hubs were originaly sourced from Ford but were then in 94 being supplied by Titan [who also make the racks and other bits ].The wheel situation was complicated as wheel manufacturers seem to go out of bussiness quite freqently.There are a number of wheels used both 13 inch and superlight R both of which gave problems. You can have on your car any number of combinations from any on eyear as wheels were a constant problem of supply. When the big brakes were fitted originaly there was no problem to 13 inch wheels then the supplier was changed and they fouled.Also the rear wheel on a superlight could foul the dedion tube.As long as your sensible grinding the tube is no problem. New car being delivered to Gary at Juno on wednesday ready for some very trick suspension bits and it's aero mods.Cant wait to see if they work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike ashurst Posted December 19, 2001 Share Posted December 19, 2001 I take back my earlier posting. I took my wheels off last night and they are KNs NOT Superlites. Not sure if this has any relevance though as the hub changge would seem to be the answer. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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