RV MAIL
THE HUB OF IT
About 18 months ago we had a wheel detach
itself from our van. Fortunately, we were able
to pull up safely. The van manufacturer took no
responsibility. This problem is demonstrated in the pictures. I’m
not sure how the various road traffic authorities
would view it, but I would think that it wouldn't
get their tick of approval.
Recently, I needed to adjust the brakes and it
was easier to remove the wheels. While I had
the wheels off, I took a close look at the way the
wheel seats onto the hub. What I discovered was
that there was no counterbore in the wheel for
the hub cap flange, nor was there any relief on the
hub. Both the wheel mounting face and the hub
face were machined flat, so the hub cap flange
created a gap between the mounting face of the
wheel and the hub face. I believe that any form of wheel spacer is illegal
and it could be argued that the hub cap flange
is acting as a spacer (albeit a thin one) and
preventing full contact between the wheel and
the hub.
Now, when the wheel nuts were tightened,
this then forced the wheel to be distorted until
it touched on the hub. Instead of the wheel
contacting the hub over the full surface, it only
contacted the outer edge. Hi Bob, thanks for your email. The information
you’ve presented was somewhat concerning
so I showed your images and email to a caravan
specialist I know and trust, who agreed that you
did the right thing in removing the hub caps.
The wheel nuts also did not seat over the full
diameter (of the nuts) but also bore mainly on
the outer edge. I didn’t think that the hub would
distort because it is a massive cast iron part. But
maybe the wheel studs would distort as they are
tightened. Clearly the wrong centre cap had been used for
your wheels. Judging by your pictures, it looks as
though the centre cap that should have been used
is a style that clips in from the outside of the rim
rather than one that pushes through from behind
– as you’ve pointed out, there’s no flange rebate
to seat the centre cap.
I had noticed that the wheel nuts always seemed
to require a little extra tightening every couple
of days, whereas the car wheel nuts never did.
Maybe this was because they were not seating on
their full bearing surface.
I have now removed the hub caps. I would suggest
that anyone with this type of wheel and hub cap
do the same.
Bob Small
Via email
It would certainly be worth pointing this out to your
van’s manufacturer, if you haven’t already. – Ed
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