One thing I've noticed as the beast accumulates mileage is the wheels gradually loosening - to the extent there's noticeable play in the wheel (as with a loose wheel bearing) after a few hundred miles. I use one of those wooden tools and a 5 pound hammer and a healthy swing, so I'm pretty sure I'm getting them tight enough initially. It's occurring at all 4 corners, and after a few hundred miles it requires about an eighth of a turn to get the wheel tight again. The only reason I've read for this is worn splines, but my hubs seem to be in good shape. Since I'm not certain what I'm looking at I cleaned one of the hubs and attached a few pics.





One thing I do notice is that the wheel/hub contact is only occurring over about a third of the taper surface - you'll notice about a 3/16" to 1/2" wide contact patch on the hub and wheel tapers closest to the splines, and this is also the case at all 4 corners. Not sure if this is normal? Finally, I'm using an anti-seize compound on the splines and tapers, and not sure if this could be contributing to the problem. Before anyone asks, the hubs are on the correct side of the vehicle, and my understanding is that these should be self-tightening. Any thoughts appreciated.

 

I don't have wire wheels, but if the contact point is only catching 1/2 inch, then I would say that something is wrong.
It doesn't make sense that the entire spline area is not utilized.

I would say that's the reasons why they're coming loose, there isn't enough surface area to allow the wheels to fit squarely on the hub and the wheels are moving around on the very small spline area _ this causes the eventual loosening of "knock-off's"

Perhaps the wrong rims have been fitted for the splines, or the other way around.

 

Jeff, the splines are fully engaged - it's where the inner wheel taper meets the inner hub taper that there's only about 3/8" of contact around the circumference. The purpose here is to center the inside of the wheel on the hub - the knock off has a slot that overrides the outside of the wheel to center and tighten it on the hub. I just cleaned the inner taper on another wheel and discovered it's flat for that 3/8" only, and radiused from there. If you look at the wheel pic you'll see the 3/8" contact area (bare metal) between the splines and the anti-seize compound. Since the wheel design is defining this contact patch I'm pretty sure this isn't the problem. I'll shoot the Dayton folks a note and see what they have to say.

 

Hi Doug, have you marked the knock offs relative to the wheels after tightening to make sure it is the knock offs that are coming loose rather than the wheel bedding into the taper ?

The tapers do not look super clean, and if there is not enough surface area between the tapers then you will get some movement at this connection which could well be causing the loosening issue.
If you have some engineers blue, clean up the tapers, apply some blue to one face, and tighten on the wheel, then remove it and record where the transfer points are, put the wheel back on in the same place relative to the hub, tighten up and drive it, then remove the wheels and see if there is a significant change to the transfer points, if there is then you are getting movement on the internal wheel/hub taper which I would suggest is the cause of the undoing.

The spinners are not self tightening as such, the left/right thread are designed to slow down the undoing of the spinner due to the kinetic energy in the spinner when braking etc. The hubs should not move relative to spinners so there is no tightening effect as such.

 

so those are Dayton wire wheels ?

there's your problem. Not the hubs, or the hub splines, but the WHEELS.

In my S type, the wheel hubs' tapers make full contact with the wheel hub's taper. You even hear the "thunk" sound when the wheels engage fully at the taper.

how much HUB THREAD for the spinner do you end up with when the wheel is fully pushed in? There's the answer.

Contact Hendrix Wire Wheel, explain the issue, and they will tell you the same thing about Daytons.

 

Thanks for the advice, Jon - it makes sense the wheel may be seating itself against the taper with use versus the knock offs actually loosening. I wonder if the wide sticky tires and hard cornering are contributing to the problem - it looks like the hub width is about 3" while the tire patch is 9" wide. Jose's point about this particular wheel design is also noted - I wonder why Dayton doesn't utilize the full width of the taper. Does anyone know if this is unique - i.e., do the original British and Dunlop wires make full contact? I'll start by cleaning up the tapers, index the knock offs and see what happens.

 

Doug, also check for backlash on the splines, lock the hub, and keeping the wheel held against the taper, is there any radial movement in the wheel relative to the hub, if you measure any backlash at the outside of the wheel you can workout the backlash at the spline with a little bit of maths.

Wide sticky tires and a heavy right foot won't help I am sure, but should not be the cause, but simply speed up the process !!

Let us know how you get on.