[C-Spot]

Hey everyone, I've been searching around the whole car, trying to get all the vibrations out of it, and i've noticed that i've got a bit of wheel hop on one of my cragar ss wheels. I'm wondering if it's possible that it might not be centered correctly? I've tried to search the net for answers, but the only thing i came up with was that the wheels are lug-centric instead of being hub-centric...meaning that the wheel relies on the bolts on the hub and drum to center itself.

Okay, so i guess my question is, does anyone who had cragar ss wheels know if they need to be centered when put on? If so, what is the process to do so? Thanks a lot guys (and gals).

 

[sixt9coug]

you sure its the wheels causing the vibration? my U joints were bad ( as we all saw the pictures... i mean BAD ) and that made a nasty vibration throughout the car.. might wanna check those and see if the tires are balanced too. far as the sheels being hub-centric? umm i dunno....

 

[bowl]

I have had a bad tire that caused that once.

 

[Tim B]

It could be a lot of things. It could be the tires themselves. I could be a bend axle, a missbalanced driveshaft, etc.

What do you mean by wheel hop? That term is usually used for axle/leaf spring wind-up (shudder AND vibration?) and subsequent loss of traction. Rear tires obviously. That's probably not a wheel problem. You may need better shocks, bushings, leaf springs or traction bars.

Do the wheels balance OK off the car? I don't know if they are centric or not. Take it back to the people who did the balancing. Have 'em do it on AND off the car.

Pretty Cougar BTW!!!!!!!! Don't put any more decals on it IMHO it's like putting a mustash on the Mona Lisa.

 

[C-Spot]

Well, I jacked up the rear wheels of the car, u-joints looked to be fine. Then I ran power to the back wheels, and watched them spin. I'm thinking it might be the tires, for they are very un-evenly worn (Drove the car home cross country w. a bad alignment when i first bought it, so moved the front tires to the rear when it was aligned). I'll take it to a shop tomorrow, and have a guy take a good look at it.

Thanks for all the tips though, my main question however was whether any of you knew if the cragar wheels need centering, or if they center themselves, and what the technique was on putting them on, if any. for those of you not familiar w. the structure of them, they have long oval openings for the lug bolts, instead of circles. the fasteners consist of 5 long luts that go through an offset washer and the wheel.

 

[Royce Peterson]

Cragar SS wheels made from about 1975 on have slotted lug holes so the same wheel can fit Mopar, Chevy and Ford patterns. If you have a lot of rear wheel events where the tire loses traction and then regains traction the slots get elongated, causing the vibration you describe.

I hate to be the one to tell you this but the whole concept sucks. The only thing you can do is buy another wheel to replace the bad one which is the right rear unless you have posi, then it's probably both.

 

[Local Hero]

My first custom wheels were Cragar SS. They were the unilug design and they rode perfectly. I would guess your tires are your problem. They are either out of balance, or they are "cupped" (a wear problem that causes vibrations) from being on the front and out of alignment.

Mark