Alloy wheels

Discussion of 4-Cam Type 547 engines (and all the Fuhrmann racing variants) and cars that powered them.
Message
Author
User avatar
Bil Brown
356 Fan
Posts: 907
Joined: Thu Mar 27, 2008 12:36 pm
Location: Lincoln, NE

Re: Alloy wheels

#16 Post by Bil Brown »

I had an ALL aluminum 6x15" discbrake wheel a couple years ago.....stamped "LM" in the center.....meaning leichtweight. This and several other wheels I`ve had are not on the list.......for example, there were 3 different 904 wheel sizes.
Bill Brown

User avatar
Adam Wright
Classifieds Monitor
Posts: 10304
Joined: Wed Mar 12, 2008 1:00 am
Tag: KTF

Re: Alloy wheels

#17 Post by Adam Wright »

Harlan Halsey wrote: Mon Jun 27, 2022 4:08 am It seems this topic would better have been titled, "Aluminum Rim Wheels" Porsche supplied the aluminum rim, steel center wheels for their competition cars. These were almost all 4 1/2 J 15 wheels because it wasn't unitil the mid 1960s that Jim Hall discovered that wider rims had an advantage. Charley Gibson, national FM champion went on record that wider tires hurt lap times more down the straight than they helped in the corners. Jim Hall wasn't seeking a cornering advantage; he was seeking a way to get the power of his Chapparal down to the ground.
There were, of course all manner of "mag" wheels, some of which were actually magnesium, most of which were aluminum and offered no weight advantage. It seems to me that the first aluminum wheel that actually offered a performance advantage was the forged, rather than cast, Fuchs wheel which appeared in 4 1/2 width on some 1967 911s.
A few years go Stoddard announced that they were going to reproduce the 356 Porsche steel/ aluminum rim wheel but so far nothing has come of that.
Harry Witham in Oz will make them for you.
Attachments
356 Carrera GT 60 mm.jpg
356 Carrera GT 60 mm 009.jpg
www.unobtanium-inc.com
Check out my Barn Find column in the Registry magazine, always looking for good stories.

User avatar
Harlan Halsey
356 Fan
Posts: 2339
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2012 2:05 pm
Location: No Cal SF Peninsula

Re: Alloy wheels

#18 Post by Harlan Halsey »

I guess i'll go to Kansas and wait for a tornado.

User avatar
Adam Wright
Classifieds Monitor
Posts: 10304
Joined: Wed Mar 12, 2008 1:00 am
Tag: KTF

Re: Alloy wheels

#19 Post by Adam Wright »

Harlan Halsey wrote: Tue Jun 28, 2022 4:56 am I guess i'll go to Kansas and wait for a tornado.
Do you have proper footwear?
Attachments
slippers.jpg
www.unobtanium-inc.com
Check out my Barn Find column in the Registry magazine, always looking for good stories.

Alan Klingen 2
356 Fan
Posts: 427
Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2023 8:20 pm

Re: Alloy wheels

#20 Post by Alan Klingen 2 »

My boss Juergan Kirberg was sent to this country bwcause too many people were removing the 4cam motors and installing pushrod motors this was VER BOTTON!! So my boss had the Carrera alloy wheels put on his VW !!! I also had a 901 that had a wheel vibration at 55 mph this was very common on the first MacPherson strut suspensions My boss Juergan had a Pair Of "prerfect " alloys as test wheels from Porsche to help cure the issue. Seems like all MacPherson strut suspensions want to have this resonant vibration. Alan The Stable.

User avatar
Harlan Halsey
356 Fan
Posts: 2339
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2012 2:05 pm
Location: No Cal SF Peninsula

Re: Alloy wheels

#21 Post by Harlan Halsey »

The Carrera aluminum rim wheels are quite a bit lighter than the ordinary steel wheels. That is their main attraction. Their 20mm off set is somewhat of a drawback without the 60mm drums.

User avatar
Brian R Adams
356 Fan
Posts: 3289
Joined: Thu Mar 27, 2008 1:34 pm
Location: N. Nevada

Re: Alloy wheels

#22 Post by Brian R Adams »

Mark Roth wrote: Fri Jun 24, 2022 10:19 am I will put a link to it in the Quick Reference section.
Interesting snippet in that Vol 15 article:

With the exception of post-1965 5½x15 Lemmerz chrome wheels, 356A and B wheels do not have safety-rim wheels. Safety-rim wheels have a raised area that holds the tire bead in place in spite of an air-pressure loss. A VW service bulletin stated that the use of tubeless tires on non safety-rim wheels is unsafe - use tubes.

Really?
-
Welcome to the era of policy-based evidence-making.

Difficile est saturam non scribere (Juvenal)

User avatar
Martin Benade
356 Fan
Posts: 12181
Joined: Wed Nov 23, 2011 10:52 am
Location: Cleveland, Ohio

Re: Alloy wheels

#23 Post by Martin Benade »

That is true, according to the Law Department. In real life, there’s a huge amount of anecdotal evidence that it works fine.
Cleveland Ohio
62 Cabriolet
56 VW
02 IS 300
04 Sienna

User avatar
Brian R Adams
356 Fan
Posts: 3289
Joined: Thu Mar 27, 2008 1:34 pm
Location: N. Nevada

Re: Alloy wheels

#24 Post by Brian R Adams »

Martin Benade wrote: Thu Jan 18, 2024 7:17 pm That is true, according to the Law Department. In real life, there’s a huge amount of anecdotal evidence that it works fine.
It works fine, sure, with tire inflated. But what happens when the tire deflates at highway speed? It's not unlikely the tire will fly off the wheel more readily. I had a front tire blow on the interstate at rush hour, and it was more abrupt and harder to control than I recall in other cars. Sample size = 1, and strictly subjective so FWIW.
-
Welcome to the era of policy-based evidence-making.

Difficile est saturam non scribere (Juvenal)

User avatar
Martin Benade
356 Fan
Posts: 12181
Joined: Wed Nov 23, 2011 10:52 am
Location: Cleveland, Ohio

Re: Alloy wheels

#25 Post by Martin Benade »

On American cars tubeless tires became standard about 1955, and the safety bead was not on all American cars until think 1968.

It’s my belief that as long as you keep your wheels straight most any tire failure will not throw you off the road. Just don’t let the shaking and noise fluster you.
Cleveland Ohio
62 Cabriolet
56 VW
02 IS 300
04 Sienna

User avatar
Brian R Adams
356 Fan
Posts: 3289
Joined: Thu Mar 27, 2008 1:34 pm
Location: N. Nevada

Re: Alloy wheels

#26 Post by Brian R Adams »

Martin Benade wrote: Fri Jan 19, 2024 1:45 am Just don’t let the shaking and noise fluster you.
Well, as to that, I am here to reminisce about it. I got lucky.
-
Welcome to the era of policy-based evidence-making.

Difficile est saturam non scribere (Juvenal)

User avatar
Harlan Halsey
356 Fan
Posts: 2339
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2012 2:05 pm
Location: No Cal SF Peninsula

Re: Alloy wheels

#27 Post by Harlan Halsey »

The tire bead is just one of many "safety" items which have made their way into cars over the years. If these things concern you, then you should not be driving a 356, or any car of that vintage on public roads.

User avatar
Brian R Adams
356 Fan
Posts: 3289
Joined: Thu Mar 27, 2008 1:34 pm
Location: N. Nevada

Re: Alloy wheels

#28 Post by Brian R Adams »

Harlan Halsey wrote: Fri Jan 19, 2024 4:56 am The tire bead is just one of many "safety" items which have made their way into cars over the years. If these things concern you, then you should not be driving a 356, or any car of that vintage on public roads.
Dear me! :o
-
Welcome to the era of policy-based evidence-making.

Difficile est saturam non scribere (Juvenal)

User avatar
Steve Proctor
356 Fan
Posts: 1318
Joined: Fri Mar 28, 2008 12:15 am
Location: Spring Hill, TN

Re: Alloy wheels

#29 Post by Steve Proctor »

Harlan Halsey wrote: Fri Jan 19, 2024 4:56 am The tire bead is just one of many "safety" items which have made their way into cars over the years. If these things concern you, then you should not be driving a 356, or any car of that vintage on public roads.
Have to agree with that. When tires used tubes, if you ran over a nail, unless you noticed it quickly, you were going to get a flat tire. In my experience with tubeless tires, if I ran over a nail, I got a slowly deflating tire that gave advance notice. In 47 years of driving 356s, all with tubeless tires, I never had a tire go flat or had to change a tire on the road. To reduce the risk, of course, one should not allow tires age out. At a North Meets South or WCH in the CA central coast area about 35 years ago or so, a very nice 356 on the grass had a steel belted radial let go on the way to the event and the steel cords tore the *#&## out of the outside of the RR fender (probably inside as well).
STP
Steve Proctor
Member Since 1977
VIN 84757

User avatar
Adam Wright
Classifieds Monitor
Posts: 10304
Joined: Wed Mar 12, 2008 1:00 am
Tag: KTF

Re: Alloy wheels

#30 Post by Adam Wright »

Steve Proctor wrote: Sun Jan 21, 2024 10:30 am
Harlan Halsey wrote: Fri Jan 19, 2024 4:56 am The tire bead is just one of many "safety" items which have made their way into cars over the years. If these things concern you, then you should not be driving a 356, or any car of that vintage on public roads.
Have to agree with that. When tires used tubes, if you ran over a nail, unless you noticed it quickly, you were going to get a flat tire. In my experience with tubeless tires, if I ran over a nail, I got a slowly deflating tire that gave advance notice. In 47 years of driving 356s, all with tubeless tires, I never had a tire go flat or had to change a tire on the road. To reduce the risk, of course, one should not allow tires age out. At a North Meets South or WCH in the CA central coast area about 35 years ago or so, a very nice 356 on the grass had a steel belted radial let go on the way to the event and the steel cords tore the *#&## out of the outside of the RR fender (probably inside as well).
This guy had 10 year old tires.
Attachments
wreck3.jpg
wreck2.jpg
wreck1.jpg
www.unobtanium-inc.com
Check out my Barn Find column in the Registry magazine, always looking for good stories.

Post Reply