Help - Can I grind on a Rally Wheel?

[12lives]

From my other thread: I have a wheel that will not go over the axle hub in the rear (see pic). Can I grind the area on the back of the wheel that contacts the hub? I need to remove about 1/16th of metal. Of course I will remove as little as possible, in a 1/4 inch wide strip where the casting is dimpled already. See below. Am I crazy?

- Bill

[12lives]

No one have an opinion? on this board!!?!!? lol

- Bill

[IDOXLR8]

No one have an opinion? on this board!!?!!? lol

- Bill

Bill, are thinking of grinding the center (inside hub area)? You can because the taper and lug pattern will center the wheel on the axle hub. BTW why would you want to brind them anyway? AL.

[12lives]

Thanks Al - The wheel will not fit over the axle hub, so it can't lay flat against the brake drum.

Are you going to Rockville (All GM Show) Sat?

- Bill

[Steve Reynolds]

Bill, The "Best" way to do it is to take the axles out and have the register turned to the proper diameter. Then you will never have that problem again no matter what wheels you use. This is just the "right" way to do it!

Steve

[IDOXLR8]

Thanks Al - The wheel will not fit over the axle hub, so it can't lay flat against the brake drum.

Are you going to Rockville (All GM Show) Sat?

- Bill

Shoot me some information and I let you know. I missed you at BPG Nationals, AL.

[tlivingd]

Bill, The "Best" way to do it is to take the axles out and have the register turned to the proper diameter. Then you will never have that problem again no matter what wheels you use. This is just the "right" way to do it!

Steve

above is the correct way to do it.
I had this problem with one axle (the other was fine) on my freshly rebuilt rear and it was built in ohio but I live in milwaukee so no way was I going to ship this thing back.
so anyway. I popped the studs out and hooked up an angle drill to the input of the diffrental and filed away. it was an intresting coupling to the yoke to the drill but it worked.
basicly took a 4" dia hole saw cut thru a 2x6. eyeballed the center of the yoke to the center of the round cut out with the hole saw and put in long drywall screws into the wood thru the holes in the yoke. and then put the hole saw around the blank again and put in short screws into the sides of my hole saw bit loosely and pulled the trigger. and went to town with a good quality file.

If its an open rear end and you have a wheel w/o a tire on it, a v-belt and small motor (like a saw table motor) would work pretty well on the opposite side of what you need to turn down.

EDIT: I too thought about grinding down the inside of the wheel but then I'd have to do that to all 4 tires (think tire rotation) plus the spare. not to mention other wheels wont fit.

[12lives]

Thanks Steve and Nate - that makes sense. I was concerned about the integrity of the wheel more so than the correct way to do it. I was not sure that the amount of metal I remove will be significant. I called Specialty and they said they run across this occasionally. They recommend grinding the wheel. Also interesting is that they use reconditioned original centers from old wheels. They do not use nor know of anyone making repro centers. I thought maybe they had and the problem was in the reproduction. These wheels will never go on the front (15X10) so rotation is out of the question! No posi (yet) so running a spare, if necessary, should be no problem.
Al - PM sent

- Bill

[IDOXLR8]

Thanks Steve and Nate - that makes sense. I was concerned about the integrity of the wheel more so than the correct way to do it. I was not sure that the amount of metal I remove will be significant. I called Specialty and they said they run across this occasionally. They recommend grinding the wheel. Also interesting is that they use reconditioned original centers from old wheels. They do not use nor know of anyone making repro centers. I thought maybe they had and the problem was in the reproduction. These wheels will never go on the front (15X10) so rotation is out of the question! No posi (yet) so running a spare, if necessary, should be no problem.
Al - PM sent

- Bill
Bill, you got some excellent information from Nat and Steve. As I said before on a correct lug spacing grinding would not present a problem knowing the correct lug pattern is used the wheel would center it self in the pattern. The only time it present a problem ia when a hub polit where there is no tapered lug (seen on tractor trailer that replaced the old Budd style wheel, AL.