Assembling 3 piece wheels???

[Miles B]

Just wondering if anyone can give me some tips on pulling apart and reassembling my 3 piece wheels? I think I can figure out the first bit, but I have no experience putting them back together. Is this something I should try myself, or better to take it to a wheel shop?

If I can do it myself, what kind of sealant should I use, and are there any pitfalls I should avoid? I'm doing this to sand and paint the centers and polish the lips. They are in terrible condition at the moment

 

[1TONY1]

Purners or something else ? I have done Purners.....just use regular clear automotive silicone.

 

[Miles B]

Nah not Purners.. these came on my car I imported from Japan. "Racing Direction". No idea about the brand, but they're 3 piece and they look nice, so I'm keen to clean them up, and maybe get some wider outers for bigger tyres down the road a bit. Did the Purners have an o-ring in there, or just the silicone?

 

[Miles B]

No other racers with any hints?

 

[1TONY1]

just silicone. I ran a bead around the flat area between the wheels and the part that squashes out on the tire side...just smooth it where the wheels meet. Good luck.

 

[Miles B]

Thanks Tony, I'm going to give it a shot tomorrow. Some of the bolts haven't been off in quite a few years, so I'm just going to buy 144 new nuts in preparation for a lot of stripping heads.

 

[Janni]

BBS have a large o-ring, already drilled to accomodate the screws. They also recommend replacing the screws if the wheels have any age on them at all. I can't remember the torque spec on the BBS - it's something like 18 n-M????

 

[Miles B]

Thanks Janni,

I'll look at all new screws too.. not sure how much they are going to be though. I'm not keen on spending $1000 on new wheel screws for a street car though.. which is, no doubt, what it will cost over here 18nm sounds about right.

 

[luc]

The BBS on my Roush T/A have an aluminum spacer with 1 o-ring in a groove on each side.
The spacer/o-rings assembly need to be changed everytime the wheel is open (cheap,$20).
I don't know how much 18nm is, but on mine i'ts about 15 lbs/f.
For the bolts, you should turn the wheels over and squirt some WD-40 on each one and let it ********* overnight.

Luc.
00GTS

 

[Miles B]

Luc,
just pulled a wheel off the car.. sticker on the inside says the wheels are now 9 years old! I'm guessing they haven't been apart in that entire time. Most of the nuts are really soft, I'm guessing from constant heat cycling right next to the rotors, and being saturated in road water and brake dust. I'd say I'm going to have to use the vise grips on quite a few of them. The bolts look like they are in really good condition though. Looks like they might be stainless?

1 ft-lb = about 1.3 nm, so we're square