ColinW - 18-2-2018 at 07:14 PM
I have a set of Libre (?) disc wheels with motorcycle tires installed.
One of them runs fairly true.
The other two have various amounts of wobble.
I have taken them to the local tire shop and a motorcycle place and neither one could help.
1. Do these have to be pretty straight to not scare you at speed?
2. Is there any play or adjustment in the bearings (if the wheel rim is straight and the wobble is in the hub)?
3. Any suggestions on straightening the rim? A sledge hammer and a 2x4 block comes to mind, but sounds less than exacting
bigkid - 18-2-2018 at 08:13 PM
Is it the wheel or the tire that's the problem?
Plastic or metal wheel?
Sledgehammer and 4x4, been there, done that.
shehatesmyhobbies - 19-2-2018 at 04:22 PM
Does it feel like a up and down wobble or side to side wobble? Were they balanced? Balance beads or wheel weights?
ColinW - 21-2-2018 at 12:52 AM
The wheels are metal.
It's is the wheels themselves that are warped and my concern for now is a side to side wobble.
I am wondering if heat on one side or the other would move the wheel, but the paint is soooo nice on them.
TBH I haven't ridden with them, because when I got them, I spun them on a axle bolt and could see some untrueness. I will put them in the bigfoot fork
I've got and do some simple measuring from the side but the forks are rounded at the top. A motorcycle guy suggested a zip tie around the fork
tube,and then cut it off just where it touches the wonkiest part of the rim.
It is hard to see any of this because both the tire and the hub are wider than the wheel, otherwise I would put the wheel on the top of my table saw
and see how flat it is. If it is flat, then I suppose that I have a hub/bearing problem. I'm not keen on getting the tires removed, but I guess I may
have to.
I had no idea how much DIY and tinkering is involved in kiting...LOVE IT! I just bought a welder;how hard can it be to make a stainless buggy
wider...MWAHAHA!
Maybe I should just bring the wheels to the desert and try them out first before I do any major sledge hammer damage.
bigkid - 21-2-2018 at 06:10 AM
Sounds like the seller got the better deal.
It's not impossible to true the wheel but could be a lot of work.
Wonder how they got bent in the first?
I had new tires put on my 17 inch wheels and had to rework one because the tire wasn't put on correctly. Found out the wheel is not made in the USA
and the tires were. So after the wheel came off the lathe it was more than able to accept the USA made tire. Bad part is I can't use Europe made tires
on these wheels. Stupid metric and American standards.
jy1zoom - 28-2-2018 at 11:13 AM
https://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/motorcycle-wheel-bala...
jy1zoom - 28-2-2018 at 11:35 AM
Hi Colin,
I did like your analysis that the bearings were not seated properly in the wheel. Id have no idea how to press them out and re-seat them correctly. If
the bearing are true, and somehow the wheels have taken a side impact in their lifetime to knock them out of alignment; I wonder if a truing stand
would help mark where the wobble. Try heating the wheels in an oven to 400' F for an hour, place it back in the truing stand, and then use an ice pack
or compressed air to shrink the metal in the direction you want it to move? Also I wonder if heating it might "spring" it back to its original shape?
I'll ask my neighbours son whos taking a metal diploma at BCIT if something like that will work.
jy1zoom - 28-2-2018 at 11:39 AM
Also the previous owner said they were "powder coated." Im not sure if that means its more resistant to a heating process.
jy1zoom - 28-2-2018 at 11:49 AM
Just hypothesizing. If they were powder coated, it might be possible the wheels are straight, but some of the powder coating got around the bearing
seat area, hence not allowing the bearings to sit in proper alignment? if I remember correctly the bearings seemed fairly new and the wheel finish
very fresh and shiny.
ColinW - 28-3-2018 at 09:21 PM
Thought I should finish up this thread, by letting people know that I haven't been able to tell that the wheels are out of true while riding on the
playa.
Spent Most of the day riding on them here at preIBX, and couldn't feel any wobble at all. To be fair, we've been relegated to the bumpy north end in
front of the picnic shelter/washrooms ( to stay out of the land sailors way), but the surface smoothed out nicely about half way across.
Much ado about nothing!
Colin
slapbasswoody - 29-3-2018 at 07:27 AM
That is an inherent issue with Libre disks.
Once they have been warped they will wobble and it doesn't take a lot of warping to make it wobble.
I wouldn't worry about it too much unless you are trying for land speed records or turning at high speed fully powered.
I would make sure you are running them with some camber as they will bend when fully powered up.
Hope you have fun with them.
kiteboyza - 5-4-2018 at 06:58 AM
I ran the same wheels, some questions!
Do you run any camber?
Do you run toe in?
ColinW - 5-4-2018 at 08:07 AM
I'm not running my cambered axle yet. It has different spacing for the rail mounts, so I have to make some adjusting plates.
I didn't realize that I'd be doing more damage to the wheels as I rode powered up, but that makes sense. I only had a few times on the playa when
there was enough side pull to make the buggy start to drift sideways.:karate:
Over the course of the week, I didn't notice the back wheels wobbling at all. I think the front one got a little more pronounced, but I don't see that
there would be any way to avoid the side pull on a front wheel. I could move my seat back a little, but the buggy seems to be pretty well balanced
front to back just the way it is.
For the amount of playa riding I get to do I'll probably just ride em like I stole em, and work on setting up the adjustable camber/toe in axle for
the future (Alvord in the fall?). I am sitting too high right now as well. All I have to do is flip the axle so the mounts are on the bottom and I'll
drop about 3 inches, but I'm too busy having a great time here on the playa.
The Bigfoot's will be going back on in a month for SOBB.
kiteboyza - 6-4-2018 at 10:11 AM
Get some cambered bolts, that will reduce back wheels from buckling and breaking away. A small amount of toe in also helps plenty
ALso, when the front washes out, you need to move seat forward to get your toe point more balanced. Its a fine line. Failing that some bolt on
weights on the front will work. I know on mine just by leaning forward a touch I could hold the front end in straight line when powered up