MTFCA Forum

Hi everyone,
I just installed new hubs in the rear wheels as the old ones were worn with loos keyways, enough that .011 feeler gauge could fit between axle and new key. Put wheels back on them checked for runout laying a piece of RR track alongside of the wheel. I measured with a digital caliper at each spoke both the fellloe & then the rim & recorded the numbers. I subtracted the lowest reading from the highest & ended up with .136. I was happy with that until I jacked up the rear axle on that side & started the car. I thought that wheel should run truer that it does. On the road, the car drives very well. Maybe a tire issue? Any responses appreciated!

A few things to check. Wheel bearings could be worn out with a lot of up and down play in the wheel bearing. Or axle tube could be bent. Other things could be bends in the felloe or the spokes could be loose at the ends.
Norm

With demountable rims runout can be induced or corrected by mounting them correctly. Put a brick on the ground adjacent to the tyre and rotate the wheel to find the most runout. Slacken off the rim bolts and loosen the rim on the wheel. Then rotate i the wheel as you retension the nuts. Most times you can correct runout back to an acceptable level. Your measured runout is not really excessive at its present level.

Occasionally there is a fault in the tyre, and there is not much you can do about that other than deflating it and then making sure it is properly seated in the beads of the rim.

Hope this helps.
Allan from down under.

Most Model T wheels runout somewhat. Honestly, .136" is next to nothing. As long as the hubs are properly seated on the axles and the wheels are in good condition, it doesn't seem like you have a problem.

I should have given more info. New axles, bearing races, bearings are good, I respoked wheels using the Regan press. Maybe I’m too critical. Just trying to get this right. I must realize I’m driving 100 year old technology, but I want to be safe for everyone on the road.

Thank you all for your thoughts and encouragement!

The less run out the better. Zero is ideal. It's a good idea to retorque all fasteners after running the car a hundred miles or so after having hubs off or wheels respoked or demountable rims taken apart.