...Return To Mine & Other Bonneville Car Construction Pages

.Previous Page...........B'ville Car Index Page...............Next Page

==================================================================

.....--- Marsh Racing Wheels Land Speed Wheels ---..........................

==================================================================

I needed new rear wheels for the lakester since I was going from a 4 bolt Datsun rear to a GM 7 1/2 rear. It was going to have Ford tubes and bearings to move away from the C-Clip GM axle retainers since they weren't allowed. With that in mind I needed 15 inch wheels with a Ford 4 on 4 1/2 bolt pattern for the Goodyear Land Speed Tires on the car.

I called Marsh Racing Wheels and ordered wheels with the maximum backspacing to cover as much of the disk brakes as I could. Within short order I received the wheels and they came with 2 3/4 inches of backspacing. The ones I had ordered for the front of the lakester before had 3 inches of back spacing and were 5 inch rims and now Marsh has the 4 1/2 inch rims that Goodyear recommends. I think the 1/2 inch narrower rim accounts for the little less backspacing on the 4 1/2 inch rims. I had asked for the maximum both times.

A while after they came in it dawned on me that possibly they could reverse the dished centers for even more backspacing which would help to get the scrub radius on the front tires closer to zero. I called and talked to them about than and it isn't possible due to the mounting service on the wheel's center having the mounting depressions stamped in. I was told though that they had some other centers they could use that would give more backspacing. With that in mind I ordered 2 more wheels with those centers and now the scrub radius is about 1 inch and I'll see how that works.

What follows is more info on this other wheel combination with the flatter centers.

Above you can see that both of the centers are offset on the rim about as far as they can be for maximum backspacing. The wheel on the left is one of the two I ordered first for the GM rear that was going to replace the Datsun rear in the car. Note how the center is dished. The wheels above are both 4 1/2 inch rims and the backspacing for the wheel on the left is 2 3/4's of an inch. I had gotten another set of 5 on 4 1/2 wheels for the car some years back and the backspacing on them was 3 inches.

The wheel on the right is the one ordered after I found out that they had another center option that would allow more backspacing. It is right at 4 1/8 inches which will help the scrub radius on the front of the car.

Now I'll have two sets of wheels that can be used on the rear of the car where the backspacing isn't as critical.I

Above looking at the wheels from the back side the increased backspacing is easy to see. The center on the wheels are fully welded to the rims to meet the rule requirements. Again the 2 3/4 vs. 3 inch backspacing on the left wheel is due to probably the fact this wheel is 4 1/2 inches and the one with the 3 inch backspacing is a 5 inch rim.

Marsh will mount Dzus tabs for moon disks if you want them to and also sell you the disks if you chose to buy them from them.

A closer view of the backside of the wheel with the optional center. Note it is pretty flat but dished where it welds to the rim.

Marsh's pricing for the land speed wheels is very reasonable, give them a call. They have worked fine on Hooley's Stude since he started racing it on the salt.

==================================================================

Next Page... Next Page