roadhawg Posted March 28, 2013 Posted March 28, 2013 I've seen several people who are building short track race cars ask about "wide 5" wheels. There's several different sources for these, but if you don't want to order them and have a few tools and supplies, it's easy to make a basic set. Here's what you need: Materials needed: .010 sheet styrene 3/8" styrene tubing .060 and .030 Plastruct hex rod 5/8 nylon washers from the hardware store Deep open wheel backs from parts box Tools needed: Hobby knife ruler tweezers Micro mark punch set Start by finding some suitable open wheel backs from your parts box. An alternative would be to cut away the centers from a set of deep wheels, as shown. Next, cut a 3/8" long piece of the styrene tubing. This will become your hub. Cut a disc from the .010 styrene sheet slightly larger than the inside diameter of the wheel. As you can see, it doesn't have to be perfect. Glue the piece of tubing to the center of the disc, as shown. Next, punch out some discs from the .010 sheet using the punch set. I have no idea what the sizes are, but the biggest holes on each side of the punch set look good to me. Glue the larger disc to the top of the hub, then glue the smaller disc on top of that in the center. If you don't have a punch set, an alternative way would be to slice off pieces of appropriately sized styrene rod. Next, slice off some pieces of the .030 hex rod and glue them evenly spaced around the top of the hub plate. For the front hubs, use 4. For the rear hubs, use 8. This completes the hub assembly. Paint it the color of your choice, in this case aluminum. Now we move on to the rim itself.
roadhawg Posted March 28, 2013 Author Posted March 28, 2013 (edited) Take the hardware store nylon washer and mark off where the lugs go. I use a template, as shown. The washers came from Ace Hardware and cost about 15 cents each. You can print out this template to use if you want. Now, cut 5 pieces of the .060 hex rod and glue on the washer as shown, to represent lug bolts. If you want to add more detail, you can drill a hole in the center of the bolts and add a stud...or use model railroad nut/bolt/washer castings. Now, glue the open wheel back to the washer and paint the color of your choice, in this case, white. You can also paint the lugs steel. Add valve stems too if you like. Now, center your completed hub assembly from the rear and glue in place. And there you have it, a basic wide-5 wheel/hub assembly. Once you get the hang of it, this takes about 5 minutes per wheel and costs less than $1 for a set of 4. Now go build some short track cars! Edited March 28, 2013 by roadhawg
hooterville75 Posted March 30, 2013 Posted March 30, 2013 Roadhawg, any idea on how long to cut the.030 & .060 hex rod ? Thanks again for this tutorial. I plan to utilize this a ton in my nascar builds
roadhawg Posted March 30, 2013 Author Posted March 30, 2013 Roadhawg, any idea on how long to cut the.030 & .060 hex rod ? Thanks again for this tutorial. I plan to utilize this a ton in my nascar builds I just slice it about the same thickness bolts should be in that scale. It's not exactly rocket science, so if it looks close enough, it probably is.
krazyglu Posted March 30, 2013 Posted March 30, 2013 Tommy thank's for the tutorial, I know I always comment about your wheel's so now I can make some.
hooterville75 Posted March 31, 2013 Posted March 31, 2013 I just slice it about the same thickness bolts should be in that scale. It's not exactly rocket science, so if it looks close enough, it probably is. Hooterville75 = OCD LOL. Thanks for the info man.
Mark Box (421sd) Posted March 31, 2013 Posted March 31, 2013 Well presented, thanks for sharing........
DrKerry Posted May 17, 2014 Posted May 17, 2014 Pretty convincing detail there. I may have to build me some now....... Now I have to run to the hobby store and pick up some hex shaped tubing!!!!! Thanks for the info!!!
DPNM Posted May 17, 2014 Posted May 17, 2014 Great tutorial! I am working on a different type project and the "5 piece pie" template will save me a lot of time and grief. Thanks for including it.
DrKerry Posted March 18, 2015 Posted March 18, 2015 I'm getting ready to try this on my own wheels. I just want to pick up a punch set to work with.....
aurfalien Posted March 18, 2015 Posted March 18, 2015 Wow, killer tutorial and finished product, love it! Many thanks for the knowledge nuggets!
southpier Posted March 18, 2015 Posted March 18, 2015 that wheel really does look good. i assume ACC was used to adhere the styrene to nylon. any problems holding? i know Delrin can offer some challenges.
roadhawg Posted March 19, 2015 Author Posted March 19, 2015 Hey, thanks y'all, I had forgotten about this.that wheel really does look good. i assume ACC was used to adhere the styrene to nylon. any problems holding? i know Delrin can offer some challenges.Yes, you assume correctly. I haven't had any issues at all, but then again, there's no stress on these parts. If there was any weight on it, I don't know.
DrKerry Posted April 23, 2015 Posted April 23, 2015 I tried my hand and it worked out pretty good. You can see them on my Rambler modified!!!! Thanks for this again Tommy!! Great info and a world of ease to do them....
BigTallDad Posted August 12, 2015 Posted August 12, 2015 Great tutorial! Harry P? Might this have a place as an article in the magazine?
DrKerry Posted November 15, 2015 Posted November 15, 2015 Great tutorial! Harry P? Might this have a place as an article in the magazine?I agree with that!!!!
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