Wheel Test Question

[ziggydude]

There is a test that my son and I have been doing for wheels. We would get a perfect smooth surface like a kitchen counter, clean and ready it, then build a small ramp. Maybe lift the high end 1/4".

We would then roll the wheels off and record which went the farthest and straightest. Over time we also started listening for the smoothest sound.

They all veer to the side of the hub - but some consistently go much farther than others.  Those are the wheels that we would take for bore buffing.  I have not been doing any truing (long story).  Our results are that we have dominated in the pack but results in the districts have varied.

This year I was curious and got a set of wheels that were listed as "Lightly machined".  They were trued and bore inspected. 

I did my roll test with these wheels and they were among the worst of any.  I was quite surprised.

I did actually put the wheels on a car and they were as fast as any of my best.

Is the test I mentioned useless?  

My thanks in advance for your answers.

[RacerX]

Well, you cant argue with success but your test only takes into consideration the overall condition of an unfinished wheel tread and really you want to judge the entire wheel, ie: tread to axle bore (radial run-out). You can do this with a dial indicator and a firmly mounted gauge pin to get an accurate run-out but (we have a fancy set-up for this because we check and then double check on the Pro Wheels) then this does not take in consideration bore taper (all bores have taper so the wheel releases from the mold, some more than others) and this affects overall alignment.

It is hard to find really good wheels out of the box, thats why at Derby Worx we do a 5 step hub service to make everything true to center.

Hope this helps a little.