Wheel Worryings

[addo]

I am getting a it anxious about this, as I don't have a plan and can't seem to make one.

(OK, quote that out of context as suits! )

Poor old break's wheels are suffering from the life she leads. A couple are no longer round/true. Result is nasty vibration at touring speed (110-130km/h) which is tiring to steer, and also massively increased tyre wear - especially when one is at the front and they shimmy constantly.

As they are blind centres, the wheel places want heaps (£120 apiece) to remedy - and even then can't assure trueness.

There are very few potential Citroën wheel donors (C5 or Xantia) here, and aftermarket is chav city. To give an idea of local parts prices, a new genuine steel spare is about £160.

Options I can see, in no order:
• Fix existing as required and view it as a tax on lunatic driving
• Hunt for a secondhand set of genuine C5 or Xantia wheels and chance it
• Buy new; least chavvy possible or import 16" C6 steelies
• Use adaptors or redrilled hubs to fit some other make of wheel
• Bore through on existing wheels to facilitate proper repairs/trueing

I'd appreciate any input based on costs or experiences.

[dnsey]

Would any of Handyman's offerings in the 'for sale' section suit? I recon you could import a set of steelys for not much more than you've been quoted for one new one.

[addo]

Yes; finding a UK facelift C5 breaking, for the wheels would be another way - I reckon that if steelies are the go then 16" on a 6.5J rim is my preference. That's simply for contemporary tyre choices at sensible prices. HM's offerings seem to be 14" and 15" rims.

PSA made life hard with a large centre bore and small offset!

[Timmo]

if is a 4 stud wheel then all psa 4 studs are 4x108 pcd, generally et 10-22, central bore is 65.1mm,
now all ford 4 studs share the same pcd, but have a higher offset typically in the 35-45 bracket, and a smaller 58mm Cb, this is easily over come by simply fitting a spacer as the spacers reduces the offset by the size of the spacer so in effect an et45 with a 20mm spacer becomes an et25, and you can also get a multitude of spigot rings to reduce CB's to match, not helpful for the other way round but! Hubcentric spacers deal with this in that you can spec them for thwe job of Citroen/PSA hubs to ford hubs,
some spacers willcome with fitting bolts so that you bolt the spacer to the hub then bolt the wheel to the spacer depending on the thickness of the spacer, but obviously, if you go for a wheel and 20mm spacer you'll need a 20mm longer wheel bolt!!

some early audi's used to use the same pcd too, similar to the fords, 25-35et smaller cb,

if you google alloy wheel chart then there are a multitude of them to choose from that show you what wheels use what sizes!

ebay is quite a good source of wheels as are the motorsport pages, often pick up used rally wheels cheap!!

hope that helps!!

[dnsey]

Wouldn't 15 inch wheels be better than 16?
They'd allow higher profile tyres, insulating both the wheels and you from the road surface more effectively.

[Citroenmad]

Can you not buy new replacement steel wheels out there?

Xsara wheels will also fit, so also Picasso wheels too, there must be a good few possibilities for you with the C5 as well.

I was following a Xantia a while back itha very badly bent front steel wheel, wasn't half flapping about!

[addo]

Chris, everything Citroën is expensive here. It's why I buy overseas; at local parts prices I could not afford even one French car.

Dnsey: My rationale for 16" rims is that tyres on "everyday" cars are tending towards the 16/17 inch range at present - this means better choice at the (price) competitive end of the market.

I've just enquired about some 16" alloys on UK Fleabay; so far no response (other than jgra1 hiding from me ). The other one which I found should fit with not too much tweaking is the Fox Mustang era wheel.

[Toby_HDi]

Addo,

Would it be cost effective to have the rims shipped here, tyres fitted, balanced then shipped back?

My local tyre place has a specially made adapter for PSA centreless wheels which they made when they needed to do some Coupé wheels.

They charge me £12 all in for fitting and balancing

Failing that find a firm there which will make an adapter up. I'm sure sure how it was made other than they used two Coupé hubs.

[addo]

Hi Toby, balancing is a snack; the wheels are about £11/pop for a "plate balance" down the road - which is pretty much the process you describe.

It's just that the wheels are (variously) out of round and bent relative to the hub. This interests me as I've never mounted a kerb at any speed other than crawling up it to straddle the gutter for an oil change, nor blown a tyre from impact. They are obviously a fairly soft alloy.

Watching some 16" alloys on Fleabay, in Essex. £100 starting price and no takers:



26mm ET, however.

Out of curiosity, what is the usual price to remove and scrap a tyre?

[Ross_K]

Out of curiosity, what is the usual price to remove and scrap a tyre?

The "environmental charge" here in Ireland is 2 or 3 euros... You can refuse to pay the charge but then you have to take your tyres away with you.

The waste tyre regs are pretty strict. You can't chuck em in a ditch any more.

[addo]

Thanks; not so bad as I feared. If UK prices are dearer I may have to send you the waste tyres for scrapping.

[Timmo]

Addo, 10mm spacer will bring them down to et16, should fit fine then!

[addo]

They're C4 wheels, it seems.

What bothers me is if I've misread/misunderstood the ET as moulded on the rim; they are given as CH4-26.

I'm not sure if the dash means a negative ET in this case, or is simply a separation of the two details (number of fixings and offset).

[addo]

Hmm...



The uneven aspect to this suggests it's two things - one being the worn tie rod end, the other being a wheel bent on its centre.