How To: Re-Spoke Your Wheels

[killindini1]

Laced up my rims today,Wasn't that difficult.In fact quite easy.
Used masking tape to hold them in position.
First photo my old rusty spokes,all polished and nickel plated.



This photo my hubs painted and with new cast iron brake drum liners installed.Also new Bearings.



Front hub with spokes taped into position.



Front wheel completed



Rear hub ready to go



Rear wheel complete.



So there you go, no photos or diagrams were used.It can only go one way.Saved myself a few bucks.ANYONE CAN DO IT!!.

Cheers,
Steve.

[frostygt80]

yeah i have been quoted a fair bit to do it is any one here a pro i will send you my gt80 wheels pay you to have or do it for me thanks alot Michael.

[Jock]

Have a go at doing it yourself first. You will do it on your ear. Jd

[frostygt80]

I was thinking a bout trying myself i have wheels to copy the pattern from i have two sets so even if i cut spokes on one it wont matter but im not sure about the tensioning etc etc alignment and i need new spokes i want it done really well i hae spent so much on the bike already to date i cant have shabby looking wheels thanks alot Michael.

[killindini1]

Frosty,
Have a go yourself,it looks harder than it is.Just get everything organised before you start, and work in a slow methodical manner.
I havent tensioned or trued my rims yet,ill do that tomorrow.Thats going to be the hard bit!!

[frostygt80]

ok i will give it though then if it all turns to crap i will put in the hands of a professional what i was looking at they were using special guages and if it was off it would run sideways like a crab i dont want a crab gt80 i dont know if the rims are meant to chrome or nickel? no probs rechroming them spoking is the part i dont look forward thanks Michael.

[Adam]

Michael,
there is an excellent thread on the Ozvmx forum in the tech section by a poster by the name of Ji Gantor. Its on page 6 at the moment. I studied that thread over and over, and it gave me the confidence to tackle stripping and re-lacing my wheels. I took 'em up to the shop to get 'em trued, as i want the job done right. As others have said, go slow, double check everything, and most importantly, before you start, take many pics and measurements of the offsets and write evrything down, because if it gets ugly and you end up taking 257 seperate pieces to the shop and get them to make them wheels again, they won't have anything to work to, only your photos and measurements, and they won't be happy campers. Read that thread, it is well worth it.

Appologies if its not OK to advertise other forums here, but it's a really informative read.

Cheers
Adam

[frostygt80]

no worries i will check it out there are two sets of spokes inner and outer on both front and rear i wonder if Ji would do it for me happy to send some one the hubs and rechromed rims thanks Michael.

[rodeobob]

I woud be interested in seeing what jig you had setup for the truing of the rims.

Going to make one so i can do wheels myself.


Cheers, Bob.

[killindini1]

Making a trueing jig up today,i have an old stand which i already have.Ill just modify it to suit.
Will post pickies when i have it made.
cheers.

[milkman]

Great job, been going to have a crack a this

I was advised to replace my old spokes one at a time?
I'm still using the old rims, so if i replace each one as I go, it should come out ok.
Can anyone forsee any problems with doing it that way?

[killindini1]

Hi Milkman,
If your rims have Z spokes you will not be able to remove them one at a time.
If you have conventional spokes,yes you can remove them one at a time.

[rodeobob]

That will depend entirely on the rim.

On the few rims ive tried you need 4 or 5 spokes out to remove one with out bending it up like a bannana to get it in.



Bob.

[milkman]

Thanks guys - didn't think of that

[killindini1]

I woud be interested in seeing what jig you had setup for the truing of the rims.

Going to make one so i can do wheels myself.


Cheers, Bob.

Here is the jig i have made up to true my wheels.
I already had the stand,just made the plates to bolt to the stand.Machined up some spacers to hold the hub to prevent it moving lateraly on the axel.
Then used a piece of welding rod and bent it so it runs near the side and circumpherence of the rim.
Works really well.you can move the welding rod really close to the rim and get pretty much all the wobble out.
It's amazing how little you have to tweak the spokes to make a movement.
You can get the rim very true,but the time consuming part is getting the rim true and getting a even torque on all the spokes.
Cheers
Steve.