Hello,
Finally got my California Friendship I hooked up to my Honda VTX13. Woo Hoo! The Puppy Spaceship finally lives. I'd like to rake out the forks but don't have the cash for that just yet, so I figured I'd at least get her rolling for now and improve the handling later as I cobble more funds together.
Everything's groovy with the rig, with the one exception of the inner surface of the tire on the sidecar, which is rubbing on the body. I hit up every auto parts store in town tonight, and had very little luck. The wheel is a 13", w/ a 4 lug pattern. My plan is/was to get a few spacers and some longer lug bolts. I was able to find some longer lugs with the same thread pattern, but the knurled spot just in front of the head turned out to be slightly different then the originals, so it wouldn't tap in. I'm going to return those lugs tomorrow. Also, all of the spacers I found were for 5-bolt patterns, not 4.
I've been looking online, and I see that there are two types of spacers available: flat ones of various widths with holes in them, and then some that seem to use the current lugs, bolt onto those, and then provide new studs and nuts to attach the wheel, adding the needed spacing. Any recommendations from you fellas out there? The dudes at the auto parts stores suggested that I try dedicated rim/tire shops and/or the junkyard tomorrow. I need to move the wheel out at least an inch if not more, so it will stop rubbing on the body. Help? Thanks:::: PS The dogs Love it.
Either obtain a piece of sheet aluminum in the thickness needed, or as a temporary fix try turning the wheel around and mount it backwards.
I used to do this when autocrossing a VWbeetle in 65. Problem with reversing the wheel is you may have to remove the hubcap clips if it has them, and be very careful to center the wheel when tightening the lugs.
With the aluminum, drill the axel hole and fit the aluminum. Tap with a hammer to mark where one of the bolts goes through. Drill that. Put the plate back on the axel and locate the hole on one of the bolts. This will hold it in place while you tap over the other bolts to mark where they need to be drilled. The center hole should be as close to the axle dia. as allows a smooth fit. The lug bolt holes can be slightly oversize if needed.
Thanks Phelonius. I would have tried that, but I spent half of my day running around town working on it and just got on the computer 🙂 Found two spacers with enough holes to accommodate the 4-bolt lug pattern at a specialty wheel and tire shop, and the guys at NAPA were able to dig up some longer studs that fit. We tapped out the old ones, pressed in the new, laid the spacers on, and *Shazam*. The old tire was a 145r13, which apparently no one in this town has stocked for 10 years. I wound up with a Kumho 155/80/13 by default from Discount Tire, the only place that had anything even close to the size I needed, and it works like a charm. No more rubbing on the body thanks to the spacers, and new meat on the rim to boot. All better. Still would love to rake out the forks, but I've thrown a giant pile of money at this project between the bike, the hack, mounting brackets, and having the mechanic dial it all in, so at this point I'm just going to enjoy it as is for a while. Sometime down the road I'll colormatch the hack to the bike and get the triple trees. Main thing is that the puppy gets to fly down the road with her ears flapping and tongue hanging out. Ordering Doggles tonight. Cheers::::
I have a Friendship also, and am wondering if you would share information on part numbers, etc. on the spacers and studs you found. I just put a new 155/R80/13 on mine, it seems to clear, but won't know for sure until I can start running it and add some ballast. Thanks. I also thought maybe a five hole trailer hub from tractor supply might work in this case, but then would have to find a thirteen inch rim to go with it.
I'd give you the part #s if I had them, Bro, but the project was done completely blind. I unbolted the small "swingarm" assembly, for lack of a better term, and drove around to every auto parts store in town looking for a wheel spacer that would fit a 4 bolt lug pattern and some studs with the correct thread and a shank to match the OE one on the part.
As I said above, this morning I finally stumbled upon spacers that would work at a specialty wheel and tire shop. No card, no sku, the dude just walked into the back and came out with them in his hands, $10. each.
Best I can tell you on the studs is NAPA. Most of the other parts stores I walked into, since I couldn't tell them the "make, model, and year" of the car (tried to explain, it's not even for a car fellas, it's a sidecar!), couldn't even figure out how to match it up. I believe that the threads are 1/2-20, but keep in mind that the "heads" are on the small side and have to clear as well. The helpful guy at NAPA had the good sense to tap out one of the studs and use a digital micrometer on the shank. To the best of my knowledge it was somewhere in the .55 range. He went through quite a few bins, matched up the threads, and got 4 studs that were longer and as close to my shanks as possible. Then he pressed them in snug with a small hand sledge. The old ones came out with a tap, the new ones needed a couple of whacks to get them to seat nice and snug. Earlier in the day someone had suggested welding in regular bolts if I couldn't find the correct studs, but I didn't want to go that route.
I called around one by one to every tire shop in the yellow pages, and only Discount Tire in my area had one that was anywhere near what I needed, the 155/80/13. As I was unsure if I'd have the extra space for +10 (it had a 145r13, not sure if that is even the correct stock tire honestly), I took the assembly home, bolted it back on, and remounted the old wheel and tire combo, to discover that not only did it not rub anymore, but with both spacers on I would have the room to accommodate the 155. At that point I went to the tire shop and had the new tire and a new valve stem mounted on the rim. Then I finally drove home, put it on the hack, loaded up Wifey and the Pup, and took the rig for the shakedown cruise.
Wish I could be more specific for you, but that's exactly how it went down; it took several hours last night and half of today to get it done. Funny and sad, we've all got the Internet in our pockets these days, but finding people who can troubleshoot and truly figure out how to get a project done is turning into a lost art like developing black and white photographs in a darkroom.
I did the exact thing to my Champion Escort. Was able to get by with a quarter inch spacer with multiple holes from a auto salvage placeIn Salt Lake City. I ran it back home to Montana with studs too short. I went the local NAPA store and got longer ones. I am told that the famous Hugo car used the 145x13 and are hard to find. I got a 155x13 from the local tire store.
I made my spacer from 1/4 aluminum located the center of the hub, measured the radius of the lug nut holes from the center. Layed out all of the locations for the hub to come through and lug holes I used a hole saw for the hub, then set it up in a lathe trued the center hole for a nice tight fit on the hub, and then machined on the outside of the spacer disc to match the hub. Last I drilled the stud holes to fit and re-assembled it has worked fine ever since.
You should be running a 145 13 tire which is still a bit wide, you can also switch to a 12 inch wheel, This is a standard trailer bolt pattern this allows for a narrow trailer wheel or the much more common 145 12 tire (the 145 13 can be hard to find) or of course, drill new body mounting holes and move the body off of the tire.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
866-638-1793
I thought about a trailer wheel. As a matter of fact I borrowed the spare 12 inch wheel off my Role a home camper for part of the trip back home. I just leveled the rig up with the tilt. I had to level the sidecar after going to the 155x13.
There are a number of sources for the 145x13 tires:
https://www.universaltire.com/145r13-firestone-f560-blackwall.html
http://www.onlyoldiesgarage.com/xcart/product.php?productid=16759
http://www.premiertire.com/COWYONLY.htm
Thanks Will, sounds like the way to go.
Ralph Taylor
Good looking rig.
