348TS - fitting challenge wheels advice? | FerrariChat
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348TS - fitting challenge wheels advice?

Discussion in '348/355' started by spectre007, Aug 18, 2023.

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  1. spectre007

    spectre007 Karting

    Mar 31, 2015
    78
    London
    #1 spectre007, Aug 18, 2023
    Hi all,

    Got my 348 recently and managed to find a set of 348/355 challenge wheels (with Trofeo tyres) which I love and was always my intention to fit, looking for a bit of advice from anyone with experience with them.

    They've been very heavily white powder coated, to the point where I think I may have them re-done as its pretty obviously rippled from a sheer viewing angle, and the text in the wheel is blobbed in etc. The seller also chipped them twice getting them out of storage! I am guessing they need to be relatively sensitively media blasted compared to a normal alloy wheel?

    The front tyres also were never fully seated, I took them to my local tyre bloke and 110PSI wouldn't get them to jump on the rim, which was as much as he was willing to try without a cage (don't blame him!). They're 2013 so getting on a bit, but not sure if they couldn't be seated to begin with and that's why they stayed this way? I wondered if the powdercoat was thick enough to foul them but that seemed far-fetched.

    A few other Qs -
    Is there a recommended wheel bolt to use? Not sure if stock is sufficient (wouldn't mind something a bit racier anyway IE https://motorsportshowroom.com/competition-cars/ferrari-348-challenge or lugs /.studs)

    I saw a rubber inner pad mentioned in another post, do I need these to to fit?
    Are rear spacers recommended or not necessary due to challenge wheel offset?

    Thanks all

    J
     
  2. fatbillybob

    fatbillybob Two Time F1 World Champ
    Consultant Owner

    Aug 10, 2002
    28,962
    socal
    #2 fatbillybob, Aug 18, 2023
    There have been problems seen on Fchat from challenge wheels blasted to magnesium sealed and repainted. The coating for mag is not an everyday thing. Paint guys don't know the right stuff to use. It is best to just prep and repaint these wheels without going down to the bare metal.

    A tire not on the rim just was not installed correctly. I'm a racer and have my own tire machines. There is a trick to mounting tires even if the shop tire monkeys make it look easy. You need to deflate, break bead, lube and seat bead with air. For racing I don't like my tires to move on the wheel so I mount with cheap hairspray. Hairspray acts as lube when wet and glue when dry. It's magic that no tire pro will use. Tires move on wheels when we use sticky race rubber and max acceleration and max braking. Anyone who races and does not have tires moving when mounted with soapy water or dry soap is racing hard enough.

    Lug bolts are best for 348 street car application. Lugs great for racing and faster tire change or center lock better still. pick a bolt so that you have at least the bare minimum # of threads into the hub. Rule of thumb is let's say bolt is 14 x1.5. So want at least the thickest of bolt going through hub. 14-1.5= 9.3 so go with 10 turns of engagement for minimum length. With some math you can figure the length of bolt needed.
     
  3. SoCal1

    SoCal1 F1 Veteran
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Jun 14, 2011
    8,630
    SoCal LA/OC/New Mexico
    Full Name:
    Tim Dee
    #3 SoCal1, Aug 19, 2023
    Lot's of old ways of painting them, epoxy prime is amazing stuff. Go see a highly qualified body shop they will tell you exactly what/s working best this month.
    I recently seen some stuff that blew my mind. And I was a body shop owner for 20+ years
     
  4. spectre007

    spectre007 Karting

    Mar 31, 2015
    78
    London
    #4 spectre007, Aug 21, 2023
    Thanks for the advice people. Tried some other tyre places, but the consensus is there's just too much thick powdercoat on them, and it's preventing the tire seating. They tried all of the stated above with no luck, so I'm going to to take the wheels down to www.bespokealloys.co.uk who seem to have good experience working with mag wheels. I understand they'll need fairly experienced / careful treatment in stripping/media blasting then recoating with mag appropriate primer.

    Also may just fit these, I found studs much easier to deal with for my last car and think it fits the challenge look: https://psdesignsglobal.com/product/psdesigns-bmw-titanium-wheel-stud-and-nut-77mm-stud-m14x1-5mm-nut/

    77mm overall, say 14 for the wheel hub which gives me 63 proud to attach? Should be fine
     

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