Fellow member BigG was curious about how I made my wheel weights that I had posted an image on another thread. Rather than hijack the thread I said I would post it here.
I did this several years ago and I could only find a few pictures. So you will have to excuse me for a few confusing pictures that won't exactly follow the timeline.
My goal was to fill up the wheel well with weight and not have them protrude beyond the outside of the rim. I had 16 weights water jetted out of 1" plate with the center holes and clearance holes for the wheel bolts on the tractor. I also had two plates out of 1-3/4" water jetted with the same pattern except the center hole was undersized for machining. These were for the mounting hubs.
I machined the center of the mounting hubs for a press fit for the mounting shaft. The weights will be riding on this shaft and without a press fit the weld would eventually crack from the flexing.
I drilled and tapped 6 holes 3/4-10 thread size. 3 will be for studs that hold the hub to the rim and the other 3 will be to secure the weights to the hub.
I pressed in the shaft and welded it on both sides of the hub plate.
Then I chucked the shaft in the lathe and machined the hub to true it up and also added a register that would ride on the center hole of the rim. This is what will be supporting the weight so I am not relying on fasteners to take the stress of the weights. To get the measurement of the register I had to remove the rim and tire. Somewhat of a wresting match as the tire was filled with Rim Guard.
Using the hub as a template I located the holes for the studs and drilled them by hand.
Finished product. Since this picture was taken, I have had the weights powder coated with a better matching orange that I found with some research. Also note that the weights are riding on the shaft and not the bolts.
I did this several years ago and I could only find a few pictures. So you will have to excuse me for a few confusing pictures that won't exactly follow the timeline.
My goal was to fill up the wheel well with weight and not have them protrude beyond the outside of the rim. I had 16 weights water jetted out of 1" plate with the center holes and clearance holes for the wheel bolts on the tractor. I also had two plates out of 1-3/4" water jetted with the same pattern except the center hole was undersized for machining. These were for the mounting hubs.
I machined the center of the mounting hubs for a press fit for the mounting shaft. The weights will be riding on this shaft and without a press fit the weld would eventually crack from the flexing.
I drilled and tapped 6 holes 3/4-10 thread size. 3 will be for studs that hold the hub to the rim and the other 3 will be to secure the weights to the hub.
I pressed in the shaft and welded it on both sides of the hub plate.
Then I chucked the shaft in the lathe and machined the hub to true it up and also added a register that would ride on the center hole of the rim. This is what will be supporting the weight so I am not relying on fasteners to take the stress of the weights. To get the measurement of the register I had to remove the rim and tire. Somewhat of a wresting match as the tire was filled with Rim Guard.
Using the hub as a template I located the holes for the studs and drilled them by hand.
Finished product. Since this picture was taken, I have had the weights powder coated with a better matching orange that I found with some research. Also note that the weights are riding on the shaft and not the bolts.
