F1technical.net

I Have read a few discussions regarding wheels including a recent discussion about the rotation of wheel nuts although im struggling to find it again now so i thought id just start this thread to ask some questions about wheels and wheel nuts


Ferrari has its 'auto locking pin' bullet shaped nuts.

The Mercedes F1 team has been mentioned in other threads as having the wheel nut integrated into the wheel, did anybody else try this?


According to the FIA rules the wheel design cannot be handed between left and right designs
the dimension of the wheel is set in stone bar a little bit for tolerance.

But I didnt spot anything in the rules saying a thread has to be used to attach the wheel so i just wanted to ask if there is any other way to secure a wheel tightly where it just clicks on or off?
sorry if its been talked about before then point me to it

The thing is, you want enough clamping force to hold the wheel. And a helical ramp, which is what is found in the shape of bolt/nut threads, provides an enormous mechanical advantage when you turn that nut.

You have to find another device that gives you that mechanical advantage - that clamping force - that wont release during the rigours of racing.

I have a few ideas myself.

neilbah,

That is actually quite an interesting question. It is certainly conceivable that a wheel retaining device could be designed that clamped the wheel against the hub with sufficient force while also remaining securely locked in place during operation.

Screw threads are the method of choice, because the screw thread is a fairly efficient, simple, and reliable mechanism for producing high clamping forces with reasonable input effort. So any device that would seek to replace it would need to beat that benchmark.

its just that every wheel change with a thread presents the opportunity to cross thread and damage the assembly doesn't it? i meant vital points and positions have been lots by mechanics not attaching the wheel properly. The fastener (nut) has to be 1 solid piece from what i understand but if it floats on a spring loaded bearing,attached to wheel with a pin that runs in a much shorter thread/time, like one revolution of the mechanics gun for example, when it presses home tapered pins could come out the hub that pull the wheel tight onto it, maybe hard to picture but something like that but maybe if it were reall clever and geared for somekind of mechanical advantage then maybe just the action of the mechanic pushing the wheel onto the hub could self fasten the wheel enough that it ratchets it self on the last bit from driving forces.??