wire wheels/cleaning

Hi George: noting the deduction, which is pretty heavy, it is good to have an objective opinion of one's Jaguar. Also, the score sheet will allow us to have our Jaguar at concours level, and in the event we ever change the wheels, then it is only a good cleaning that will allow us to compete with the best. Thanks again, Stew and Ali King

Alice the reason the thread drifted was partly my fault as you asked about cleaning the wheels for show. It is not an easy tash and in the end you will end up with all sorts of small tools and cleaning devices to do it. I use old soft tooth brushes and hot water and soap after a mild degreaser. You probably will not need the degreaser as your wheels are not directly connected to the hubs as are the factory supplied wires on various models. I guess my drift was toward the show part in that if you clean them to the "N"th degree you will put in a lot of work to only be rewarded a deduction for incorrect wheels.

Edited on 2011-11-14 9:11:19

Edited on 2011-11-14 8:43:00

Well it is obvious that Steven, David, and George are in the same Camp. We really appreciate the fact that you all have our safety at heart. A few points on our part that have been pointed out from you. Our car has 99.452 mi, the wheels have 52.000(approx). We drove at 70mph on the way home from just north of Detroit, to Bayboro, NC, a distance of just over 1.000mi. The car drove straight and true without wobble, including the times that 80mph was needed to keep out of the way of a truck when we were passing a slower vehicle on a two lane portion of the interstate. I did not say that the mounting directions were from Jaguar. I did "ring" the spokes after arriving home, which is from info I researched, which, by the way, included "how to's" on keeping the wire wheels in balance and safety checks. We are fortunate in having a tire shop that understands the intracacies of wire wheels and their care. We will put on approx. 3-4,000 miles a year, mostly pleasure driving in our part of the USA, at speeds that are much lower than interstate speeds, and even on the interstate, we typically drive at 65mph. When a wheel/wheels fails, we will tell the forum so, and what we did to mitigate the problem. All in All, we thank you for your thoughts and support, but other than Peter, no one has given us an answer to the thread's theme. As an aside, read the thread re: cd cover problem. Stew and Ali King, who hope to meet some of you at a concours or two

Not a bad point Steven. But mostly, I think we Jaguar owners suffer from many electrical issues. Not wheel problems which can be easily updated or changed. Please don't let my newby rookie Jaguar opinion offend. I'm not a concourse guy. I'm a long time motorhead car lover. l love my Jaguar. But the problems with electricals are too frequent. Sorry again, wrong forum.

Very well put, David. I couldn't agree more with you and George. The ONLY thing wire wheels have going for them is looks, sitting still. When they turn, they do nothing but detract from the enjoyment of a Jaguar. Anytime I here someone complain about the ride or feel of their Jaguar, or that they don't think it measures up to what a Jaguar should be, all I have to do is ask if it has wire wheels. Ninety percent of the time, or better, their answer is yes.

Just my two cents........

Though I can't comment specifically on bolt-on wire wheels on an XJS, I think thta I can add general support to George's cautionary comments. I have bolt-on Dayton wire wheels on my 1998 XK8. I have had them since new - they were fitted at the dealer as a purchase option. The dealer was "economical with the truth" when he omitted to mention that they were not a Jaguar sanctioned option. They added a hefty $3000 to the price. Though I love the look of the wire wheels, they do have several disadvantages. Firstly, there is always some "wobble" at higher speeds, as if the wheels are not properly balanced. It is small, but noticeable when compared to a car with the original alloy wheels. Secondly, the Jaguar dealers refuse to have anything to do with the wheels - they will not change a tire, for example. Fortunately, as a result of this, I have found a wire wheel specialist in Santa Cruz, CA who now does all my wire wheel work. Thirdly, the spokes do break over time. If you let it go too long without regularly checking them, you may have several broken spokes, and the wheel will wobble badly at best, or completely collapse at worst. I had one close to collapse with 10+ broken spokes. If you can find an expert, you can get the wheel respoked and trued again - cheaper than a new wheel. I replaced all the short spokes on my rear wheels - the long spokes do not seem to be a problem. I now regularly check my spokes. It's pretty easy . I use a small wrench and tap each spoke, while holding the wrench lightly between two fingers. If the spoke is good, it will "ring" cleanly. If it is broken, it will give more of a thud, or rattle. In some cases, you will be able to feel the spoke move when it is broken. They can snap at either end, but on my wheels breakages seem more common at the hub end. In the past 3 years I have had to have 2 wheels completely respoked, and the other two have been in twice to have broken spokes replaced. My wire wheel guy says that he sees a lot of broken spokes with these bolt on wire wheels on Jaguars. His theory is that the brakes on these cars run very hot, and the differential expansion of the stainless spokes causes the problem. So, my advice would be to take extra care - the wheels do look very good, but there is a cost to maintaining them so that they are safe. Good luck...

Alice your mounting instructions most definately DID not come from JAGUAR! It may have come from the dealer that installed them. As far as the Video that is their sales pitch and I can assure you there have been many ,any issues with them--In a couple of years you will have a tough time just ballancing them if the car has any miles at all.

Hello again Peter: We have Dayton wire wheels, as the mounting instructions and billing came with our Jaguar. We went on the Dayton site and watched several videos showing the toughness of their wire wheels. We only pleasure drive our XJS, so we are not apprehensive about the wheels coming apart, after seeing the videos. The wire wheels on our car are just over 5 yrs old, and cost $2,000 for four. Will get back to you when we rcv the info from Dayton. Stew and Alice King

Try Orson Equipment:

http://www.orsonequipment.co.uk/

AFAIK, the only other manufacturer of three eared spinners.

Edited on 2011-11-11 21:28:18

George,
My wheels all have 3 bladed metal spinners that are recessed on their centers holding a genuine factory appearing, green? background, w/silver growlers head.
I removed all four spinners and was also unable to see any inscription, part#, etc. on them.
Did Dayton make these wheels with metal spinners, or does that point me in another direction in my search for the elusive manufacturer?
Thanks, in advance.

As a follow on to my rambling above, I just looked at the sponsor listings on the site & found Borrani Wheels!
This is now what I believe I have on my car, as their detailed gallery pics show my wheel style almost perfectly. Only thing not shown is the metal 3 blade spinners, (not knock-offs).
I also note they don't show the XJS as a candidate for their wheels, although XJ6 models of the same vintage are shown.

For possible future reference, if you know, which manufacturer is doing the trade in on their wheels if one buys a new set?
W/regards,

Thank you Peter for the cleaning advice. We have written to Dayton Wheel Products and asked for a pamphlet re: cleaning and maintaining. We'll get back to you when it arrives. As of now, we will use a brush. Thanks again, Ali and Stew King

Pete they are most likely Dayton. If the spiners are plastic and the cat head is just "not right" that would be them. Straight line should not cause concerns at speed--but high speed cornering is a different story. They were suppliers to the dealers but never Jaguar. Jaguar thought wire wheels were dated looking as far back as 1969 but also realized the alure of the Wires--it was just no one made one that matched the design capabilities as you said. Still today no one does..

Thanks for educating me on W/W's George. The info provided by you & Steven P. so far has been invaluable to me in my short association w/JCNA.
Ali please accept my apologies in advance, for hi-jacking your initial posting...

I'm not planning on using the car in competition however, its design lends itself extremely well to exceeding the legal speed limits in the state/country. (no direct admission of wrong doing here mind you!)

Without pictures, I realize that trying to figure out who manufactured them will be difficult at best. (I'm not currently interested in trading them in)
I looked closely at them front & back, but did not see any makers marks. They are 15" x approx. 6.5"
I'll have to dismount a tire to see if the inner rim has anything on it...

If you know, who was/were the aftermarket wire wheel supplier(s) to Jaguar back in the day?

Pete Jaguar issued numerous bulletins about this. The wheels were NOT a factory option. Dealers in the US put them on as they were a good $$$$$ maker. Jaguar as I said knew a bit about wire wheels as they had put them on almost everything for the history of the company--EXCEPT when the car was too heavy. Prototypes of the XJ6 and the XJ-S experimented with true wire wheels (not bolt on) and found them unacceptable for those cars (read weight). The bolt on wires such as the ones we are discussing are inherently less true and reliable than center drive ones. That sain the earlier versions of this wheel are very unstable. The company that made them never admited this but they did (and possibly still do) offer a killer rebate on the old wheels toward the purchase of the new ones, but--and this is a big but--they want the old wheels back--wonder why? You will find as they get some age on them they will cause balance issues--spokes will break (you will not know this until you remove the spacer and the nipples fall out. They are pretty and a bear to clean and are ok for straight ahead and street crusing but if you use the car anywhere near the way it was designed they will fail. As far as your PO he prob. thought they were factory as many dealers put them on as a matter of SOP and simply marked up the invoice.

George,
I too have "wires" on my XJS.
The previous owner told me that they were a factory option and I believed him, as the outer spinners have the growler head on the centers making them look "factory". Guess I should have researched my purchase a bit more!
While my car will never be concours quality, I am interested in safety. Is there anything inherently dangerous or unsafe in running them?

Ali, I like the look of true wire wheels, but cleaning is indeed a chore in itself!
I've been told NOT to pressure wash them, as water will be forced between the nipples and rim, potentially causing rust formation, etc. I was also told not to use pressured/compressed air as it could also force water into the rim.
I use a stiff hand brush with carwash in a bucket to get majority of the grime off, followed up by rags to dry them.
I only polish them with chrome cleaner once per season just because its so labor intensive, (& I'm lazy), and they look good.
I'm sure there are others on here that have had more experience than I, that can offer suggestions we can potentially use...

Alice you might want to check the rules for show.Wire wheels are a standard deduction for your car. I might add that although Dayton redesigned the wheels for the XJS and XJ6 (due to many issues) Jaguar has maintained they should not be used. Jaguar knew a bit about wire wheels and tried them on (prototypes) but they just are not strong enough. Best of luck as cleaning wire wheels is always a least fav. chore.