Bore damage from Pro-Hub tool?

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beachnut
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Bore damage from Pro-Hub tool?

Post by beachnut »

I recently purchased a nice 10x jeweler's loupe and let me tell you, my eyes were opened ... literally! I've been using the Pro-Hub tool for the past two years without a thought to correct the raised edge you sometimes find on the inner hub and to cone the hubs. Prior to getting the loupe I had prepped a new set of #12's to use on the car. As I was coning the hubs I noticed that the pin on the tool was very hard to get into the bore. Now I know that #12's have a smaller bore so I very slowly twisted it in and noticed spiral shavings coming out the other side of the bore. I thought to myself that this couldn't be good so I bought the loupe. WOW ... serious damage!

So, I conducted a little experiment to determine how I'm damaging the bores like that (although I pretty much already knew). I have lot of #9 fodder wheels in my grab bag so I sacrificed them to the cause. I thought that maybe the Pro-Wheel mandrel could be contributing to this issue, so I sanded one of them down on my drill press like I usually do. The before/after check with the loupe showed no bore damage. Then I went to use either pin on the hub tool and voila ... damage. Of course I knew it was causing damage since, again, the pins on either end were very difficult to insert into the hub.

Is anyone else having the same issue with this tool and can report the same bore damage?
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sporty
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Re: Bore damage from Pro-Hub tool?

Post by sporty »

From my understanding of the tool.

Is that if the tool dose not go into the wheel bore easily, then the wheel or wheels are not recommended to be used.

Naturally forcing into the wheel bore, is going to creat wheel bore damage.

It is a tool for testing the wheel bore, to tight or to big, it's recommended to toss those wheels.

It should slide on and off without effort. No pushing or pulling or twisting on.

There is always a chance that you have gotten one that is not the correct size.

I also have not seen a good set of 12's in about 2 or 3 years. I try and go by the chart for wheels that Max-v posts and shares with all of us.

Which has been a huge plus in selection good mold numbers for wheels.

Sporty
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Re: Bore damage from Pro-Hub tool?

Post by beachnut »

Thanks Sporty. The trouble with the tool is for coning. The pin is too big for the wheels I want to cone and the pin has to go into the bore. I would rather not have to use crummy wheels with larger bores just so I can cone the hubs. That means that the tool serves no purpose to me now. Could I have a defective one? Perhaps... that's why I was hoping some others who use the tools for coning could leave their feedback.

I also look at the chart on the Max-V website and it says that 6, 7, 12, 13, 16 are the preferred mold numbers, unless he has updated that info somewhere else that I haven't seen.
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Re: Bore damage from Pro-Hub tool?

Post by sporty »

Yes for as of 8-2008, 12's are listed.

I am not sure if that holds true still for 2009 wheels.

I do cone with the tool aswell, So I can talk some about this as well.

Perhaps I did misunderstand some of initial post.

It should not be causing damage to cone. But the question You might ask Racer X.

Is if the tool is also geared for the prefered wheels with the smaller bores.

But I would recommend doing a replacement, This would confirm the issue.

Sporty
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Re: Bore damage from Pro-Hub tool?

Post by beachnut »

Yeah, I guess it was naive of me to think that I wasn't causing damage to the bores, but even the instructions for the tool say this:

Bore Reaming - Some wheels are manufactured with a wheel bore that is too small to fit a Wheel Mandrel. The Pro-Hub Tool ensures proper axle fit by reaming undersized wheel bores (great for wheels that don't fit on the mandrel!). Perform Bore Reaming before any other wheel preparation steps.

Remove the protective cap from the 'Square End' of the tool and test fit each wheel by sliding it onto a tool pin. If the wheel is too narrow for the tool, use steady hand pressure and a twisting motion to work the wheel on to the tool. Then remove the wheel and repeat 3 times.

Call me crazy, but from what I've seen this is not the best thing to do :(

PS. Please don't get me wrong ... I'm not at ALL knocking any vendor here. The tools made available by them and their advice has been extremely helpful. I will contact the folks at Derbyworx for their opinion on this.
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Re: Bore damage from Pro-Hub tool?

Post by quadad »

beachnut - Can you measure your ProHub tool with a digital caliper ? That would probably help DerbyWork and people on this board tell if your mandrel diameter is greater than normal.

More than 90% of the recent wheels we have seen have a bore diameter that is either 0.094 or 0.095, with very few at 0.093 and even less at 0.096.

If you have access to some gauge pins, that's the best way to check what bore ID your wheels have. It could be that you have (had :cry: ?) some precious 0.093's that were not fitting. In general though, I think these tools are purposely made though to accommodate almost all parts found.

Perhaps their is still some way of resurfacing the bores - maybe the damage is not that deep. You do want them to be about the same though.

There are other ways to cone the hubs, the tool is just a little faster and more fool proof. Some ways are shown in David Meade's book at the scout shop.
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Re: Bore damage from Pro-Hub tool?

Post by beachnut »

I picked up a digi caliper this morning and the pin on the square side of the tool measured .095, while the pin on the coned side of the tool measured .095 to .0955. While that is a larger than I would like if I happen to be working with a smaller bore wheel, I hear what you're saying about the tool being made to accomodate most wheels.

I have found the culprit though. I don't ever remember dropping this tool because I usually cringe when I drop any of my tools, but the pin on the coning side of the tool is dinged outwards right at the very tip where there is a concave indentation. This now makes sense because it's consistent with the type of damage in the bores. I could not see this before without the loupe. It's possible that it was shipped like that and I just went along my merry way not knowing any better, but I'm not going to quibble with anyone over a $10 tool.

Thanks for all your help sporty and quadad ... this mystery seems to be solved.

PS. I have David Meade's book and if I have to go there I will.
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Re: Bore damage from Pro-Hub tool?

Post by beachnut »

Problem solved ... I chucked that bad boy into the drill press, fixed the ends of the pins and tapered them with a file, then wet sanded them with 150 through 2500 grit. They look great now, although I stopped short of Mother's mag :mrgreen: Got both pins down to .093 - .0935 and they fit any wheel I have!
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Re: Bore damage from Pro-Hub tool?

Post by Stan Pope »

beachnut wrote:Problem solved ...

Got both pins down to .093 - .0935 and they fit any wheel I have!
The tool is fine now for tapering the hubs. For other applications, there may be too much "slop" for the tool to hold precision, e.g. when used in conjunction with the tread dressing tool. Proceed with caution.
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Re: Bore damage from Pro-Hub tool?

Post by beachnut »

Stan, pardon my ignorance ... but, tread dressing tool? I must not have that one yet in my [censored] :)
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Re: Bore damage from Pro-Hub tool?

Post by quadad »

beachnut wrote:Stan, pardon my ignorance ... but, tread dressing tool? I must not have that one yet in my [censored] :)
Maybe Stan means the ProWheel Shaver. That's the one DerbyWorx tool I would say try to live without anyway though (even without it being extra sloppy).
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Re: Bore damage from Pro-Hub tool?

Post by Stan Pope »

Thanks for filling in my missing words ... sometimes I lose words. I can picture the thing, but the name will not come! I understand that the malady exacerbates with age. So, young guys, your time is coming. :)
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Re: Bore damage from Pro-Hub tool?

Post by batstar70 »

quadad wrote:
beachnut wrote:Stan, pardon my ignorance ... but, tread dressing tool? I must not have that one yet in my [censored] :)
Maybe Stan means the ProWheel Shaver. That's the one DerbyWorx tool I would say try to live without anyway though (even without it being extra sloppy).
quadad, maybe I don't understand fully, but why not use the PW Shaver? batstar70
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Re: Bore damage from Pro-Hub tool?

Post by beachnut »

Ah yes, that's one I don't have ... yet. Maybe for next year, or maybe not. Have to do some searching around on this topic since I've seen a few threads here with not so rave reviews. If I do get one Stan I'll be sure to get another hub tool since you are correct, this one's only good for coning now, although I wonder if I might be able use the square end for graphite burnishing versus the 'ol pipe cleaner method.
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Re: Bore damage from Pro-Hub tool?

Post by quadad »

batstar70 wrote:quadad, maybe I don't understand fully, but why not use the PW Shaver?
In reality he could, because you would use the flat end of the ProHub Tool (not the coning end) for use with the ProWheel Shaver. There would have to be damage on that end also to avoid using it with the ProWheel Shaver.

Still, better to research other methods first. For the money, I'd say that the hit/miss ratio for users with the shaver is not too good.
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