by Ed Esslinger in the May 1998 RootesReview
Over a year ago, I purchased a set of 8 spoke alloy wheels from a well-known source. They looked great, so I had tires mounted and the wheels installed on my Series V Alpine. On the way home, I noticed a very bad vibration at the front of the car that had not been there before.
Investigating, I found the problem; the center hole was about 1/16-inch too small, thus preventing the wheel from seating flush on the hub. I had them machined (had to remove the tires first) enough to clear the hub center and have had no other problems.
I immediately informed the vendor of this problem. They told me they would take care of it. Over a year later, thinking this problem had been resolved, I ordered another set of wheels (March 98) from the same vendor: This time I checked them before mounting tires. You guessed it! Nothing had been done to correct this problem.
I’m going to send them the bill for machining!
(Ed note: lesson learned: check any part for dimensional compatibility and, if possible, operability before installing the part . . .we’ve all been there.)