Wheel Truing Stand

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Huffer,

I bought a similar stand two years ago with an important improvement; the vertical supports could be positioned continuously along the base. This allowed the entire axle assembly to be dropped in, and made for an easy offset (dish) adjustment. The manufacturer is no longer producing the product, and I spent 150 bucks or so at the time. It looks like you could make the same adjustment here by drilling new mounting holes in the base to correspond to the Norton hub width. Hard to go wrong at this price.
 
I borrowed a stand from a Harley friend. It made it easy, but I think you could make something out of 2x4's just as easy. As long as it is stable and doesn't wobble on it's own. You can use the spindles from the wheels and the bearings give you enough easy rotation. I used a couple of ammo cans to mount the magnetic mount on and I had an old guage. You could just use a pointer out of wire. You only need to get the wheel out of round and out of offset by 1/2mm or so, and you can see that with your eyeballs and a ruler.

Make sure you use the inside of the rim lip to gauge it, and don't worry about the section where it's welded together, there is always going to be a lump there.

Dave
69S
 
I did my wheels on bike to be certain it aligned with custom stuff. What I want is a mc tire changing machine but ain't started looking yet and doubt I'd spend what it takes, but never know what might show up better than tire spoons and screw drivers.
 
I ended up putting the wheels on the bike to make sure they were centered the way I wanted, and I did adjust them a bit from the stand to get them closer. They can be done on the bike for sure after lacing.

Dave
69S
 
Why spend the money ? Digitally photograph the wheels beforehand to understand "offset". Did mine on the bike with coat hanger wire "pointers". OIl spoke threads and use proper spoke wrench. Spin and check often. Stay off yer knees. Measure offset beforehand. Takes awhile ,spend saved money on beers.
 
I see a potential problem with the Tusk stand. The photo shows the axel free floating a top rollers with no stop to keep it from moving from side to side. It’s going to be extremely difficult to true the wheel if the axel retaining your wheel is moving laterally.

The harbor freight stand looks similar but has the addition of end stops. Between the two I would choose the Harbor Freight over the Tusk stand simply because it provides stops.

I am looking forward to a report on which ever stand you choose.
 
An old swingarm held vertically in a vise is the cheapest truing stand you can get.
 
The suggestion by bwolfie is probably the way to go. I had already planned to get the cheapie Harbor Freight dial indicator and magnetic base, but didn't know they also offered a stand. I know all you need is a stick taped to the stand for runout, but the dial and stand can be reused for non-critical measurements. I also thought about the 2x4 approach, but $55 for the HF stand makes "rolling your own" kind of pointless. Thanks for all the replies.
 
Holmeslice said:
An old swingarm held vertically in a vise is the cheapest truing stand you can get.
Click to expand...

I just put the axle in the vise and use a dial gauge held secure somewhere close (you can screw or clamp many athings on a bench) and so far it has been good. To do a couple of wheels, a stand is a luxury, to do whels on a daily basis, a stand is a necessity.

Jean
 
Most important to get true is the side/side wobble, then the rim OD out of roundness. I use dial gauge on side, beware rubbing a scar and a foil wire twist tie for the roundness. Tire and road imperfects nullify Nth degree of round centering but worth getting it as good as can. If truing on bike parts be sure to nip up axle fairly good to take out pinch slack shifting final rim center line or rotor in pads. I've had experts tell me the Norton front disc is hardest of all rims to get right. I 2nd it especially with after market rim and spokes.

Wheel Truing Stand
 
Most important to get true is the side/side wobble, then the rim OD out of roundness. I use dial gauge on side, beware rubbing a scar and a foil wire twist tie for the roundness. Tire and road imperfects nullify Nth degree of round centering but worth getting it as good as can. If truing on bike parts be sure to nip up axle fairly good to take out pinch slack shifting final rim center line or rotor in pads. I've had experts tell me the Norton front disc is hardest of all rims to get right. I 2nd it especially with after market rim and spokes. Magnetic base on stanchion tube did me.

Wheel Truing Stand
 
I trued three wheels recently, using two wooden saw horses placed beside each other. The rim was mounted on a front axle with a spacer hacksawed out of a piece of pipe to take up the extra length of the axle, all tightened together with the axle nut. Drop the axle-wheel assembly on top of the two sawhorses, and use a C-clamp to clamp the axle to one the saw horses so it can't move around. A scrap of plywood is tacked across the top of the sawhorses as a base for the dial indicator. If you don't have a dial indicator, use a bent piece of coat hanger for a reference pointer, wood screwed to the scrap plywood. If you are building the high end model, screw 2 pointers in place (one for axial runout, one for lateral runout). Works really well, costs nothing, there is nothing to store, and it only takes 5 minutes to recreate it next time you need it.

Stephen Hill
Victoria, BC
 
Regardless of how you set up the wheels to true them think about getting a spoke wrench from Buchanans. They have ground and hardened ends and they have long handles. The long handle gives you a better feel for the torque and the exact fit is important. If you've aren't experienced truing rims you might want to think about having Buchanans or some else take care of the front wheel. That goes double for aluminum rims. Even pros have been known to screw up Commando disc front wheels. The difference between left and right side tension is scary. Legend has it that in the factory they used to lace up the wheels then hit the hub with a mallet to bend the spokes for the offset, otherwise they wouldn't fit.
http://www.nortonownersclub.org/support ... -and-tyres
 
This will be my first time lacing wheels. I'm not afraid to give it a go. Even Buchanan had a first set. The worst I can do is end up sending the wheels, hubs, and spokes to Buchanan's if I can't get it right, so nothing really to lose except the cost of the truing stand, which is minimal, and some time.
 
Huffer,

Lacing and truing your wheels is a rewarding and fun part of wrenching your bike. Be aware that front disk brakes require two different spoke sizes and two different head angles. Be thankfull than you're not faced with disk rear wheels, which have three different spoke types. There are two requirements to a successful lacing, namely patience and iteration. Go slowly, tighten slowly, and repeat. It may be that dishing may require different tensions on the two sides, but this is not rocket science. Tighten the tightest side at 30 in-lbs (max thumb pressure at 3 inches along the wrench length - don't use your wrist or arm) and tighten the opposite as close to the 30 in-lbs as you can get while maintaining the proper dish. Remember, you're iterating. If you lose confidence mid-project, send the wheels to Walridge or Buchanans to finish. I'm not a pro, but I've done this job a few times on a few bikes, and recommend it to any owner. Plan to spend an afternoon and a few beers, and you'll be rewarded with 30 thou tolerances on both radial and side-to-side wobble.

BTW, if you order your spokes from Walridge, you'll get them bound in the appropriate groups according to type. Walridge's tech guy is a great resource.
 
Rick in Seattle wrote that 30 pounds was about right for each side of the front disk wheel. I have never laced this particular wheel, but according to a friend who had his done at Buchanans, because of the radical offset, there is a huge difference in the tension from one side to the other. The actual numbers he mentioned elude me, but the difference was in the order of 2 or 3 to 1. Sorry to be vague, but the message I took away was that you will never get a stable offset with equal tension on both sides. Equal may work for some wheels, but not this particular one.

Stephen Hill
Victoria, BC
 
Stephen,

I don't believe my post claimed that the two sides were equally tight. Since this process is iterative, and done on a truing jig with the dish clearly indicated, I tighten the spokes until the tightest side (the side with the flattest dish) is at 30 in-lb of torque. At that point the opposite side will be at less tension, but it is important that the weak-side spokes not be loose, as this will destabilize the dish. The goal is to get the weak side as close to 30 in-lbs as possible and still maintain the proper dish. I can easily imagine cases where the weak side actually comes in at, say, 15 in-lbs.

The choice of 30 in-lb as the torque limit is controversial, with some postings on other forums claiming as much as 80 in-lb. My own unfortunate experience is that torques that high will often cause the nipple to pull through the rim. When I brought home my new bike last December, I checked the spoke tension to see where the factory set it; all were under 30 in-lb. With well-lubricated nipples, 30 in-lbs tight-side torque produces a nice tight wheel with spokes that "ping" when struck.

Rick
 
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