Has anyone had any experience with wire wheels? I have heard some not so good stories about them. I sure do like them though and have given some thought to putting a set on my 380 SL. Any negative except how hard they will be to keep clean as I already realize that. Comments good or bad will be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Robbie:

http://www.vtr.org/maintain/wire-wheels-overview.html

I did a Google search on 'wire car wheel truing' and about 10 pages of links turned up - this one seemed to have a fair amount of info.

The friend I knew in the 1960s had the wires on his XK120 trued every year. My only direct experience is with road bicycles - maybe someone with Morgan/Healey/Jag experience will have more info. The tire shop in san Clemente I saw involved with a Ferrari wire wheel rebuild said it was going to be REAL EXPENSIVE, but maybe that is because it was such a rare model and the hubs and rims probably weren't shelf items. Good luck, they sure look good when they are clean!

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John

2003 Firemist Red/grey leather SL 500
2015 Palladium Silver/black mbtex GLK 350
1987 Smoke Silver/burgundy mbtex 300E Sportline (SOLD)

Click to see 87 300E

Their openness to airflow offered some advantages for drum brake cooling during the era before aluminum rims became available (which is why they were common on Ferraris and British sports cars of the '50s and early '60s), but the only reason to have them since disc brakes became common is slow-driving looks.

I put wires on my 450SL a few months ago. I normally don't like visible aftermarket modifications but they look great. Look at a sight www.ajani.com (maybe www.adjani.com). This lady has a set of Dayton wires for sale for about $200 if you contact her. I had already purchased another used set or I would have bought hers. If you buy used and need lug studs (depending on the brand you get, you may not be able to use your lug bolts), go to www.wheelcomponents.com, this was the only site I could find that carried the metric lug studs.

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Benjy Lafond
Summerville, SC
74 450SL
87 560SEC

i have got some 14x6 player k/o's on my w123. they do look the buisness!!! and on a daily runner they are very hard to keep really clean!!!

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zeb..........
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Benjy,

I tried both websites you mentioned and could not find the wheels. If you can find the lady's info it would be much appreciated. By the way what kind of wire wheels did you get?

Thanks

Hope you found your wheels. I have a 450sl,and I've been SORT of looking for wire rims. Let me know if you got them, where you got them from and, if you don't mind, how much you paid (Ballpark is OK). Best of luck and Happy Holidays Bob Mowbray

Hey Robert,

No I have not found my wire wheels as yet. My wheels are the stock pancake type which I refinished with the original Wurth paint and clearcoat and they look okay for that type of wheel.
I am like you as I am kinda looking for a different wheel. I have looked at a lot of mercedes wheels that I like and would look good on my 380SL. I move in the direction of a certain wheel and then I will see the occasional 107 with wire wheels and man do they grab me. I know they are hard to keep clean and are heavy but man they are nice looking. a couple of weeks ago a lady parked her 380SL in the street by my house while she went jogging and it had the original MBZ knockoffs with MBZ emblem.

The best I have found so far is Dayton Wires but they are too pricey new, my quoted price mounted and balanced was $1285.
No deal for me. I have emailed Player several times to see if their 70 spoke standard will fit the 107 but get no reply, so I keep looking for good used ones with no luck so far. If you find anything let me know.

I have an almost new set of dayton wire wheels that I took off my
1984 380SL in 1994,that are just sitting in my garage gathering dust if anyone
is interested please let me know...Earl Moessner, Springfield OR.

how much for the wire wheels???
thanks
alex
(714) 757-1557