SSR (Speed Star) DB-4 Wheels. Other brands considered.

[RussMcB]

Looking for SSR wheels or parts, such as centers & halves.

I ruined the center of one rear wheel this past weekend when the wheel nut loosened and the drive pins spun.

When I see pictures of the P1 Racing DB-4's of Jovy Marcello & Steve O'Hara, they had the same wheels, so I'd like to find more if possible.

I think SSR has gone out of business, and/or seems to not have offered these wheels for a while.

If I can't find SSR wheels, I'll consider others. I'd like another set for rains, so I'm looking out for a narrower set, too.

Thanks.

[Raltracer]

Hi Russ,i contacted you a while back,i need a front and rear as well.I did find out that BBS were involved with the production,but i could not get a reply.They were 13x10,13x15.The guy that was selling them was Rick Weldon,PR Motorsport Castro Valley.CA 510-7860851.I called him,no stock and not interested.They were offered to Atlantic's in 1988.I would be grateful for some feed back as out here in the colonies its gets a bit expensive trying to do it from here.Pete

[Jim Gustafson]

Jongbloed Racing Wheels have complete wheels or components for the DB-4 on the shelf.

[Paul LeCain]

Russ,

You said you're looking for a narrower set for rains. You can't use anything narrower than 10" front, 14" rear. That's an FA GCR rule for your car.

[RussMcB]

My current rear wheels are 15" wide. I was given some very nice Yokohama rain tires (Thanks, John Z.), but have not been able to use them becuse they apparently were made for a narrower wheel. After struggling, we were able to get one mounted, but the difference between the narrow tread width and the wide bead width was extreme. The Yokohama tread width is approximately 9". It makes me wonder if the pro cars were permitted narrower wheels.

If 14" is the narrowest allowable width, and if I want to use these rain tires, then I guess that's the width I need.

Perhaps I should forget about trying to use the Yokohama rain tires, but they're nice.

[Paul LeCain]

[size=2]Do the rear rains have a 9" tread, or the fronts? I have Yokohama Radial rains, too, but the rears have a 13" tread.[/size]

[size=2]The (metric) sizes are F:210/580-13; R: 310/600-13. That translates to[/size]
[size=2]F:8.25/22.8-13; R: 12.2/23.6-13 approx.[/size]

[RussMcB]

Thanks, Paul. That sheds some light and makes sense. It looks like the tires given to me may not be FA sizes.

I've got:
180/515-13
200/550-13

I didn't realize it was a straight forward conversion. So I guess I have the equivilents of:
7.1" / 20.2" - 13
7.9" / 21.6" - 13

I guess the tires I have are for smaller wheels, like 7" & 9" widths. Sounds more like FM or FSCCA sizes.

[RussMcB]

A public "thank you" to Jack Crone and John Zuccarelli for helping me repair my damaged SSR wheel.

Regarding the rain tires: It turns out that the tires I got were not FA tires. We're not sure what type of car they are from. It was just a mix up and we're resolving it.

Thanks to all for the great help here.

[jmz]

thanks russ! glad to help john z

[bryancohnracing]

Russ, where did you find such a cool photo?

You've got Jovy, Brian Till, Scott Goodyear, Rahal, Hiro Matsusida (sp?), Willy T Ribbs(or his brother who looked just like him Bobby Q Ribbs), And Danny "stop hitting your girlfriend" Sullivan.

Question? Is the first person in line Vasser?

Way Cool man!

[RussMcB]

All of those guys decided to get together and take a group photo for me. That was sure nice of them, wasn't it?

jk, of course.

That is a scan of a Toyota advertisement on the back cover of an OnTrack magazine from 1992.

I got the full 1992 season of OnTrack magazines in an ebay auction a few months ago. I am really enjoying reading articles and going back in time. It is VERY interesting. I'm reading things like:
Nelson Piquet's (and many others') crashes at Indy
Nigel Mansell's decision to move to Indy Cars while being the reining F1 champion
Ayrton Senna complaining about Prost returning to F1 in a Williams
Alan Kulwicki's recent successes
Micheal Andretti's optimism about upcoming F1 season
Al Unser's discussion with Williams and other teams about possible move to F1
Toyota GTP dominance over Nissan and Jaguar in spite of new controversal "no special fuel" rules.
Peugeot's WSC successes
Road Atlanta's financial woes
Atlanta Motor Speedway's impressive new road course
Debut wins for Reynard (91H) and Ralt RT-40 atlantics. Atlantic drivers: Chris Smith, Russell Spence, Steve Cameron, Jaques Villenue, Claude Bourbonais, Greg Moore, etc,

[Bart Perlman]

Russ,

Just curious. How do you repair a wheel with damaged pin drive holes?

[RussMcB]

I replaced the wheel center. Jack Crone said he's been keeping a SSR wheel with damaged inner and out halves in his garage for years because he thought someone might need a wheel center some day. He was right!

[jmz]

russ, are you going to make it to roebling , this weekend , i have the right rains for you , if you can not make it , let me know , john z

[RussMcB]

russ, are you going to make it to roebling , this weekend , i have the right rains for you , if you can not make it , let me know , john z

Yes, & thanks.

Things are coming together well. I worked with Kevin @ Comprent to fix the wheel bearing. My radiator bleed hose had a leak and has been replaced. All major tasks are done and I only have the (big) jobs of getting it all back together and everything loaded up. I plan to leave for the track mid-Friday morning. It's a 4-5 hour tow for me.

I'm looking forward to it. Work (and other things) have been hectic lately. It will be nice to get to the race track and relax (huh?!). I'm hoping for a strong 2nd place finish as close as I can be behind you. :-).