Twheel and the 4wd - opinions?

**MickG** · 5th July 2007, 07:11 AM

Nothing new here and I'm sure lots have heard about it already, but it's still an interesting concept and obviously a design that may lend itself very nicely indeed to the 4wd industry and community.

http://www.break.com/index/reinventing-the-wheel.html

Wondering what peoples thoughts are on its application to 4 wheel drives or 4 twheel drives I should say

? No more carting numerous spares accross the simpson. Although my first question would be what do you do about the need to adjust tyre pressures for certain terrain......not sure if you might need to carry a road and off road set or if they may be adjustable in some way to allow more or less flex.

Another thought, do you think the Michelin execs are still chuckling to themselves when they drop that they are "reinventing the wheel" into conversation

Aye, Mick

**kaa45** · 5th July 2007, 07:32 AM

Fascinating

**wovenrovings** · 5th July 2007, 07:36 AM

The only catch i can see, how do you let them down for sand?

**dobbo** · 5th July 2007, 07:46 AM

I presume you specify what pressure you need when you buy the twheel (presuming the more spokes the firmer the ride.) Would this mean you'll need to buy two sets of Twheels or have a removable insert to compensate for a change of tyre pressures?

**MickG** · 5th July 2007, 07:50 AM

Originally Posted by dobbo

I presume you specify what pressure you need when you buy the twheel (presuming the more spokes the firmer the ride.) Would this mean you'll need to buy two sets of Twheels or have a removable insert to compensate for a change of tyre pressures?

That was my thought as well, wonder if they will develop some kind of system to stiffen or relax the spokes. Like any design though, the simpler the better, but as the video says, it will be around 10-15 years before we may see these on production cars so I would have thought they could fully resolve any issues or need for adjustment by then.

Pretty space age though and for the light, medium and heavy machinery industry they would have an immediate application I would have thought.

**Michael2** · 5th July 2007, 09:11 AM

what happens if they fill up with gravelly mud? Do they rub out from the inside or get out of shape? I suppose they worked okay on the bobcat.

**dmdigital** · 5th July 2007, 03:47 PM

Off road I'd think the disadvantage would be from sticks and such like caught in the side, could do some damage that way. Still R&D will solve anything

**shorty943** · 5th July 2007, 05:48 PM

Originally Posted by dm_td5

Off road I'd think the disadvantage would be from sticks and such like caught in the side, could do some damage that way. Still R&D will solve anything

A lot less damage than letting the air out of a bloody big hole in a conventional tyre I'd bet.
From the look of the bobcat tyre that got blown up, when the mention of military use came up? I'd say they seem to take a bit of rough and tumble with some glee.

Shorty.

**dobbo** · 5th July 2007, 06:50 PM

I wonder how they'll handle the riggers of the race track, burnouts and such. One things for sure you'd be guaranteed to be paying a lot of money for them when there finally released, I'd guess 4 x the normal tyre price.

**Blknight.aus** · 5th July 2007, 07:04 PM

This is old hat and is simply a development of the technology that was the original runflat tyre.....

a normal tyre was installed over the top of an inner like this then inflated...

naturaly they were a lot stiffer and smaller with bad handling (also attributed to the fact they had a second piece of rubber flopping around)

they were better than solid rubber as they still provided some "suspension" and prevented road shock from snapping wheel studs.

when they get fully developed I wouldnt mind betting you'll see them with a "foam" filler in the space or at least as a type of sidewall to prevent intrusion damage and to enhance both the ride and sound dampning.

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