tire shrinkage

[hoppercar]

what is a good rule of thumb for shrinking steel tires on cast iron centers?....I've heard .001" fo r every inch in diameter.

[rkcarguy]

That's correct, another thread discussed this maybe 3 weeks ago?
So 10" drivers, make the tire bore .010" smaller than the center.

[cbrew]

I personally use .001 per inch of diameter plus .001

[FLtenwheeler]

I also use 0.001” per inch plus 0.001”.

I just did some 8” drivers and it was right on.

On a side note the axle bore shrunk 0.0002” after I installed the tires. I had to take that much off the arbor I was using to turn the wheels.

Tim

[hoppercar]

I'm not planning on pressing mine off of the axles, just turn them down between centers, and shrink the tires on.....so the axle bore won't be a problem