So...
I picked up seven Goodyear lock ring wheels that came off of an old international harvester. After pulling the tires off there is pitting where the flap sits against the wheel. It's a pitted band right where the wheel center is riveted to the wheel. Some are better than others but most have pitted pockets that are maybe a third of the metal's depth. It's not continuous but probably pea sized areas. Are these wheels typical or are they trash? They will be going on an f6 that will stay original. I really wanted the lock rings because I want to keep the old bias ply profile. What do you think?

 

Is there pitting near where the lock ring fits? Will you be hauling loads or working the truck? If not they are probably OK.....if so, you might want to keep looking.
I have sand blasted and painted some pretty rusty truck wheels with no problems. Post some pics if you can.

 

I'd wonder if the rust has compromised the rivets holding the rim to the center discs. I've had them with similar rust pocking that also affected the outer seam between the center disc and rim. I suggest sand blasting then digging the remaining junk out of that seam to see if the rivets remain strongly set. I've used a sawzall blade and small hammer to dig along that seam, works pretty well. Stu

 

IMO, an electrolysis tank set up may be your best friend to help you evaluate these wheels. I've used a kiddy wading pool as the tank to de-rust tractor wheels.

 

The lock rings and the seating area look clean. The seam between the center and the wheel are clean with no crud. From that view the wheels look nice but the rivets on the back side are what I'm wondering about too. I cannot see the rivets on the pitted side. On the worst wheel I can actually feel a dimple where one rivet is. How did the rivets look from the inside of the wheel? I really have nothing to judge them by. I'm not in a hurry to use these wheels. I was just happy to find a set and am a little bummed that they might not all be good to go. I'll keep looking but in the mean time I'm trying to blast them. That's a whole different story. I live in an HOA and decided to buy a blaster from northern tool to use with my pressure washer. I figured I wouldn't create dust and could set up a place in the backyard to blast. It's been nothing but trouble. It works for five minutes then I have to blow the moisture out of the sand hose....It's amazing how fast a couple hours goes by when you are trying to make something work. Now my "I'll save some money" plan is full of holes and my back yard is covered with canvas tarps held down by wet sand.

 

The rivets should be clearly visible on the outer rim surface and will be flat against the rim with a dimple in the middle that was no doubt put there under extreme hydraulic pressure. With no outer rivet head all the holding force exists where the rivet shaft is compressed into the wall of the hole.

I'll describe my own early experience that mirrors your own. My first MH came to me with a mix of wheels. Wanting to have a correct set I started studying wheels. Once I learned which Budd part number was correct I went looking. I found two in a yard in Southern Illinois that had been left in the mud for years. Substantial rim damage. I blasted and blasted, then did the sawzall/hammer job on them. What I found was that my efforts to clean out the seam between center disc and rim actually caused some of the rivets to start pulling out of the rim. Not good. So my next step was to weld the rivets to the rims. But I never felt that'd be safe. So today those two wheels sit on a shelf. They might end up mounted as spares under a truck, sorta like static display wheels since I'll carry real spares too. I've since filled out two nice sets of Budd #59340s and have numerous other numbered full sets that will be a p.i.t.a. to my wife or son if I drop dead tomorrow. Stu

 

I'm not computer literate so I opened a shutterfly account. Can you take a look at the pictures and let me know what you think. There are two wheels pictured. the site is declinetostate.shutterfly.com

 

Found the site but no prompt to allow me to see your pictures. If you want email them to me direct at stu_sandymcmillan at sbcglobal dot net. Stu

 

It should come up. https://declinetostate.shutterfly.com/
I think the pictures are too big to email and like I said I'm bad with the computer. That address should get you to my page and if you scroll down to recent activity the rest of the pictures are there.

 

I think mine were worse, but it's real hard to say based on pictures. You might take them to a local big truck tire shop to get their opinion on whether they'd be willing to mount tires on them. They are the ones to say from experience just how much damage is too much to put them back in service. Stu