Are you guys talking about snap ring split rims? - cause that eBay auction is for 'Widowmakers'. If you're looking for those baby's have I got a deal for you!

 

The wheel on the ebay auction (top picture) is a "lock ring" type wheel.

The other pictures below appears to be a "split" (widowmaker) type wheel.

All appear to be fairly rusty. Any decent tire dealer would probably condemn and scrap them.

I took 10 wheels to Les Schwab hoping to find 6 good ones and they condemned all of them. After I looked closely at them I would have done the same!

I wouldn't sell the 6 splits I have left to ANYONE!

I don't want to get sued by the surviving family.


Cheers,


Rick

 

Guys - I'd have never mentioned these if they looked like true RH-5° widow makers. Clearly the one that could be seen from the front was a lock ring because you could see the split. On the one shown from the back, though, you can see the rivets holding the wheel center to the outer rim. I agree that it looks like a pretty wide inner lip, but I've never seen RH-5°s that mounted the center on top of the joint. It looked to me like rust damage. Have any of you seen a wheel center attached on top of the joint on your RH-5°s? I'd guess the guy's wheels are all rust damaged. Like Rick said, you sometimes have to find more to get a few. The guy had one offer; I hope it wasn't a lot.

Speaking of rust, some of you might have seen my letter to the editor (and Bob Jones') in the last issue of Vintage Truck Magazine. I was kinda taken aback to read Pat Ertel minimize some of our concerns, and say that "sitting in dirt" doesn't damage wheels. Excuse me? Maybe not if they're sitting in the Mohave! Rather than argue the point, I've sent a second letter. Hopefully they'll print it and include the charts I sent showing what an RH-5° and other lock ring systems look like.

 

I have a '52 F6 and found a set of 22.5s! I was singing in the Washington rain until I learned that they are only 5.25 wide. I have several questions:

Who makes a tire to fit that rim?
Will that tire have the same circumference as my 20s?
If I must widen the rim (someting I am told can be done), what is the optimum width?
I have a '52 and wonder what color to paint them? The 20s are white and that seems to be the going color. What Ford paint color is correct for '521 F6

Thanks for all the good info others have shared on the wheel issue over the past year!

 

I covered most of this on your other thread, but you've asked things a little differently here. Tire circumferences will vary depending on width. You can do Google searchs and find on-line catalogs for all the major tire manufacturers. You'll still need to have a professional tire guy, though, help with converting new sizing to old sizing. I'm sure you can find tires that will come close to the O/D of your old 20s.

The stock color on wheels is black. But, back in the day fleet owners could order trucks with any paint combo they wanted. So you're free to do what you want, I'd say.

 

First off: To think I started this thread almost 8 years ago!!!!

To answer your question on tire circumference, from my 49-50-51 Shop Manual w/52 Supplement, a '52 F-6 came with 7.50x20-8, 7.50x20-10, 8.25x20-10, or 8.25x20-12 tires and have a static load radius of 17.5, 17.6, 18.2, or 18.3 inches, respectively. Multiply those numbers by 2 and by pi (3.14159265359....hey, I'm a math teacher, whadya expect!!) and you'll have your approximate circumference numbers. Or, if you need revs per mile, then the manual also gives: 570, 567, 546, and 546. All rims were 20x6 and have the same part number.

Happy tire hunting!

Fran

 

Thank you F4fran and Truckdog for the great info. I am hoping the tire guy I am working with can find a modern tire to fit using this info. My alternative is trying to rebuild the rims. I found the specs you mentioned for the wheels in the red big book I have but I didn't have the load radius (?) That is a new one for me. How did you compute that? I understand the pi formula but haven't used it since I put away my sliderule. It just goes to show that those math classes are relevant after all!!!!!!! If you have any idea for which manufacturer of tires to search I'd certainly appreciate the tips. And, I'll keep all posted on my journey here.