I have read some threads on how dangerous these wheels are, so I have been warned. What I want to know is how do they work? How do you mount and dismount tires?

Thanks

 

Here are period Firestone advertisements that explain it. Stu

 

I took 4 to the dump last week

 

If you're considering using them you haven't been warned enough. Only the most foolish would use them. Not only is the installer at risk, anyone in range of the wheel is a potential victim, at any time.

 

I mentioned earlier on the other thread that guys with only Dodge or IHC trucks understandably have no experience with the RH-5° rims. By either good judgment or good luck, those companies used Goodyear locking side ring wheels exclusively. Ford, because of the friendship no doubt, and General Motors for unknown reason, were heavily exposed to them from 1948 to 1972. The failed IIHS/NHTSA recall at least got the wheel companies to cease their production. The last of them were catalogued by K-H in 1976.

If you go to the Stovebolt.com web site you'll get viewpoints similar to those found here. I drop by the two Power Wagon sites and don't recall ever seeing the RH-5° mentioned, same for OldIHC.org although I don't go there a lot. The guys that are really screwed are the Studebaker guys. They have hub piloted widow makers for which there is no bolt on fix.

For the most part the service industry is eliminating this problem over time. They refuse to work on the RH-5° for staff training reasons, insurance reasons, and litigation reasons. But some old timers still do them, and nothing stops an owner doing it himself. We've been told that Canada and some US states have outlawed them, but nothing gets in the way federally since the recall failed in 1980. Stu

 

In a split rim cage ..........I know they are so old !

 

Absolutely, that needed to be added. Rim assembly must be followed by care taken in airing up the tires. A cage is essential with any multi-part rim, and even more so with the RH-5°. And if you follow through with doing your own, unlike a locking side ring wheel that is pretty reliably safe once assembled, the RH-5° has been known to come apart while mounting to the truck. Wrapping them in chains would at least help avoid one blowing in your face while mounting. Stu

 

Since I have 10 basically new tires and a good spare mounted and one extra rim to see it's in great shape with no rust and the truck is not going to be used as a work truck, loaded or going to a landfill or other likely place to get a nail, I doubt I'll ever need to work on them. And I'm not trashing the whole setup because of fear. Hasn't killed anyone yet in 60 years.

Thanks for the Firestone posters.

 

I had to deal with RH5º on my 1967 Chevy C50.
I spent over a year and a half reading everything I could find and of all of the failures are reports of disaster, I found ZERO instances that occurred on a vehicle in service, just driving down the road. Every failure I came across happened while either assembling the wheels, airing the tires, or mounting them(most likely as a result of incorrect assembly).



In conclusion, if they have gotten to the point where they are mounted and running on your vehicle and you haven't had them explode, statistically I think you're ok.
I personally would still never spend time next to those rims or air them up.

my two cents,

 

There has been at least one instance of a wheel separation on running/driving truck. Granted, that wheel had just been serviced.

Shelton v. Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. :: 1983 :: Arkansas Supreme Court Decisions :: Arkansas Case Law :: Arkansas Law :: U.S. Law :: Justia

 

If you're not gonna touch them, the only ones there is any reason to be cautious around are the outer duals. They would blow out away from the truck while all others would send their rings inward toward the truck. Stu

 

Is there any danger in just deflating these wheels so I can safely dismount from the axle and discard? I have them on the rear of my F600.

 

You can pull the valve cores, but I'd stand to the side while doing it. And if the tires are junk, a 1/8" drill bit hole straight into the tread area keeps your hands out of the way if one lets go. Stu

 

On a different forum I drop by this below comment was posted today about widow makers. Stu

yes those split in the middle... 400 years ago at the scrap yard we had nothing but big trucks. a big pile of truck tires. every now and then on a 90 to 100 degree day u would here a muffled boom as one of them would pop down the bottom of the pile.

 

If the rims are not rusted out and they are installed properly there is very little chance of anything happening. My rims had no sign of any rust when they were disassembled. I talked to the old owner who brought the truck out of New Mexico. Sharks get you every time you get close to water too. ha.