I was all ready to lay down some cash to have some new Budd wheels / tires shipped to me, but then - One of the heavy-truck techs at the shop where I have this stored told me these are one piece wheels, and NOT widowmakers. Obviously the center hub is riveted, bit it also looks to be to be a jointed two-piece bead section as well. Just want to be extra cautious, hoping one of the wheel experts here could take another look at some better close-up photos...

 

That heavy truck tech has it wrong. Your pics are widow maker Firestone RH-5° style rims. Here's my picture of one I sent to China. Stu

 

Thanks for the confirmation!

 

I'd guess you Heavy truck tech has been doing it less than 30 years and believes that the only split rims are the safety ring splits.

 

I had a similar thought. You could expect a young guy to not know about RH-5°s. Last of them were sold new in 1976. You could also understand a "heavy" specialist to never be exposed to them since the RH-5° was primarily a "medium duty" application. The only heavy trucks I can think of were F-7/8s and F/C/B-700+ models into the mid 1970s. And you could understand a Dodge or IHC specialist to have never been exposed to them since those companies never used them. Stu

 

I have a set of 22.5 tubeless wheels in need of a new home if anyone is looking for a set.
pm or email if so.

 

Hey Stu - has anyone you're aware of tried having the widow makers made into 1 piece wheels by one of those companies out on the left coast? I seem to remember there was one in Stockton, another in WA state. Looks as though it would be fairly easy (per say) since the centers are riveted and not welded? Would probably cost a boatload of money between shipping and labor. It's just tough to beat the look of those original 5 hole 17" wheels.

 

Yes, I know that American Wheel Specialist of Kennewick, WA, can do it. I visited them years ago (probably 10 years, time flies!) and sat with the owner (Juan Murillo) and his son (Shawn/Sean/sp?) talking wheels. At the time they had a small yard with an inventory of widow makers out back that they used for donor centers. Most that they did back then were to remount centers into locking side ring 20" rims. They could do 22.5s but had trouble finding narrow enough new rims to not rub when mounted on our old trucks. I later heard that they had found a reliable source. But I also then heard (later yet) from another trusted source that their rim supply changed and required them to build up the new rims to accept the donor centers. I understood that to mean the new rims had a different drop center configuration which added labor time, and thus cost, to the build. I've not discussed any of this with them for a few years.

I know too that they can custom build 19.5s using the center discs from common 17" Budd #66520 locking side ring wheels. On a separate visit I bought a set of these custom 19.5s that had been returned from one of their Les Schwab contract stores. I'll spare the details, but the wheels were fine.

American Wheel Specialist is a wholesale provider to the huge Les Schwab and Commercial Tire chains our west. Anybody living in their service areas would have to work through a local retail store. Guys living east can go straight to them, at least back then that's what I was told.

I've also seen pictures of custom 22.5s built by Stockton Wheel. But their method on the wheels I saw was to weld a new custom flat face to a new Accuride having another bolt pattern. The appearance wasn't much like originals. I can dig out pictures of them if anybody cares to see them. Stu

 

Thanks Stu. If those Accurides have 2 hand holes, I think I saw some on a black F-350 for sale on CL in CO awhile ago for BIG money. They were big, flat, and ugly. Made the truck look like something out of The Road Warrior. The flat black paint job didn't help. Will have to check into American Wheel and see what they offer. Currently looking at a '53 F-350 with the original FH-5s on it and while they are clean and in good shape with new rubber, it wouldn't be acceptable long term.

 

A 1953 F-350 won't have RH-5° rims unless it is SRW with the deep dished 17s. If that is what you are looking at I'll suggest you see my ad in the classified section.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...17-5-drws.html

This is the GM COE I saw with the Stockton wheels. Count the hand holes on each wheel. Ugly. Stu

 

On the question about the 17" widow makers on Boomer61's future F-350 Express, we have had two members that I know worked with Stockton Wheel to remount their original WM centers into new drop center 17" tubeless rims. In both cases the wheels were the shallow SRW style used on the '48 and later F-3/F-250s (8 lug), and on the '55 and later F-350/P-350s (6 lug). But I also know that those wheels used the very same 17" RH-5° outer rim as did the '53/'54 F-350 Express. That rim is Firestone #248RH5°. And cross checking sources, all the Ford rims use the same ring 7RY 1099.

This below old thread has more info on this. Please be patient reading this because it goes everywhere. But on pages 2 and 3 it gets helpful to you. Stu

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...er-rims-2.html

 

Well, those Stockton/Accurides appear to be both 5 and 6 hole? At least the 5 hole is a slight improvement, but I agree - the large flat face really looks nasty. I wonder why they're so damned deep??

Went through the photos I took of the 350 Express, couldn't find any good ones showing the wheels (it was in a narrow driveway) except one I took of some spare parts sitting on the ground next to it. I cropped and cleaned it up so you can see the wheel type pretty well. Still some original paint on it. Definitely the old 5 hole type. Love the look.

Thanks for posting the link, Stu - will give it a thorough read later today. Wife & daughter are out of state for a few days so I've got a quiet house all to myself.