I am a new owner of a 1950 F5 with widow maker rims. I want to use the truck in its basic original condition but need to address the rims. The truck has with very good rubber, with plenty of tread and no dry rot. As most know, the cost of 22.5" rubber, and custom rims with 5 x 8" lug pattern is very expensive.

I was thinking about modifying the rims to make them safe to use. I was thinking about drilling and tapping a series of holes around the rim, to secure the two parts together. In the same orientation as the rivets that hold the center disc into the rim.. I am a machinist and metal fabricator with the equipment to do this modification. Or how about welding on a flange or a series of tabs to the smaller ring that positively locks the two halves together. Does anyone have any ideas or thoughts on this concept?

I know it will not be DOT approved, and tire shops will not service the rims. (the benefit to a two part rim is that they do not need special tire equipment to service them)

I am just looking to be able to use them safely.

Douglas

 

Hi Doug, I cant help you with you with your widow maker safety suggestions but we have guys here that are very knowledgeable and they will chime in soon.

Anyhow, welcome to FTE the best Ford Truck Forum on the world wide Web! If that is your truck in your icon I think it looks pretty good. But we need more pictures of it and a short history of your truck.

 

Here is the truck. It came from North Dakota. Said to "have been sitting in a barn for 30 years", as most truck stories start.
I am very happy with the condition. No alterations or anything from it original condition. A hole drilled in the dash to turn the CB radio on and off is the only change from original. The V8 is stuck, and the brakes are completely dry, with no pedal at all.

My Project begins....

 

I know of no modifications that can be done to to those wheels. I'm sure if there was a mod it would be widely known and used by now. There would be an enormous liability issue with any modification to these wheels. DOT certification is required for a reason, it protects you AND me. Personally, I don't try to second guess the engineers that design things like this.
That's my two cents.

 

That's in great shape! Is that the original paint? I I love the color!

What are your plans for it?

 

Welcome to FTE!
Beautiful truck, welcome to the disease.
I'm no expert (Not even close). If you attempted a modification like that, how would you change the tires? You have to separate the two pieces to remove the tire.

Is that a dump bed? Is it all wood?
More pictures please.

 

Do not weld on any rim with tires on them!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jBUVzgCHHuA
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jBUVzgCHHuA
i don't know how you guys post up YouTube videos

 

This bad idea comes up periodically. The below cross section of the Firestone RH-5° shows that the only two things keeping them assembled are the two mating lips of the base rim and side ring. No overlapping surfaces exist to allow additional fasteners to be mounted. Over the 70 years these rims have been in use no professionally engineered remedy, and certainly no home remedy, has been found to neutralize their fatal flaws.

They can come apart violently for three basic reasons to my mind. The first reason, and the only reason OSHA addressed when it failed to advance the 1970s safety recall, was technician training. The RH-5° design does not allow a technician to easily see that the side ring is fully seated prior to inflation of the tire. More training, and wall posters, were OSHAs solutions of choice.

Second, the design allows the base rim and side ring to twist while rolling down the road if deflation of the tire is occurring. As a tire goes flat it can contort the assembly allowing the ring to separate violently.

Third is metal fatigue. The RH-5° was introduced in 1948 and marketed as an Advanced Design rim. It was adopted as the industry standard for 17”, 18”, and 20” truck wheels by Ford, GM, and Studebaker. Dodge and IHC escaped exposure. The one positive outcome of the failed recall effort was industry’s agreement in 1972 to cease production of the RH-5° design. The last company to sell them was K-H in 1976. But rust and metal fatigue have continued to silently do their work over these past 40 plus years. The old truck hobbyist today pays the price. Stu

 

Douglas,
Welcome to the board! That looks like a great truck! I'm a big fan of the meadow green color also.


Good luck on finding a solution to your wheel dilemma.


Bobby

 

I watched one of Stu's videos and this was on the list of links.
Maybe a widowmaker replacement.

 

I have spent countless hours with options and ideas with these wheels. Want custom aluminium rims? Plan on 8000 plus. A direct replacement rim is 225. Each but has big center mount and 2 hand holes. Mixerman has them on his cement truck. Looks cool on his. Another option is stockton or wheels now will take your centers out of widow makers and make a tubless 22.5 wheel. Price is usually around 400 each. Plus shipping. There are originals from that era that are tubeless 22.5s. I have a set i got from another fte member. Hard to find. Only option you have is to get rid of them. I thought my wms where good till I took them apart. Do not mess with them or try and keep them. If you do anything deflate them on truck and chained. I know first hand i didnt want to spend that money on wheels and tires. But to be safe it's only option. And just an fyi I have 4 Stockton 22.5 wheels I can get my hands on in the 5 on 8 bolt pattern if you are interested.

 

Personally, Id just run them. If you are really worried, replace the outer rear wheels with the lock ring type.

 

Yeah, that is the place to go first. The outer duals have the most risk because they will send their rings outward, where the fronts and inner duals would blow inward with the wheels still bolted in place. Original old locking side ring 20s are an alternative to expensive tubeless 22.5s and would allow you to keep good tires in service. Stu

 

Welcome to FTE! And THANK YOU for saving another big truck from the scrap yard! We've said it before, we love big trucks here!


As you can see the guys above have already addressed your concern. These wheels have haunted us for a long, long time. I bought my 1956 Ford F-500 in late fall of 2014 and it didn't have a complete set of the safe lock-ring style wheels. I spent months trying to find a new set of the safe(Read: safer) 20" Budds. So here is where we have to get crafty. I used a variety of search terms on Craigslist to find my wheels. I started off with a simple year and "Ford" for all of the Craigslist geographic locations in my immediate vicinity. I also used "7.50*20" "8.25*20" and even "9.00*20" or "budd" and got a lot of results. If you're desperate, you might find a junker truck with the wheels you need. In fact I ran a few searches and found this which *may* have your wheels. It's a little hard to tell if they are RH5s or not. But if they're clean they may work. But they may be the narrower version of your wheel which should be OK for 7.50-20 rubbers: https://providence.craigslist.org/ct...348444909.html


I see you're in Florence, Mass...just north of me. Just as an FYI there is a shop that is not only willing to work on the lock-ring style Budds, they welcome the work. It's Pete's Tire Barn near Bradley Airport.

 

It's really hard to tell if these are 20" wheels...Stu might know off the bat. If they are, maybe the truck has all 6. Have a look: https://scranton.craigslist.org/cto/...358633138.html