Ray is correct. Your outer rears are not widow makers, but the locking side ring rims have the rings on the outside instead of the inside. I’ll see if I can find a record of such wheels and will come back to edit. In the mean time don’t put any holes in those outer tires as discussed above. Stu

Edit - I don’t find any record of road going vehicle wheels that have the rings on either the concave sides or on both sides. Makes me wonder if the fronts are the same, and not themselves widow makers. Custom wheels are not common, but I’ve learned to never say never about such examples. Better close up pictures, both outer and inner, front and rear, would sure be helpful. Stu

 

I bought a 1970 F-600 with these wheels on it in the 90's. I was driving up a two lane road and looked into the drivers side rear view mirror. I saw what looked like a knot on the outside tire. I'm thinking I need to put a tire on when I get back.

I kept watching and the knot got bigger. Next I heard what sounded like a cannon going off, the tire jumps over into the oncoming traffic lane, passes me up, slows down, crosses back in behind me, goes up a bank, and lands in a yard.

I pulled over and there was the whole inside of the rim on the truck, and when I got to the tire, there was the tire and outside of the rim still in one piece.

I hadn't done any tire work since I bought the truck except add air, and these tires had been on the truck for several years without being de-mounted or anything. Rust had eaten down the clamping area, and I guess the weight I had on popped it lose.

I'm very thankful that the car in the other lane had just passed, and the oncoming one was far enough away they were safe. That could have been a disaster.

 

Here are the wheels. Sorry, I thought the photos were better when I saw them on my phone. Does this show you what is needed for wheel ID?





Dog approved:

 

Harrier, I saw one for sale in Kentucky. https://louisville.craigslist.org/pt...467743130.html

 

You’ve got the best helpers a guy could ask for.

Those are custom built wheels. They are backwards from normal wheels having the split Goodyear style rings on the concave sides. The center discs are welded into the rims where normal wheels of 1955 would be riveted. The last think I see is weld on your front wheel along the face seam where the center disc meets the rim. No factory wheel would be double welded on concave and convex sides. So, the pictured wheels are not widow makers, and are much newer than the truck itself. You should verify that the inner duals and the other front match. Stu

 

Wow! Seven posts and you are doing some quality enabling.

 

That's what friends are for!

I was perusing the interwebs looking for wheels (before joining here) and came across that.

Right now, I'm just ecstatic with the knowledge that I might not have to replace the wheels! Still need to confirm all around as Stu said!

Today at lunch my wife asked me if the danger was just the tire falling to bits and potentially injuring us driving it. I showed her a YouTube video of the wheels exploding and I'm pretty sure it's a good thing I showed it to her today and not before I took delivery of the truck! She is very excited about the truck but that took her down a notch for now.

 

A person that knows how to change truck tires will have no trouble with yours. The main thing is to make sure the ring is locked into place, and tap it all around as it's airing up.

I've changed many of those type.

I haven't figured out why someone welded them up backwards though.

 

I checked the rest of the wheels. The opposite sides are the same on the outward wheels. The inner ones have one that matches the welded custom wheels and one that is riveted. Is the riveted one something I need to worry about? A bit difficult to get a photo of it, but here are a couple.



And the welded inner w/ the split I can see in the ring.


The other outer rear:


The other front:

 

Pictures #3, #4, and #5 are customs, you know that. Pictures #1 and #2 are traditional factory produced wheels with locking side rings on their face sides. In picture #1, as you said, you can see the weld line at the seam suggesting it’s a more modern wheel. Picture #2 is an older locking side ring wheel of some variety based on the rivets. So you are in good shape assuming all are internally rust free.

The only remaining precaution I’ll suggest is that you ensure that your tire installer keeps the rims/rings as matching sets. All references contain legal language warning of the dangers of mix-matching unrelated rim and ring design components. Stu

 

Many thanks! This has helped tremendously!