I really like the look of the factory 20” widowmakers on my 55’ F500. Anyone ever keep them and run em?

 

Not a good idea and you probably won't find a tire shop that will touch them. You need to look for a different set of wheels. There are alternatives out there. IH, Dodge and Studebaker ran multi-part wheels that weren't WMs and most truck tire shop will still service them. You also have the centers of your wheels removed and welded into new rim. Do a search for "widow makers" on FTE. Since you don't have many posts you may not be able to use the search feature, if not go to Google enter "window maker" and in the URL enter "www.ford-trucks.com" you'll get a lot of results.

 

I figured it would have been hard to find anyone to service them. I’ll do some searching on them and see what I can find. Thanks for all the info Bob!

 

There are several custom wheel shops around the country that will take the centers from the WM's and put them in new 22.5" wheel rings. It's not a cheap alternative, but it will give you the best of both worlds, keeping the correct, vintage look while having a safe wheel that will accept a modern, tubeless radial tire.

 

If I could find one of those in Arizona, I would definitely look into a route like that.

 

I’m wanting to hear a little more about your plans for the truck. Your other thread makes it sound like you’re wanting to drop the truck with a bagged suspension. Spending serious money on that plus thousands on custom wheels seems like a bad plan. A way to keep the Budd wheel look for cheap, while lowering it, would be to find some common 17” Budd 66520s. Old motor homes have them. A better, but more money, choice would be motor home tubeless 19.5” Budd 89340s.. The 19.5s will fit both from and rear axles, but the 17s might not. Unless you’re swapping rear axle too.

Edit - And if you are wanting a better final drive ratio, grab the Dana 70HD rear axle from the motor home too. Straight forward swap and yields a 4.56/1 ratio. Stu

 

It has a 330 industrial motor in it with a 2 speed rear, 41k original miles. I really want to keep it stock looking and running but be able to lower it a bit and potentially bag it to lower it only when parked. I would still like a decent ride height. It has been difficult finding many other 500s that look anything other than stock.

 

Jack's government surplus had plenty of split ring 20" 5 on 8" wheels at one point. Worth a call. They are in Tucson.

 

Ive already go some WMs on mine. Was trying to get opinions on keeping them or not! Thanks for the info tho!

 

Do they have plenty of the WMs we talk about here that are two almost equal halves or the other type of rims with a snap ring type of set up? The snap ring wheels are often called "Widow makers" but are still serviced as long as they're in good shape.

 

Very good to point out that Widow Makers has been misunderstood - it really refers only to the Firestone RH5 rims and not all multi-piece 20" rims. Multi-piece rims with lock rings and bias ply and such are still safe and serviceable if not in poor condition.

I run multi-piece rims with 20" bias ply on my equipment.. The rims were sourced from other period dodge/international etc trucks that did not have the true widow makers.

 

I think a lot of people do call all multi-part rims Widow Makers even if they are the snap ring type because they too can be extremely dangerous to work on if not done with the proper train and equipment and if let loose could easily kill someone.. The one phrase that drives me nuts is when someone blows off the danger of either type and just says to use a heavy chain to hold them together while inflating them. One of my early jobs was in a heavy equipment trailer company. It was a vey small place and I was hired to paint trailers and do final assembly including assembling, inflating and installing snap ring dual wheels. I remember having to stick the wheels in a cage, inflating them and having to wait a certain amount of time before removing them from the cage. I think it was 30 minutes but not sure. Fortunately I must have learned to properly assemble them because I never had one come apart. They are also brand new, never used rims so maybe that played a huge part in my success. Still, never liked inflating them.

 

What Jack's has is the lock ring, split ring, snap ring type 20" from military power wagons. Not the RH5 widow makers. You can still readily buy 20" tires. I did not go that route since I needed more diameter for my diesel. Not that you can't get large diameter 20" tires just not narrow and wide for the same diameter. Went with 22.5" wheels so I could go wide single in the rear and narrow steers up front.

 

Any contact information for Jack's? Couldn't find a website. Is that where you got the 22.5"s?

 

Jack's Government Surplus 520-574-0300. I made my wheels. Took centers off the RH5 for fronts and made centers for the rear. Welded those to purchased shells.