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Now that I'm properly frightened by my F6 Widowmakers (not rolling right now BTW) I do keep tripping over possible replacements and this came up a mere 320 miles from me:
https://denver.craigslist.org/wto/d/...611430907.html 20" SPLIT RING wheels. 5 x 8 1/2 pattern. BUDD: 60030 (1) each dated 5/49 D-35007 (3) each dated 2/45 C-34860 (2) each dated 3/45. One has been cut see pic. Tires are no good. $500 for all six
I could use some help making sure my assumptions are not (all) flawed:
first-off I don't think there is a 5x8.5 bolt pattern so I'm hoping they really are 5x8.0?
From other threads I've gleaned that the 60030 and probably the 34860 are legitimate replacements for my widowmakers. I don't see any reference to the 35007...
While it seems like these are "safe" lock-rings and *maybe* the bolt pattern/size is correct but I suppose there is a chance the offsets are wrong/incompatible?
And what is the prognosis on the one that has been cut (saw/torch?) can it be welded (and still be balanced well enough for use for even a low-speed vehicle like this?)
And of course, if someone else closer grabs them that is OK too, maybe we could split the lot to replace our outer-rears while we try to solve the (less catastrophically deadly) fronts/inners?
I really don't want to drive 320 miles each way in a vehicle big enough to haul these until I know they really make sense for my application!
Those are all good Budd numbers. Five on 8” pattern. The 60030 is 6” wide, the others are either 4.33” or 5” wide. The 60030 with have more offset but that’s not a problem. Too bad about wheel #6 being cut. Nobody’s gonna tell you it’s safe to grind out the cut so it can be welded, but I’ve seen worse. Stu
Those seem potentially appropriate for your truck, excepting the cut one as I'm unsure what would be a satisfactory repair.
The Budd 35007 is a 5" wide rim used with 6.50-20 and 7.00-20 tires on some F4 and F5 series trucks as shown in the chart below. Following, the 60030 is a 6" wide rim, and applications are again shown below. The 34860 is a Ford type rim, but I can't readily address the size, but you can possibly infer it from the size tire that is installed.
Here are the stock rim sizes:
Just a reminder that strategic placement of RH-5s on the fronts and inner duals is a valid risk reduction strategy for trucks that are not operated (say parts trucks sitting in the back yard or garage) as the truck itself will absorb most of the impact and incurred damage as the ring is launched in excess of 100mph inward. It is not valid for trucks that move/operate.
Do we know that the offsets/widths on these different Budds are compatible with one another?
While obviously better than the Firestones, it doesn't seem prudent to be running a pair of 5" rims on one end of the rear axle and a pair of 6"s on the other end? Much less a 5 and a 6 on the same end of the axle? I suppose there are tire-sizes that could work on both rims which might make it better?
This is not sounding like much if any of a solution for me... I appreciate all the deep info here.
Sounds like the *safest* thing I can do for the time being is deflate the outer rears and depend on the inner rears to support the limited roll it will take to get it on a flatbed when the new owner (if I ever find one) comes to haul it off? Maybe remove/dispose of them so nobody is tempted to re-inflate/use them?
I have wrapped a chain through the spokes on an outer dually wheel for winter snow traction. Can't you just chain your widowmakers and render them safe, at least the outer duals?
Again, DieselDog409, you are missing the statistic we're a great number of rim failures have occurred due to being serviced. Due to the decreasing population of these Firestone rims and the lack of experience of any tire shop in dealing with these rims, I can't imagine successful safe servicing rates will be better than that when these rims were at their peak service usage. There is no way to safely keep these rims in service. Let me guess, next you're going to recommend running snow chains on these rims all year round to contain any explosions
Maybe we could donate our widowmakers to the Ukrainian war effort? Strap them onto the sides of armored vehicles as disruptive reactive armor? And they'd double as anti-personnel weapons for anyone trying to mount the vehicle directly?
I'm trying to think up some interesting "yard art" that can be made with 6 pairs of the half-splits...
I already have the tires themselves reserved for potato mounds in my garden, they totally outclass the little 220/50-15s former racing slicks I am using now!
Wouldn't a tow chain spiralled around the tire through the spoke holes and hooked back onto its self contain a separation explosion event while the truck is sitting in the yard? I was not referring to regular winter tire chain installation or driving around town..
If a truck with these wheels is sent to a scrap yard, what happens there? Do big truck wheels get sent through the shredder with tires still mounted? Would the wheels always be removed? Do they explode in the crusher etc?
Also, why on earth was one of the spokes on the budd wheels listed cut with a torch?
Instead of monkeying with chains, I'd just simply and cautiously remove the valve core and be done with it. No air pressure = no explosion. One deflated (even partially), never reinflate.
Heavy duty truck tires run very high pressures and therefore scrapyards likely have processes for deflating and removing tires before sending them to the crusher.
One thing to look for on used Budd wheels is the amount of wear in the taper where the lug nuts contact the wheel. Take a new lug nut and place it in the taper. There should be a gap between the wheel and the hex on the nut. If the hex touches the wheel taper the wheel should not be used.
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