I know it's been discussed a thousand times, but after such a long day in the shop achieving nothing my search abilities are none existent, ha.

I'm having a hard time idendifying these wheels from the outside, I know what to look for if it's without a tire, but they all look the same to me when on a truck.

Right now this is the only picture I have, are these widow makers? If not, what years where they produced?



Thanks, ironically weather they are or not might completely effect what I do for this build.

 

The best way to tell is to look on the concave side of the wheel. If they're WMs you'll see a 1 1/4-1 1/2" band running around the inside. What size are the wheels? If they're 20" they are multi-part wheel but not neccarily WMS. Truckdog will be along in a short time, he can usually tell just by looking at them.

 

I guess I was always told any split rim was a widowmaker am I wrong? julie54

 

There are different types of multi-part rims. The WMs are the rims made by Ford in the late '40s to mid late '50s. They are made up of two almost equal halves that assembled and twisted 180°. The other type of multi-part rims have an outer snap ring, either with a split or not. These are still worked on by large truck tire shops, no one, or at least very few shops will work on the WMs because of liability reasons.


Ford two piece rims


...

 

Pretty sure that's a tubeless rim. The lip where the tire seats is angled more than it would be if it was a widow maker or lock ring multi-part rim. Tubeless rims have what's called a 15° design while the tube types are 5° designs. Here's a profile comparison that will make it pretty clear.



The absolute sure fire way to be sure is to look at the tire size. If it's a 22.5 (as I suspect it is), or 19.5, or 17.5, or 16.5 then it is tubeless. An even number like a 17, 18, or 20 then it's tube type and the wheel would be multi-part. This won't necessarily apply though on the smaller car and light truck sizes. For instance a 16" could be either tubeless or tube type.

Widow makers were sourced pretty much on all Ford big trucks from '48 to '55. Yours is probably a '56. An exception is the F-7 and F-8s that could have a three piece design or Daytons too. The earliest I find record of them in the books is 1945. The latest is 1976. Stu

 

Thanks guys ^_^