I recently aquired a 1946 dump truck. It has the large 5 lug pattern wheels of which 1 is a widow maker and the other 5 are snap rings in ok condition. The front wheels are 20 by 7.5 and the back wheels are 20 by 8.5.
I also have 6 widow maker wheels (they are the red ones in the first picture). Before you think I am crazy I bought them for just the tires. I AM NOT GOING TO USE THE RIMS. The tires on the WM match mine so I can swap the 2 20-7.5 for the front and 4 20-8.5 in the rear. My original plan was to find one more snap ring to replace my one widow maker, repair my damaged rims, and to put the better set of tires off of the widow makers on to my good rims, and they scrap the WM's but.......................I have found a junkyard close to me that has a mid 50's era dodge truck (upside down) that also has the large 5 lug pattern and snap rings. I measure the pattern and it appears to match. These wheels are all snap rings, you can see them in the last two pics. They are in MUCH better shape than my wheels right now. They all have 20-9.5 tires on them that aren't any good. So after that long post here is my question. Does anyone know for sure that I can take these dodge snap ring wheels that have 20-9.5 tires on them now, and put 20 -7.5 and 20-8.5 tires on them and have it work on a 46 dump.

 

they might be too wide for your tires? Stu (truckdog) will be here any minute. he's the Wheel expert

Josh.

btw where are you located? I have a few extra lockring wheels.


most of the wheels ive got have 8.25 or 8.5 X 20 tires on them but one or two have 9.0 X20 and it seems like the lip on edge of wheel is taller on the one that has the 9.0 tire, but maybe that does not matter?? come to think of it, it probably doesn't since my 52 F-6 has 9.0 X20's on the front and 8.25 X20 on rear ya the front tires rub the fenders, they need to come off. Soon as I can afford 6 new or used tires..

 

(subscribing) I'm in the same boat currently.

 

First, yes, the rims will fit as long is the donor Dodge isn't a WWII era Power Wagon, Korean era M37, or similar. They also used a 5 lug hub, but the bolt circle was 6 7/8". Later Dodges, though, used our same 5 lug x 8" circle so you should be in good shape on that part of the question. Just to be sure I'd suggest you measure the circle. You put a ruler/tape on the far outside of one lug (not the nut), then measure across to the middle of the third lug. That should be 8".

The next part of the question is tricky because we don't know how wide the Dodge rims are. The prior owner could have put the 9.00" tires on too narrow or too wide rims for all we know. According to the books, a 9.00" tire is designed for a 7.00" wide rim. The widest rim they should go on is a 7.50" and the narrowest is a 6.50". Those measurements are, unfortunately, meant to be taken inside the wheel between the two rim lips. Hard to do with the tire mounted, but you should be able to get a good idea by putting a tape through one of the hand holes and subtracting the metal thickness on each side.

Now for your good tires. You say you've got 8.50"s. Are you sure they aren't 8.25"s? I don't think I've seen 8.50"s. So, I'll assume 8.25"s. The 8.25" tire is designed to fit a 6.5" wide rim, with the narrow and wide extremes being 6.00" and 7.00". So you're probably in good shape on them if the Dodge owner put the right tires on the truck. The 7.50" tire might be a problem. The 7.50" is designed for a 6.00" rim, with the narrow and wide extremes being 5.50" and 6.50". If the wheels are too wide, I'll defer to your shop that will do the mounting to give advice on whether it's safe to mount the narrow tire on the wider rim. I know of examples of it being done, but I'll leave it to the tire professional to give advice.

Another thing I'll say is that you might be able to find part numbers on the wheels. If so I can probably look them up and tell you exactly what the manufacturer had to say about them. The Budd numbers will be on the back/concave edge opposite the valve stem. They will have 5 digits, and may have some letters and numbers before and after. For example, a 20" x 7" Budd of the late '60s/early '70s was #66740-3. If you find no numbers there, Accuride put their numbers on the front face generally. Accuride was also a 5 digit core number. I've had bad luck finding numbers on Kelsey Hayes wheels. If you can do some scrapping, I'll see if I can give you the specs. Stu

 

jmadsen - Thank you for the offer. I am in Georgia, might be a little expensive to ship =)

Stu- Thanks for the reply. My tires may in fact be 8.25. I have not looked at them lately and my memory tends to fade pretty quick. I am going Friday to the junk yard. For what he wants for them I will probably go ahead and get them. I will look for the numbers, take a tape measure with me and post any info I find out. Thank you for such a detailed answer. I was worried no one would reply =)

 

No problem. One more thing I just noticed. The Dodge wheels have riveted centers. That says the wheels are an older design. Nothing wrong with them, just older. Newer rims from the 60s/70s have welded centers. Also, since you've got the original lock rings already on the truck, you can probably use a couple of them on the front with the narrow tires and put the wider ones with big tires on back. You might be surprised that sandblasting will clean the old ones up pretty well.

Another thing. When you take all these wheels apart, be VERY careful to keep the rim/ring combos matched. Mix matching rims and rings can be as dangerous as your widowmakers. Here's a couple good OSHA web sites on the subject. Good luck. Stu

http://www.tireindustry.org/pdf/osha_Rim%20Matching.pdf
http://www.tireindustry.org/pdf/osha_Demount-Mount.pdf

 

Yip they are older, the truck is about a 56 or 57 dodge. I remember hearing about the mix matching rims and rings, definitely want to avoid that. Thanks for the sites and all the help!