I've been curious about "widowmaker" rims. With all the old vehicles I've owned and currently own, and been around, I guess I've never actually seen one..or I didn't know what I was looking at if I did.
The 1959 Viking I bought a couple months ago has 9.00 X 20 tires, with 6 hole rims. It's sitting on the tires that came with it, though one on the inner driver's side rear does have about a 10 inch chunk of it's "recap" tread missing.
I've got a 1955 Spartan Mobile Home and a late 40's, early 50's "Hub" camp trailer that have "lock ring" type rims, and my first 1959 Chevy had them. I never changed a tire on the old 1963 International R-185 I once owned. It had 8.25's or 8.75 X 20 if I remember right.
I've looked at the diagram of "widowmaker" rims here on the website, but I'm still unclear what to look for on the truck itself...I suppose if I break one down it will become apparent, but honestly, right now, I don't even have a lug wrench big enough to take the lugs off! I might have a socket that big though.
Is there any way to easily identify a "widowmaker" while still on the truck? Stampings on the rim, or something similar? If I read right, they are "Firestone" rims..would that be marked on them somewhere, or is "Firestone" merely a design used by any rim maker of the time?
Everything I've read about "widowmaker" rims is that they are dangerous during the tire mounting process, but is there any danger using them once they are on the truck? I've not heard of any danger then.
I simply don't have the funds to buy six rims right now, so I'm going to have to use what I have in the meantime. I'll probably even have to mount a tire on the one with the tread missing, but realize the danger and have the capability to air the tire remotely, from up to 50 feet away.
