I feel compelled to write down some things that have been floating around in my head as I investigate and contemplate this wheel issue…probably with no rhyme or reason…
First and foremost is to thank everyone for their inputs and information; knowledge is power and I like to make informed decisions.
I have easily spent over 30 hours doing internet searches on split rims, widow makers, suicide rims, multi piece rims, Firestone, RH5, and the like. I have been on this site, Ford forums, welding sites, garage forums, hot rod sites, DOT sites, NTSB and even law firm sites reading case reports. Here are some quick, tip-of-the-tongue thoughts that come to mind, things that I think about when I am surfing around reading all this information…
My first “reaction” is that I am now terrified to even go near my trucks, let alone move them or work on them. I have read stories ranging from rims blowing up at stop lights to spontaneous explosions as the vehicle sits in someone’s back yard to explosions when wheeling them onto a trailer to bring them home from the service shop. I have 12 time bombs ticking in my back yard (2 trucks x 6 tires)…and am horrified by the prospect of having to even approach my trucks.
Next, I thought of how fortunate I was when I was growing up. I remember driving my Dad’s 1963 C-60 everywhere. I remembered pulling up to the scales at the local quarry loaded with 3/4” stone and weighing in at 30,000+ pounds (in a truck with a 19,500 GVWR). I also remember the times I drove the truck to the local drive-in because that was the only vehicle available to use to go on dates…so being a foot loose and fancy free teenager I would go on dates in the truck. I took it to the beach numerous times too. I’m glad I never hurt anyone driving that truck with those widow makers...
Then, I looked at things from an analytical or statistical perspective. I recalled that in all the time I was growing up and riding in and driving Dad’s truck I never recalled any tire or rim related failures (other than normal tire wear). Even when grossly overloaded, driving through the woods and literally over short stumps to get at cord wood, driving on the highway at 55-60 mph, in the mud at dumps and jobsites… the rims and tires held strong and true.
My research reveals a common thread…in that the majority (sans actual numerical percentages) of horror stories I read about regarding accidents and incidents (yes, all very sad) were in some way, shape or form associated to improper handling of the tires/rims, not following proper and established safe handling procedures, not using the proper tools to do the job, unqualified backyard mechanics trying to work on something they are not trained to work on and doing so with makeshift tools and techniques, or using rims that were in a poor state of repair in terms of mechanical integrity.
I then wondered about the tens of thousands of trucks over the 20-30 years that have had these rims as OEM standard equipment. That quantity of vehicles, times 4, 6 or maybe 10 tires per vehicles times the number of years driven…well, you can see where this is going. There must be millions of miles that have been safely driven by vehicles with these rims and, correspondingly, thousands of tire changes that have occurred without incident by experienced technicians over the years.
The message I am hearing is that I should just discard these rims and never look back? Even if I have them professionally dismounted and subsequent sandblasting and inspection reveals the rims are serviceable? True, a one piece tubeless replacement would be great, but what about the high percentage (qualitative assessment) of rims that have likely performed admirably when properly serviced and maintained by qualified technicians? I am not trying to desensitize the potential hazards that this rim design poses, but there are hazards that we face every single day…
Anyhow…enough ranting for now…
