The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts Tire/Wheel Size

For my '35 1.5 Ton, 6.00x20 front, and 6.50x20 rears. Including the trim ring the front wheels measure 21-3/4, rears measure 22-1/4. Is that right? If so then these wheels are not exactly interchangable? This trim ring or what ever its called. Is this what people then refer to as a Split Rim set up? Thanks

A split rim divides into two pieces witha little of the center on each portion. There also are 2 piece lock ring wheels where the outer lock ring is split and locks into a groove on the outside of the wheel. then there are the 3 piece lock ring wheels, an outer ring slides doown between the tirebead and wheel and then there is a split lock ring that locks into the groove on the wheel to hold the outer ring in place. There is a fourth type which came on my 38 1.5 I haven't seen mentioned it has a solid lock ring with a oblong inner edge to lock into the lip of the wheel. On my 38 It had a mix of tires and rims. 600X20 on one side of front 650 on the other and mixed 700 and 650 on the back. If they are 20 inch rims they sould have the same diameter what may differ is the width of the wheel and the depth of the offset to keep duals from rubbing sidewalls. another possibilty since you are including lock ring is diffrent styles there. On my 54 5 wheels have one style of lock ring 6th id different though they are all the 3 piece type. maybe some one else can explain it better.

OLD30'S TRUCKS, HERE'S A PLACE TO START. FIRST ARM YOURSELF WITH A TAPE MEASURE AND MEASURE THE I. D. OF THE HUB CENTER ON EACH WHEEL. 1935 WHEELS ARE 4 1/4" INSIDE.1936 WHEELS ARE 4 3/4".tHEN MAKE SURE ALL YOUR WHEELS HAVE THE SAME TYPE OF RING ON THE WHEEL. IF THEY DON'T THEY HAVE BEEN MIXED WITH DIFFERANT YEARS. YOU SHOULD NOT PUT 36' WHEELS ON A 35', THE WHEEL IS SUPPORTED BY THE STUDS NOT THE HUB.CHECK YOUR WHEELS AND GET BACK TO ME....RICK

Ok, after a full can of wd-40, and 3 hrs. later we now know that the front 2 are '35 (4 1/4") and the 4 rear are '36 (4 3/4"). As for the rings it looks like 5 wheels have no visable slot when pressed up against the wheel, and 1 has an ELL shaped notch on the ring. As for using these on the truck, I can see that the wheel is riding on the studs and not the hub, but with the 10 hole retaining plate itself centers everything as well as the I.D. of this plate is the 4 1/4". I'm just curious how critical this is for the simple fact that this truck will undoubtedly see much calmer years ahead than it has over the last 70 yrs. If I do end up replacing these, does anyone know how hard these are to come by. Surely there must be alot of other trucks out there with maybe my wheels on them. Thanks for the input.

If time allows this weekend I will take pictures of the 3 types of lock ring wheels I have and post them via webshots. I don't have any of the split rim widowmakers but one of my cousins does so maybe I can get pictures of his.

My suggestion is try to find the wheels with the split outer lock rings. They are more user friendly, as they say. And stay away from the full circle outer lock rings, as they are definintly not user friendly.
My 2 cents.

I've been in touch with John Larson ( long time bolter) he has had a tough time finding the 35' wheels. I just happened to have 2 extra complete wheels and we hooked up and i gladly gave him the wheels.You're right about the 36' wheels seeing milder times ahead probably no problem now. I took the info off the Chevrolet Service bulletin found in this site for in service trucks.I've had no luck finding any one local to deal with the one piece widowmaker rims, the slpit rims don't seem to be a issue for tire stores.My wheels are so nice I'm still going to research a truck tire place to deal with them. Anyone out there know a rear hub bearing source for outer bearings on a 36' 1.5 ton ?...........Rick