The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts What rims will fit???

I have a 65 C50 wrecker that I finally brought home yesterday that was the good news. Now for the bad A friend of mine works in a tire place an one look at the rims and he said uh-oh- those are widow maker rims and he said they are outlawed in mass.They cant put a sticker on it when the time comes. Something about a tiny bead that holds the rim together that has been known to seperate and kill-maim-hurt people. I would like to find out what will interchange with them (year -size-regular or split rims. The size is 7.50-20 If anyone within a reasonable distance of greenfield mass has some Please let me know and we could talk. Thanks in advance Lou. H. Shipping would be a killer.

I would try to find some 1-piece wheels. I'm not sure on what interchanges and good used ones are a real good way to go, but I would call your local Wheel and Rim dealer and see what new ones would cost. They may even have some used ones for sale and also maybe able to tell you what would work on your truck.

I'm going to guess that you have 5-10 Budd's on that truck.

Bill

If you mean 10 lugs in the back and 5 in the front then you are correct.

on your original wheels, what is the bolt circle diameter?
And the diameter of the center hole?


To remove the tire from your wheels is there a removeable smallish ring or two that makes up one lip of the rim? Or does the rim come apart in the very center, the flat part between the two lips?

The first type are "lock ring" wheels, and are OK and safe if in good condition. The second type are "split" rims, and much more dangerous to play with or use.

Grigg

If I have wheels like these on my truck am I safe removing them and taking the wheel and tire to the tire shop. They won't blow up on me if they are already mounted?

Wheels like what? So far we are talking about two different types of multiple piece wheels. Some acceptable, some not, what do you have?

The short answer is yes, you "should" be fine to remove the wheels from the truck and take them to a tire shop. If in doubt let the air out of the tires, may want to be careful doing it though. The lock ring wheels are safe if you use some common sense and caution. It's sad that many people lack those two things, and that's mostly why these wheels have a bad name. Properly cared for and handled they are just fine.

The letter from the editor on page 3 of the latest (December 2003) "Vintage Truck" magazine has some great information on these wheels in question.
It would be great if we had permission to scan, save, and publish that article as a tech tip....

Grigg

Grigg

Mine are the split rims . we also brought my sons 48 two ton home yesterday so we can work on them both and he has locking rings on it. His 48 has 700.-20s my 65 has 7.50-20s They appear to look the same. I will check when I get home from work today and try to get and post pics. Is thier one pic hosting site easier to use than the rest. Thanks Lou. H.

They are all essentially the same, I like webshots, but have not tried any of th others.

Right, they are the ones I was referring to. Also Budd type wheels are of the disc type and Daytons are the spoke type wheels.

Keep us posted on your progress.

Bill

Are they buds or hub piloted buds have a beveled lug nut that centers the wheel and hub piloted will have a flanged lug nut and are centered from center hole?
The wheels on my 64 are hub piloted 10 lug and the wheels on my 56 are buds 6 lug.

Mine are hub piloted buds. The lug nut is beveled to center the rim. I think that is what you mean. ???

Incorrect.
Hub piloted wheels the hole in the center of the wheel will fit snug on a lip machined on the hub.
Stud piloted wheels the wheels have a large "chamfer" at each lug hole and the lug nuts fit this "chamfer".

to confuse the issue many hub piloted wheels use chamfered lug nuts and a separate clamping plate that has chamfered holes. you can not judge a wheel by it's nuts alone, you must actually look at how it is mounted.

It would be very helpful if you could tell us what the bolt circle diameter is, then we can give you your options on replacement wheels.

Grigg

I wiil measure it and let you know Thanks.

I checked and they are hub piloted. There is a series of center blocks on the hub that the rim has to sit on to center. The bolt pattern is 2 3/4 inches center to center on the lugs.I Hope this helps thanks.

First thing, bolt circle diameter is measured form center of stud hole to center of stud hole 180 degrees apart, (that's from center of hole to center of opposite hole).
That works great for even numbers of lugs, and if it's an odd number, then from one to the opposite side where the hole would be if there were twice as many studs (180 degrees away again).

So, I went and measured my AD Chevy 1.5 or 2 ton wheels that are 10 lugs on a 7.25" bolt circle, and the approximate stud to neighboring stud measurement is 2.25" that's not what you measured, so we don't yet know what you have.

Go take another few measurements,
1, bolt circle diameter as described above
2, diameter of the big hole in the very center of the wheel.

Let us know what you find, and we'll give it another try,
Grigg

Grigg,

All of my big trucks had spoke wheels except one and I never had to change a wheel on that one, but didn't all GM trucks with Budds have "Hub Piloted Wheels" by 1960?

Bill

Bill,
Starting in, I think 1956, 2 ton chevys had 6 lug stud piloted Budd wheels. I don't know how long that lasted, or what came next.

I really don't know so much about trucks after about 54 or 55.
But I am sure true stud piloted Budd wheels were used on some GM trucks. you are right though, the majority of medium sized GM trucks have hub piloted wheels.

Grigg

http://community.webshots.com/user/biglou5750?vhost=community
here are some pictures or his rims hopefully some one can identify them

Lou jr

Looks like you have the medium size 10 lug wheels. Not semi truck size, and not AD Chevy size.

One of those pictures of the rear rim looks like a true "split rim", the kind to stay away from.
Some of the others look like the 3 piece lock ring type, and are serviceable if in good condition.

Look in this wheel catalog: http://www.accuridewheels.com/completeversion.pdf
on page number 12 and see if that is the bolt pattern you have, 10 hole 8.75 circle diameter?
If so then you could buy new 22.5" wheels, Accuride part number 28160.

If the 22.5" wheels fit that's what I would do if the truck were mine, probably run 9R22.5 or 10R22.5 tires, depending on fender clearance.

Grigg

Yes picture 16 and 17 are split rims note that it has no ring and it is tube type. I have a set of tube type lock ring wheels with good tires on them they came off my 64 if you are interested I put 22.5 tubeless on it got them from a local tire shop but needed the part number from the website Grigg left above the bottom of page 12 P/N 28160. you will find pictures in the gallery or on my webshots page.

Yes the true split rims are my 65 C50 they are outlawed in mass. . The split rings are on my sons 48. The hub hole diameter on my rims is 71/4 inches across. The lug hole diameter is 8 3/4 inches across they are hub piloted rims. My guestions are what year did they stop using this style rim and what replaced it. I can not afford to buy new rims so what have people looked for in the junkyards. I would really like to stick with the 20 inch rims for originalitys sake. Any help in my quest would be greatly appreciated. Lou. H.

The "new" 22.5" rims can be found in junkyards pretty easy, as GM used them for a while.

If you don't want to buy new ones then start calling around and asking for either lock ring 20" wheels or 22.5" wheels with your bolt pattern.

Grigg

Lou I do have a set of 6 8.25X20 in good condition mounted on the wheels you need they come off my 64 I don't know what shipping would be but e-mail me an offer if you are interested. You can see pictures of them on my web shots page they would be the ones on the 64 before I went to tubeless.

Hevyhauler it is not the tires that I am looking for. I am looking for some legal rims. The tires I can get new for $100 apeice new right here in town. thanks for trying to help. Lou. H.

Lou what I have is wheels and tires, but if you want the wheels you have got to take the tires. I have tires coming out my ears I don't need anymore hanging around!