The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Rims

On my 52 3600 I have the rubber off the original 3-piece rims. Have any of you guys reused these rims or do you replace with something more current? I don't want to have them painted/powder-coated and then not reuse them.

From what I have heard, the 3-piece rims are safER than the two piece. Is that true?

Thanks Guys

There is a lot of debate on this subject. In some areas it may be hard to find someone to work on them. I didn't want tube tires or multi-piece rims so I went with an 80's rim with modern tubless radial tires. The truck behaves very well on the road.

These are commonly known as split rims due to the split ring front rim flange. The main benefit of this type wheel is ease of installation of the early 8-10 ply heavy duty tires that frequently used an inner flap between the wheel and inner tube. Back in the day when tires were installed with tire irons, removing the front ring was much easier than attempting to stretch the tire over the rim. On very heavy flaps/tubes/tires removing the ring was essentially the only way to mount the tire.

The danger occurs if the split ring is damaged or doesn't seat correctly. Upon installation, or later during use it can separate from the wheel with explosive force. 60 minutes (CBS) did an feature on the numerous fatalies caused by these rims back in the 70's when they were more popular on big rigs, and may be partially responsible for why they are so rare now. When a ring blew off a fully loaded big rig it frequently took out the car and occupants next to it. That's why it's hard to find anyone willing to work with them today.

If I were doing a 100 point restoration with original style heavy duty bias tires I'd want to keep them anyway just to keep it pure. If it's going to be a driver, modern tires and wheels will be more comfortable and handle better. Regards, Mark.

Personally, I don't like like 2 or 3 piece rims. Basically, the only thing keeping everything in place is the pressure in the tire. You have a low tire and go to air it up, kerblang! You now have a new necklace. I would go with a modern single piece wheel. You can still get hubcap clips and install them on the late model wheels to give you that oe look.

What's a two piece rim? Are we talking about the bigger trucks? I have a '48 half ton, and I think they're pretty much the same as modern rims - one piece.

Here's some more info on multi piece rims:
http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/wheels/
click the blue text for pictures of the different kinds

Grigg

What I'm refering to as a "2 piece rim" is a rim with a removable ring on the outer lip. Basically you stick a prybar in a groove on the rim and pry the ring off. There's maybe only about 1/8" material on the rim, and in some places not even that much, which hold it all together. The pressure in the tire is what holds everything in place. On a rusty old rig, I think it's a recipe for disaster.

I don't particularly like the "2 piece rim" you describe, but I have never known of one to come off. I have a couple of 3/4 tons that have them and I don't worry about them. I like the 3 piece better. It has a solid lock ring and a split snap ring that holds it in place. Yes, air pressure holds any multiple piece rim together. It is up to the person who changes the tire to see that it is seated right. We have had an inflating cage in our shop for over 40 years. We put just enough air in them to seat the ring while it is in the cage so we can watch it. We then clip an inflater to the stem that is set at the desired psi and then stand back. We switched to tubeless tires on our over the road trucks back in the early 70's. Not out of fear of the multi piece rims, but because almost half of our flats were caused by folds in tubes. Also, many fires were caused by friction of the tube and flap inside of a flat tire. An unnoticed flat on a tubeless tire does not generate that kind of heat. I run tube type tires on all of my old jalopies and don't worry about them. I would never attempt to use a Firestone RH5 wheel. They were dangerous to the point that when we found one, we took a cutting torch to it so that no unsuspecting person would ever use it.

I know there's still a ton of the multi piece rims out there. My father gets old grain trucks and tractors in the shop all the time with them. He's never had any come apart and there hasn't been any catastrophes in the shop, but like I said before, I don't like them. A radial tire and a one piece rim is good enough for me.

I use the three piece 17" with bias plys on my truck. Most good tire shops, particularly those that have been around for a while, still have a cage. I have no fear of the rims, but I would never fill a flat without a cage. Other than that, those big 17" rims look cool. Super groovers on the front, tractions on the rear, now you're truckin!

Crenwelge is right on.