The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk 1949 3/4 ton - Rim Modification Safety

I've got a '49 3/4 ton and am looking to loose the split rims.

I've found a set of Chevy 16" x 7" 8 lugs, but would like to use narrow bias ply tires (Tornel Highway 7.00 16".) Is it common and is it safe to have modern rims narrowed to work with narrower bias ply tires? It appears they would have to be 5" wide to be the same width as factory original rims.

Thanks for the help!

Have you tried the rimms for fit on the front end? I think a rim with a width of 7" will hit the tie rod ends. I used a set that were 6" wide.

That depends on the offset, if the offset is neutral then a 7" rim will clear your stock tie rod ends by a bit less than a fingers width.
With the later banjo shaped tie rod ends you can go to an 8" rim.

One of the vast improvements I made to my truck was to widen the rims and go to radials.
After driving with 235/85 16" radials on 7" rims I would never go back to 7.00 16" bias ply on 4 1/2- 5" rims unless I was going to show the truck.

Ray

I've gone the other direction several times, sectioning rims on a brake drum lathe and adding a spacer to the center to widen the footprint for dirt track racing and tractor pulling rigs. It takes some very good fitting and perfect weld beads to prevent pinhole leaks. I'm not sure I'd be willing to put modified rims on the street from a liability standpoint, even though I'd bet my life on a welded rim on the race track. Everybody on a racetrack or at a pull truck event is there by choice, and we're taking a calculated risk concerning the possibility of being injured by a failed piece of equipment. The general motoring public does not need to be put at risk by my choices concerning operating a modified vehicle.
Jerry

Since you're changing the wheels anyway, why not upgrade to radials?

I'll second that question.

There are some "vintage" looking radial tires if it's just the look your after.

Grigg

Jerry, You are one thoughtful guy about the general motoring public.
Now I think about that gal doing her lipstick, the guy on his cell phone,the kid texting. I wish the Motoring public was as thoughtful.
I was wondering if modified, welded wheels would hold up to the flex and stress. I could see it as a problem if not done properly, but don't know the answer if it was done right.

Dan

I think you'll find a few companies that will do that type of work and stand behind it.
One that is always mentioned but not very often favorably is Stockton wheel, and there are a few perhaps better shops out there that do the same stuff, I just can't recall the names.

http://www.mrt-wheels.com/catpages/wheel%20parts.html

Here are some wheel parts, not what you need, but avalible.

Joe

I'm very comfortable dropping the hammer on a 1,000+ horsepower tractor pull engine and applying that power to a set of my modified wheels. Ditto for putting several G's of side load onto my dirt tracker wheels on a washboard chert gravel 1/4 mile round track. I have no doubt whatsoever that my welds will hold up to several times the stress they would ever receive on the street.

What I'm not willing to risk is the loss of everything I've worked a lifetime to acquire, my home, my tools, and my retirement, to some shyster lawyer after a minor fender-bender on the street. My brother is a criminal defense attorney, and he says there are two types of clients- - -crooks and insurance companies. With the crooks, you get a better class of client! Try convincing a jury that your pieced-together vehicle with the home-fabricated wheels is actually as safe as one with factory-made parts. You and I know that we're probably safer with our custom-made parts than some factory-assembled stuff, but risking it all on the street is a bad gamble, in my viewpoint!
Jerry

The modern rim isn't sectioned in the narrowing process... unless it is a mag. If we are talking about a pressed steel rim, the outer hoop is removed from the center and replaced with a new hoop of the correct size. The center of the rim can be welded back in at almost any offset you wish.

Anyway narrowing or widening wheels is very expensive. If you can find a set that will work without the customizing, you will likely be ahead. I have used Stockton Wheel, since they are in the backyard of the San Francisco Bay Area. They weren't cheap, they definetely weren't fast, but they did an outstanding job on the rims I brought them. These guys have been widening wheels since the days of horse drawn carriages. They did right by me and I would use em again without hesitation.

John

I'll second that.

Hi All-

Thanks for the input. Sounds like modifying the wheels is more trouble than it's worth - particularly with potential liability issues.

I've found a couple of supplier's (in addition to Stockton) of vintage-looking wheels if it's of use to anyone else:

http://www.wheelvintiques.com/?p=27

http://www.thewheelsmith.net/1947-52_Chevy_Pickup_Cap.html

Thanks again.

Hi Grigg-

If you can point me in the direction of vintage looking radials I'd really appreciate it.

I'm trying to keep the truck looking as 'period-correct' as possible. None of the radials I've found have treads or profiles that look right. (there all wider and have rounder sidewalls.)

Thanks!

Blue49,
did you find a supplier of eight lug wheels that take Chevy hubcaps?

Well, sounds like you're quite demanding, and I probably don't have an answer for you.
But I'd start with the list of tire dealers listed in out links section
http://www.stovebolt.com/links/parts.html#tires

Good luck,
Grigg

Try www.bageco.com. They have some 16x6 basic steel wheels for about 60 bucks a piece that'll do you just fine. You can reuse your existing hubcaps by getting some new hubcap clips from brothers of chevs of the 40's and noone will know the difference.