The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts Widowmakers??? (pics)

These appear (at least to me) to be the original wheels on my '46 Chevy 2-ton. Are these the dreaded Widowmakers or something a bit less lethal?

Driver's front.

Driver's outside rear.

Driver's front (2).

they appear to be rh5's

Those are not RH5 firestone (widow makers) RH5 split at the middle of the wheel and have no locking rings near the bead. Your picture looks like there is a locking ring near the bead. Your second picture would of shown a big hump in the middle of the wheel where they joined together if they were RH5 wheels. Grigg has an excelent write up on wheels in the tech section http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/wheels/

They are some variety of multipiece that are not the RH5°. It looks like they might be the split lock ring type. If they don't have too much rust damage, they will be OK.

As long as those wheels aren't badly rusted or damaged, they should be safe to use. Just don't get careless while inflating them after a tire change, and don't mix up bits & pieces from different wheels. I like to do my inflating inside a safety cage, or at least wrap a piece of heavy chain through the hand holes and use a 10-foot-long hose with a clip-on inflator chuck and a ball valve to do the inflating. Another precaution- - - -if a tire on a sectional wheel is flat or seriously low on pressure, don't try to reinflate it without a complete teardown and inspection. Adding a few pounds is OK to keep the pressure right. Be safe!
Jerry

I rolled the spare outside and gave it a quick hit with the sand blaster in hope of some better pictures. It's in worse shape than the ones on the axles.

spare

spare 2

spare 3

Lots of rust between rim and center is bad, but yours look decent in that area.

Otherwise you won't know about rust until you pull them apart and really look at the lock ring and all related surfaces. Those are key and if much is rusted away or worn the wheels won't be safe to use..
About all you can see from the outside with a tire on is cracks or other sorts of physical damage.

Grigg

Does this look like one of the dreaded killer-rims? Unlike the others on my bus, the spare has a raised ridge down the inside middle. All have the locking ring outside.

[img]http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6215/6356683105_8ff48ee6d3.jpg[/img]

Tango, yes, that's a bad rim to use. I can't imagine that one has a lock ring though.

Jeff

I would deflate the spare and examine it. I think you will find that it does not have a lock ring. It comes apart in the middle and thats what makes it dangerous.

Dieseldude03's wheels are the Firestone/Kelsey Hayes "old style" "AR" three piecers. There is a small locking ring that holds the side ring in place. They can still be serviced. Tango's wheel is a widowmaker Firestone RH-5°. Cross section diagrams are below. Stu McMillan

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll89/truckdog62563/Wheel%20Profiles/ARsideringandlockring.jpg
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/.../budd1954FirestoneRH5degreeRH5degree.jpg

So just to be on the safe side, i'll ask. It is time for me to tear down some 3 piece rims. If they are completely deflated, with no pressure, then they are safe to take apart correct?? Nothing going to jump out at me?

Nope, no problem whatsoever. Just be sure to have a handful of whatever drug you choose as they are a b*tch to take apart sometimes. Trust me, you'll be sore afterwards

Jeff

I'd also add that it's important to be careful not to torque the ring too badly. As thin as they are I've read of them breaking due to years of fatique. On the positive side, though, the small rings used on different "AR" wheels all appear to have been alike. The part number of the small ring used on different width "AR" wheels are all the same. So robbing a donor wheel would work. This is generally not the case. For instance, on other designs the ring on a 5" rim cannot be used on a 6" rim. Stu

Thanks guys. So Jeff, have any feedback on American wheel up there near you somewhere? In Pasco I believe. They seem cool and quoted me right to have some wheels made. The guys in my backyard, Stockton wheel, are not in businss anymore.

Tom,

I don't have a clue on American Wheel. It triggers something in my memory, maybe someone I knew bought wheels through them?

Good luck, Jeff

I can give some info on them. American Wheel Specialist, in Pasco, WA, is the wholesale custom wheel supplier to the huge Les Schwab chain of west coast tire dealerships. I visited them probably three years ago and spent most of a morning sitting with the owner, Juan Murillo, and his son Shaun talking wheels. Like Grigg is to you guys, I'm a wheel resource guy on the Ford truck forum. When I visited AWS I got a tour, then sat firing questions from my list. One thing I learned was that they remount old centers (whether from yard inventory or the customer's own) into new "locking ring" tube type or tubeless outer rims. This is unlike Stockton that welds a flat face plate to existing wheel donors then machines out the old wheel centers. The AWS wheels look more original for this reason. I don't know whether Stockton has now reopened under new ownership since Frank's death. Since AWS is a wholesaler, guys living within the Schwab west coast service area would have to work through their local Schwab dealer to get AWS custom wheels. Those of us living east can work directly with AWS. Hope that helps some. Stu

Les Schwab gave me a quote about a month ago for some AWS wheels for my 53 chevy 6400. If I remember correctly they were $280 a piece.

Thanks to everyone that answered. Thankfully, all the tires on this truck are in good shape and hold air just fine. i don't anticipate having to mess with them anytime soon. Just figured better safe than sorry.

the wheels are a single piece lock ring 1 of the safest out there from that era. I changed truck tires for 25 years and seen them all. Just check that the rim of the wheel where the lockring seats is not rusted bad.then check the lockring for rust also im not talking about surface rust if it is pitted bad i would not use them.The ring will have to be turned about 10 degrees to get it to release from the wheel. Once you break it down look at the ring there should be a spot in the ring 180 degrees apart where the lock ring slides off. if your really not sure take it to your local truck tire dealer and have them remove tire from rim. a 20 dollar bill is cheap to save a life.

Just for the record...I confirmed that the rim in the pic I posted does NOT have a lock ring. My bad. All the others (6) on the bus are the standard issue '46 lock ring type.

Now I need to find one more to match. No desire to mess with a widow-maker. However...if anybody here is in the market for a 3-piece...I will be happy to make them a real deal.