late wheels on early drums question..

Henry Hopper

Henry Hopper

Senior Member
I have bolted on a set of 1940 ford wheels to my stock `32 Ford drums...the question is, is there a problem doing this.I heard it rumoured somewhere that it could be a safety issue, due to them not being compatible.Can anyone say for absolute definate if there is a problem here.

Thanks, Nige.
 
There is a big problem.
The 40 wheel wants a flat surface to bolt down to, the 32 drums have a raised area around the middle.
On my car I cut/filed the 5 raised nubs off the 32 drums so the 40 wheels would bolt on ok.

Mart.
 
Mart said:
There is a big problem.
The 40 wheel wants a flat surface to bolt down to, the 32 drums have a raised area around the middle.
On my car I cut/filed the 5 raised nubs off the 32 drums so the 40 wheels would bolt on ok.

Mart.
Click to expand...

Now alll you need to do is remember to add an adapter ring if you go back to the original wire wheels.

Charlie Stephens
 
The little stands do not hit the inside support area of the 40 wheels. Cutting them down would seem to be a solution but the parta are really incompatable. Measure it out and you will see it will not work.
 
Thanks for the input fellas....I guess it forces my hand to go for the juice option.I have a full set of rebuilt 40`s hydraulic brakes/hubs/drums etc,....I just wanted to stick with the stockers if possible, and try and dial them in to optimum performance and see how they performed before removing any more stock parts from the car.

With the doubt about compatability in my head, I would not drive easy now.Without being able to get answers to questions like this on here, I could/would have had a potentially dangerous situation, just through ignorance...I appreciate the heads up.
 
I would try putting some modeling clay (Play Doh in the US) on the face of the drum near a stud and try mounting up one of your disc wheels and seeing for yourself exactly what is and what isn't supported. (No, I haven't done this and I don't know what the results will be.)
 
Just like many hydraulic guys do the opposite with a ring to set the wires up right, you need to make a flat plate that indexes on those bumps and makes a flat surface for the rim to sit on. If you set a mechanical drum next to a hydraulic drum it's very easy to see what you need. Anybody with a large lathe or vertical mill and radius table can make these for you. It's roughly 1/4".


Tim
 
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