Kelsey hays vs regular wire wheels

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draggin49

Senior Member
Was looking into buying some 16” wire wheels , was curious how big of a difference there is in strength ? Or is it something not even worth worrying about .
 
Kelsey-Hayes made standard production wire spoke wheels for Ford, as well as aftermarket bent spoke wire wheels. I have '35 16" standard production, straight spoke wire wheels, some made by K-H and some made by other suppliers. I don't see any noticeable difference between these wheels. Their bent spoke versions may be a different story. I also would not be concerned about the strength of these wheels, unless the are rust rotted or damaged in some way.
 
draggin49 said:
Was looking into buying some 16” wire wheels , was curious how big of a difference there is in strength ? Or is it something not even worth worrying about .
Click to expand...


KH Bent spokes are a stronger wheel - they have 40 spokes instead of the standard 35 Ford 32 spokes. KH bent spokes are riveted in place vs welded standard. Also the 40 spoke KH has its spokes bent to enter the rim at a straight in position vs the welded spoke that is angled. My opinion is that the KH 40 spoke bent spoke is a stronger wheel ... not suggesting that it is better for your purpose - just describing my view of the differences. Also - the KH 40 Bent spoke offered a slightly wider 4.5" rim (shown in the picture) suitable to handle a bigger tire. I have 4" up front and 4.5 in the rear.
 

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Ford in the day would advertise that each spoke would hold 4000 lbs.
At shows they would suspended, I've seen photos of up to three Ford cars from one wheel. Incredible!
 
I have K-H bent spoke wheels(restored by me) on my 34 roadster(5 years) & I think that they are better looking & also what PeterC sez. I also have a set of one off(only set made by wheels of steel) bent spokes on my 32 roadster(15 years approximately) that are chromed & in my opinion very nice looking. If you keep them clean & polished they are not all that hard to take care of. If you decide to go for a used set of K-h or motor wheel rims be sure to watch for out of round, curb rash,worn stud mounting holes,& rusted valve stem holes. I would not buy a wheel without checking the interior of the rim/wheel for badly rusted areas. Should there be a tire mounted have it dismounted so that you can check the bead area & the rest of the rim. If selling party will not let you dismount the tire take a walk. Your call.
 
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