21" Wheels

R

rarebike

Senior Member
I just picked up a set of four 21" Model A rims that the owner says are AR wheels, how do I positively identify them as AR wheels?
 
By the depth of the inner rim. Its very apparent-thinner hub about 1 /14 inch deep vs about 1 3/4 inch deep.

just compare them to one you have laying around.
 
The design was a carry over from the 1926/27 model T with small drums. The early A drum size was larger and so was the wheel center but the T lug bolts were retained. When the brake system was improved with larger drums, the wheels was also changed to function with the new drums.
 
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I know people associate "AR" as being an early Model "A" but I understood "AR" was part of a number/letter combination on a revised part and not actually referring to an early car.
"A" for model "A" and "R" for "Revised"?
We had a set of wheels that we thought were Model "T" but told they were "AR". The person buying them said they were early Model "A". I suppose they both meant the same thing.
 
I don't have another Model A wheel to compare to but this is what I have.
 

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rarebike, take a look at the back of the rim-hub-how deep is it?

thats your answer, not what youre showing.........
 
Here's some photos I took a few years ago to help people ID their 21" wheels. The orange wheel is a Model T, the bare metal wheel is an Early 28 (or AR) and the red oxide primed wheel is the late 28-29 style.

Model T:
DSC05154.jpg


Early 28:
DSC05155.jpg


Late 28 and 29:
DSC05156.jpg


Model T on the left and Early 28 on the right:
DSC05157.jpg


Early 28 on the left and Late 28-29 wheel on the right:
DSC05149.jpg


Early 28 on the left and Late 28-29 wheel on the right:
DSC05158.jpg
 
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The Ford Service Bulletins discuss this (early wheel/drum versus later wheel/drum).

In June 1928 (with the separate parking brake system) the hub flange depth increased from 1-3/16” to 1-3/8”.

Mismatching either wheel to the wrong drum will be bad.
 

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dlshady - Post # 9

If "A picture is worth a thousand words", you have given us the Encyclopedia Brittanica !
Many of us are more 'visual' than those who are 'literate'. And I appreciate both; but with your photos you have done us all a great service. Thank you very much.

- Doug Vieyra, Eureka, California
 
DougVieyra said:
dlshady - Post # 9

If "A picture is worth a thousand words", you have given us the Encyclopedia Brittanica !
Many of us are more 'visual' than those who are 'literate'. And I appreciate both; but with your photos you have done us all a great service. Thank you very much.

- Doug Vieyra, Eureka, California
Click to expand...

Glad to help! I was really active here several years ago, long before life had other plans for me, and I used to see the wheel question come up at least once a week. One day I was working on my son's Model T when the UPS man brought the early 28 wheel pictured above, and I realized it was a good time to drag out the third version and take some pictures while I had the opportunity. Those photos have been shared soooooo many times now it's not even funny, but as you said, a lot of folks just need to see something for it to click. And it never hurts to have them side by side so the differences become more obvious.
 
That seems fairly simple to identify after seeing the pictures the late 28 and 29 will have a gradual radius whereas the early 1 doesn't!!!
 
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