56 Ford wheel size

S

svmsr1044

Senior Member
What is the width of a 56 Ford Fairlane Sunliner OEM wheel? What is a good source for the purchase of a new OEM quality wheel for my 56?
Thanks,
Steve
 
Having been down this road, a couple things to watch for. These early wheels had a smaller opening in the center. Most later Ford wheel fit, but they have the larger opening. Secondly, the “humps” around the center or the outer rim have to be correct to mount the oem hub cap (dog dish) or the full wheel cover. So lot of rims that fit may or may not end up working for you.

Years ago WheelSmith made me a set of oem centers on 7” rims with 4” backspacing. It let me mount 10” cheater slicks on the back of the bird and run 55-56 (color difference) dog dishes. But that’s another story.
 
Having been down this road, a couple things to watch for. These early wheels had a smaller opening in the center. Most later Ford wheel fit, but they have the larger opening. Secondly, the “humps” around the center or the outer rim have to be correct to mount the oem hub cap (dog dish) or the full wheel cover. So lot of rims that fit may or may not end up working for you.
Click to expand...

10-4 ON THIS!

The MPC shows service replacement wheels as a 1960 PN.

You would most likely need a HOLLANDERS PN to find a correct wheel unless you know exactly what you are looking for.
 
miker98038 said:
Having been down this road, a couple things to watch for. These early wheels had a smaller opening in the center. Most later Ford wheel fit, but they have the larger opening. Secondly, the “humps” around the center or the outer rim have to be correct to mount the oem hub cap (dog dish) or the full wheel cover. So lot of rims that fit may or may not end up working for you.

Years ago WheelSmith made me a set of oem centers on 7” rims with 4” backspacing. It let me mount 10” cheater slicks on the back of the bird and run 55-56 (color difference) dog dishes. But that’s another story.
Click to expand...

Super expensive back then?
 
Pretty reasonable as I recall, but it’s been over 15 years. He had a couple stock wheels for the centers, I don’t know what the rims were. But I didn’t have full wheel covers so it didn’t matter. Otherwise I’d have had to ship the centers to him.
 
Howdy. I have a couple old wheels, 15x5 and 15x5 1/2 with 4.5" bolt pattern. The center (hub) hole on one is 2.25" and the other is 2.5". I don't want to pull a wheel to fir if I don't need to...going to use the correct one for a spare. Any idea the correct hub hole size for '56 Club Sedan? Thanks very much.
 
You should be able to get close enough just popping a hub cap. A 1/4” difference is tape measure work, not a micrometer. I’m guessing the 5” rim is the 2.25. But there might have been some early wheels (station wagons, police cars, etc) with the smaller center and a 5 1/2” rim.
 
Old tires vs New tires

Sidewalls we’re not balloonish then, essentially flat faced from rim to ground.yes the tread width is the same but:
I have a modern day tire/spare in the rear compartment of my wagon. The tire wall will not allow the door cover to close completely. I don’t like this and have tried to find a reasonably priced tire.
 
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