Differences in truck wheels

T

ThirtyEightIsGreat

Junior Member
Does anyone know what years of 1-1/2 ton truck rims had changes to the offsets, lug holes, hub centers, etc?

I have a 1938 with 20" x 4.33 (I believe) rims. Just wondering what other years will fit? I am not interested in going wider. Thanks
 
Find the Budd numbers on your wheels and I’ll look them up for you. Probably found on the concave side center discs, most likely for your era. Later wheels would have the numbers on the rear rim lips. If no numbers are there, on some or all, it means the wheels are K-H. They never stamped their numbers making them hard to match. It’s still possible by relying on backspace, offset, and rim width measurements. Stu
 
Your 1938 truck wheel (BB-1015-D) will fit truck starting in 1933 through 1947 with the full floating rear axle.

I believe that the shape of the five opening holes changed from a roughly triangular shape to a more rounded oval shape in 1938. I also think that this is primarily a cosmetic change important only to those wanting to match wheels or have the period correct version for their truck.
 
A quick look at Budd’s 1944 catalog shows the BB-1015-D / Budd 35280 having the narrower 3.75” rim (measured using the modern system across the inner base rim). The old system called it a 5” rim when measured across rim lips. The 4.33” (new system), 6” (old system), is shown as 81T 1015 / Budd 35260. Ford was real willing to substitute/interchange like components so checking your wheels for their numbers might yield differences. I can check earlier references if needed and should be able to give specs on your wheels. Stu
 
Stu - great information. Thanks for sharing. I find truck wheel sizes a bit hard to understand, especially as there are nomenclature changes as the years pass.
 
Reaching back to your first post mentioning 1947, these older locking side ring wheels (Firestone RH style) have remained viable replacement wheels for our guys with the 1948 to 1970s era trucks. In 1948 Ford fell in love with Firestone’s new “Advanced Design” rim, called the RH-5°. Today called the “widow maker”, that fewer and fewer shops are willing to touch today. Even the RH style is becoming hard to find service on as the chain operations no longer train new techs in their handling. Stu
 
I want to thank all of you guys for your replies.
I will be blasting and painting the ones I have, and will reach back out if I see the Budd numbers...
I have some that measure 6-3/4" to outer face when laying face up. Some measure 7-1/2" and some 8-1/2" I guess I'll keep the shallow ones matched on the front, and try to get equal spacing and offsets in the rear, as long as they clear my awesome mechanical brake cables.
I picked some up today, and am excited to get them dismounted, cleaned and prepped. They were from a guy I met on this forum, next state over. It was great to meet someone with many similar interests. I'm looking forward to the knowledge and resources on this place..
 
You don’t yet know whether the variety of wheels you have share the same rim/ring design. Probably don’t from your description. Even within the common Firestone RH/RI design family the rings are different between the 3.75”(5”), 4.33” (6”), and 5.00” (7”) rim widths. And if some wheels have split rings they are Goodyear products and could have a variety of ring designs. Bottom line, keep the rims and rings together as matching sets when you disassemble them. Stu
 
I have been keeping all rings and rims together as I dismantled them.

I even had a couple split ring style that were swiss cheese, so those will be going to scrap. All the others are continuous ring style. Either way, I keep them paired as I dismount them.
 
If you look closely at the back sides of the rings you’ll find the Firestone RI info and rim widths molded into the metal. The RI rims (Dayton style open center) and RH rims (fixed center disc) of equal widths shared the same side rings, all marked RI. Stu
 
Well, I was able to get 5 out of the 6 I needed put together. The rest of the rims & rings I had were just too far gone and too dangerous to use.
My rims were mostly Budd C-34800. Now I just have to hunt one rim and Ring down to finish, and my relic can roll on it's own shoes.. I am glad I was able to get the ones I was from Karl in MA.
 

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ThirtyEightIsGreat said:
Well, I was able to get 5 out of the 6 I needed put together. The rest of the rims & rings I had were just too far gone and too dangerous to use.
My rims were mostly Budd C-34800. Now I just have to hunt one rim and Ring down to finish, and my relic can roll on it's own shoes.. I am glad I was able to get the ones I was from Karl in MA.
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I imagine they may rub if I had 7.00 or larger on them, But I have 6.50, and I could fit a 2 x 4 between them at 50#.
I don't intend on having anything too heavy on the back.
That certainly could be a problem with the rims being narrow, and not much offset. Thanks for checking out my post.
Jack
 
Thank you!
Honestly, I am not sure what I would put on the back, maybe a Stake body?
First, I need one more rim and ring for my last wheel... I am on the hunt for another C-34800 or close. It's tough finding one that isn't shot or too thin from pitting and erosion.
 
Jack,

I'm sure I can find you a rim and lock ring at my parents' house in CT. Send me a PM and we can set up a time to meet up.

Red
 
There is a guy in Chickasha Oklahoma that I talked to the other day that has more rims from a 1-1/2 ton 1938 he is hot rodding.
 
Thanks, RK. I picked up a few from another member of this forum today. He was right in my state. I am going to try to clean those up and use them. I do appreciate the resource though. Thank you! Jack
 
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