Firestone Air Balloon Wheels and Hubcaps

Bored&Stroked

Bored&Stroked

Well-known member
When I was in my teens, my Uncle and I went through a junkyard in South Dakota and I found 3 Firestone bent-spoke, adjustable wire wheels. I wasn't sure as to what they were, but I liked the bent and adjustable spokes. They were also a bit different in that they had a snap-ring on the outside - like many truck wheel/tires. I've carted those dang things around for 40+ years - never having seen a '4th wheel' to buy . . .

Anyway, fast forward 40 years and I managed to find a fourth one of these - which completes the set. What I'd love to find is a set of the original Air Balloon hubcaps. If any of you guys happen to know anybody who has a set, would absolutely love to run these rims on my 32.

Here is a picture of a restored set on a 32 roadster that was recently built by Brizo - called the 'Firestone Roadster'. Not sure where he found the hubcaps - maybe from Don Orosco . . .

Would appreciate any help or leads that any of you might have . . .

RestoredWheel-Hubcap.jpg
 
Yes Dale, They are attractive wheels. They have one fault; as you're well aware, wire wheels, to be mounted correctly, need to have that outer back portion firmly located against the appropriate portion of the brakedrum. These Firestone wheels don't mount properly; that outer portion is located about 1/8" off the drum. Consequently, the lugholes end up taking all the stresses, and ultimately crack. Now that you're aware of that, you can devise some method to prevent this happening.
 
Thanks Brian - have never actually stuck them up on a drum . . . but now that you brought that important point up - you can get I will. THANKS for the tip . . .

I already have 'wire wheel plates' from Dennis Lacy for the current wire wheels and the Boling Brothers / Lincoln drums - will be interesting to see if they are wide enough for these wires. Will get back to you all (on this thread) . . .
 
Dale, I mean original 28-35 drums...I have no knowledge of this aftermarket stuff, may well be they fit up ok?
 
I saw a set of complete wheels and hub caps at Hershey two years ago. The guy was knocking $200 off the price if you correctly identified the wheels.
 
Brian said:
Yes Dale, They are attractive wheels. They have one fault; as you're well aware, wire wheels, to be mounted correctly, need to have that outer back portion firmly located against the appropriate portion of the brakedrum. These Firestone wheels don't mount properly; that outer portion is located about 1/8" off the drum. Consequently, the lugholes end up taking all the stresses, and ultimately crack. Now that you're aware of that, you can devise some method to prevent this happening.
Click to expand...

Hey Brian, just wanted to thank you for reminding me about this issue - had known about it for years, but it had slipped my mind (I had typically ran Ford wire wheels on other cars). You "got me to thinking" . . . So - I did a couple things today:

1) I checked the bent-spoke, adjustable wire wheels that are actually on the car and thought to myself . . . "Hmmmm - they were on the car when I pulled it out of that garage - wonder if they fit correctly???". The original builder of the car "Earl" built it in the late 30's to early 40's, were probably a pretty "cool wheel" at the time . . . but truthfully, they never could have fit correctly.

photo2.jpg

photo copy.jpg

Well, sure as heck, they are the SAME as the Firestones (probably made by Kelsey as well) - with the same 1/8 - 3/16" gap between the mounting surface and my later drums. I also checked against the original 32 drums (that were on the car) - they have a gap as well, though maybe not quite as much. (Need to 'clay' the drums and get a precise measurement)

2) Given that BOTH sets of wheels have the issue, I pondered how to "fix" them to correctly mount as they should (on an Early Ford). The only easy way to do this is to create a steel "ring" that will have 3 tabs that fit down inside the wheel and I'll put a small TIG tack weld to hold them in. These rings will be the diameter of the wheel mounting surface, about 1/4" wide and 1/8" thick or so . . . and will "fill the gap" between the wheel mounting surface and the drum surface.

I will design them in CAD and have them laser cut - pretty easy job actually. Anyway, wanted to thank you for bringing this up, because I know I would NOT have pondered it . . . has been too long since I thought about the issue.

Take care!
 
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