Galaxie hipo rims

[junkyardjeff]

I Thought I read years ago that the Galaxie hipo rims were made by Kelsey Hayes,I have decided to put steel rims back on my 55 sunliner and picked up a original looking rim that has K-H stamped between two lug holes. I was planning on having the center hole enlarged to fit a disc brake rotor so before I do that I would like to know if its anything special or just a regular rim.

 

[paul2748]

I can't answer your question on the rim, but instead of making the rim hole bigger see if the hub of the disc brake can be turned down. This is what a lot of guys do when installing granada discs as the hub is very meaty.

Kelsey Hays made a lot of wheels for Ford over the years, most of them nothing spectacular.

 

[Lanny]

Ford cars had the 2 3/8" center hole from '49 till (I believe) '68 when
they then went to the larger 2 3/4" center hole.

If you cut the center hole out, you are going to make the wheel weaker, and
could cause the wheel to develop cracks from the lug holes to the center.

The differences between the KH SSW and the stock wheels is that the KH SSW
has the centers WELDED instead of RIVETED to the Rims. They also have what
is called a "Cat's Eye" cutouts instead of the regular round cornered rectangular
cutouts between the center and the hoop.
The "Cats Eye" cutout vents are very-very thin and only about 2 1/2" long.
Picture below of Cats Eye vent cutout.

Click on picture to Enlarge

 

[JeffB2]

Mid 80's to mid 90's Crown Victorias used a 15" wheel very popular with disc brake conversions they have a little more positive offset which makes changing a wider newer style tire easier to change on the rear with the limited room on 1952-56 Ford wheel wells.

 

[bobss396]

Kelsey Hayes also made a lot of stock wheels for many cars. I had an old Chevy with 15" x 6" ralleys made by KH, probably a police car wheel.

How wide is the wheel? It would have to be at least 6" to be worth anything. I have a set of reversed 14" station wagon wheels that came with my Ford, may be 7" wide. Those have to be dismounted & mounted from the other side. Yours look like a standard wheel.

I would also go with turning down the hub on the rotors.

 

[junkyardjeff]

Its just a 5 inch wide rim and was wanting to use them on the front since the aluminum wheels that are on it stick out more towards the outside and have a rubbing issue with the fenders when at full turn. Those original rims will put the tire in a bit and should help with the rubbing,a hospital bill took the money I was going to spend on new rims so I have to find used.

 

[Lanny]

Kelsey Hayes also made a lot of stock wheels for many cars. I had an old Chevy with 15" x 6" ralleys made by KH, probably a police car wheel.

How wide is the wheel? It would have to be at least 6" to be worth anything. I have a set of reversed 14" station wagon wheels that came with my Ford, may be 7" wide. Those have to be dismounted & mounted from the other side. Yours look like a standard wheel.

I would also go with turning down the hub on the rotors.

================================================



'57 thru '64 Ford full size cars used the negative offset (reversed)
style 14" wheels, and you had to mount or dismount the tires from
the backside of the wheels only.










.

 

[fordor41]

Mid 80's to mid 90's Crown Victorias used a 15" wheel very popular with disc brake conversions they have a little more positive offset which makes changing a wider newer style tire easier to change on the rear with the limited room on 1952-56 Ford wheel wells.

Watch it as some of these don't have the nubs for a center cap, if desired.

 

[fordor41]

Mid 80's to mid 90's Crown Victorias used a 15" wheel very popular with disc brake conversions they have a little more positive offset which makes changing a wider newer style tire easier to change on the rear with the limited room on 1952-56 Ford wheel wells.

Kelsey Hayes also made a lot of stock wheels for many cars. I had an old Chevy with 15" x 6" ralleys made by KH, probably a police car wheel.

How wide is the wheel? It would have to be at least 6" to be worth anything. I have a set of reversed 14" station wagon wheels that came with my Ford, may be 7" wide. Those have to be dismounted & mounted from the other side. Yours look like a standard wheel.

I would also go with turning down the hub on the rotors.

Only problem is that if you have a problem with that turned down hub, as on the road, you're in kind of a pickle. 80's Bronco II with 4WD are the large holes. Unfortunately they are not made any more.