Wire wheels

[plyroadking]

I met a guy with some 15" wire wheels that are off of a late '50's desoto or chrysler, I am kicking around the idea of trying them out on the '40. Will I need to put inner tubes in the tires? Is there a way to seal the wheels to avoid using tubes?

[Plymouthy Adams]

wires do require a liner for the spokes to add a ptorection layer between the spokes and the tube..think bicycle application here..where the spokes go through the rim...there is no way to seal this for use of tubeless tires and maintain the properties of the wheel at the same time..

[james curl]

If you go with radials be sure to tell the tire people you need radial tubes not bias tubes as they are different. If you use bias tubes in radial tires the flexing sidewalls will wear a hole in the tube which was not designed to absorb that much movement in the sidewall.

[captden29]

i never knew about radial tubes. had my wires mounted about 6 years ago, i do not know if they used the radial tubes. i guess they did as i have had no flats. they used duct tape for the liner. i am not happy with that, but it works. i will try to get a better liner when new tires are due. mine need balancing, but who does that correctly? i am in wilmington, nc. capt den

[YukonJack]

Check the bolt pattern before you buy. I think Chrysler ans Desoto have a different bolt pattern than Plymouth and Dodge.

[Plymouthy Adams]

In those days I think the Imperial was the one with the larger bolt pattern..

[desoto1939]

Here is a link to some wire wheel builders and truing:

I did a search under automotive wire wheel truing

The cost is very high:

http://www.woodyswheelworks.com/autowheels.shtml

Rich hartung

desoto1939@aol.com

[Plymouthy Adams]

wire wheels,especially on a high performance road car..always have had a high maintenance..comes with the look..higher cost wheels have a good number of spokes over those of average count found on most cars..add chorme to these and realy atke the cost over th top..pay to play is as true here as in most other aspects of a build..you want the look..you pay the cost..

[plyroadking]

Thanks for the inputs, I think im going to get them, clean them up a little and then see how they will do on ebay.

[Plymouthy Adams]

inspect the spoke nuts as they pass through the rim real close..corrosion here cause weakness and unsafe wheel and will make any attempt to align using these degraded spoke nuts a lame attempt..

[mossback44]

I'm a wire wheel fan and have a set of Roadster 56-spoke 15" chrome wheels on my '32 Desoto convertible coupe streetrod. I also have a similar set of 15" 56-spoke McLean chrome wires on my '36 Ford convertible sedan which is still in the build process. I may have had extraordinary luck, but the only problem I've ever had with any of them is a persistent leak in one wheel which turned out to be the result of a spot of rust on the bead of the wheel which kept the tire from sealing. Since cleaning the rust off, I have had no further leaks and no difficulty keeping them balanced. I bought both sets used and believe they were manufactured in the '80s or early '90s.

Maybe I'm just lucky, but my wheels have never been a problem, other than the leak mentioned above which had nothing to do with its wire spokes.

Edited September 3, 2012 by mossback44