Kelsey Hayes rim on '48 DeSoto: OEM or aftermarket?

[Art Bailey]

Hey y'all. 

 

Took the wheels to the tire shop to have them pry off the crusty 30 year old radials on my '48 DeSoto. I was surprised to not see the DDCP logo or the Mopar part number inside the rim, but "Kelsey Hayes" etched into them. They're 5.5", according to the parts manual, they switched to that size from 4.5 sometime late in production. 

 

So, I'm wondering, did these originally come with the car, or are they aftermarket? They have the hubcap clips. 

 

Thanks,

Art

[Doug&Deb]

I don’t think they were OEM for 48. Perhaps they’re from a later year car. Mopar used those throughout the 50’s. I believe the bolt pattern stayed the same for many years also.

[Eneto-55]

1 hour ago, Doug&Deb said:

I don’t think they were OEM for 48. Perhaps they’re from a later year car. Mopar used those throughout the 50’s. I believe the bolt pattern stayed the same for many years also.

Yes. 

 

For instance, the first thing my Dad did when he bought a 62 Chrysler Newport in 66, was to replace the 14" wheels with the 15" wheels off of a 53 DeSoto.  And the same pattern was used for some years after that as well.  (I don't recall that I ever tried to mount those DeSoto wheels on my 72 Coronet, but I wouldn't be surprised if they would have fit.)

[Art Bailey]

Cool. I'm pleasantly surprised to have wider rims, which opens up the options for radials on my heap, but on the other hand, I had gone ahead and bought a rim from French Lake to use as a spare, not thinking I had anything other than stock '48 rims on my car, so now I'm stuck with a useless rim. My heirs are going to have a hell of a yard sale, if there's even a market for my junk when I croak.

 

The Kelsey Hayes are a bit better in that they aren't made in two halves, like the stock rim, creating a seam up the center of the rim, which I imagine might leak if used without a liner when going tubeless. 

[Sniper]

I am running 17" rims off a 2005-2009 Charger, 300 or Magnum on my 51.

 

 

[Eneto-55]

2 hours ago, Sniper said:

I am running 17" rims off a 2005-2009 Charger, 300 or Magnum on my 51.

 

 

Reminds me - funny thing: A friend from Tyler, Texas was visiting us, and he had a tire go bad.  We found a full-size wheel the right size (3rd Gen MoPar minivan) in a salvage, and he left his 16 inch "doughnut spare" here with me.  The funny thing is that it actually has the holes for the guide pin like on our cars.