Wheel I.D. ?

[Lyle Willits]

DAVE LINDSAY PHOTO

I've seen these wheels on some old style rods for the past 4-5 years. I made a 25th scale wheel VERY close to these (pictured) by combining the center section of a '36 Ford wheel with outer portion of a '37 Ford pickup wheel.

Does anyone know what these 1:1 wheels are from? Are they recent "old style" aftermarket wheels? Are they actual stock Ford wheels from a different year?

Thanks in advance.

[Rick Schmidt]

didn't VWs have wheels like that at one time ?? Dunno that rodders woulda used VW parts on their rods but I guess its possible

[RyanSilva]

Those are widened Ford wheels. The rims themselves look 17inch..almost stepped to fit the smaller centers., least on the front they do. Factory ford wheels came in 16 inch for a fact, I think another size too, might just be getting mixed up with the big wire wheels though.

They wide fives came on 1936-39 (i think..some 40's also).

The Revell 37 ford wheels are wide fives, they just have the hubcap covering all the bolts and hub.

Came on cars and trucks. the 3/4 ton trucks had a wider rear tires..somewhere around 7 inches! Passenger cars had 4 inch I believe.

[Lyle Willits]

Those are widened Ford wheels. The rims themselves look 17inch..almost stepped to fit the smaller centers., least on the front they do. Factory ford wheels came in 16 inch for a fact, I think another size too, might just be getting mixed up with the big wire wheels though.

They wide fives came on 1936-39 (i think..some 40's also).

The Revell 37 ford wheels are wide fives, they just have the hubcap covering all the bolts and hub.

Came on cars and trucks. the 3/4 ton trucks had a wider rear tires..somewhere around 7 inches! Passenger cars had 4 inch I believe.

THANKS VERY MUCH.

[Art Anderson]

Those are widened Ford wheels. The rims themselves look 17inch..almost stepped to fit the smaller centers., least on the front they do. Factory ford wheels came in 16 inch for a fact, I think another size too, might just be getting mixed up with the big wire wheels though.

They wide fives came on 1936-39 (i think..some 40's also).

The Revell 37 ford wheels are wide fives, they just have the hubcap covering all the bolts and hub.

Came on cars and trucks. the 3/4 ton trucks had a wider rear tires..somewhere around 7 inches! Passenger cars had 4 inch I believe.

Ford used 6:00-16 wheels and tires from 1935-48, on all passenger cars and light trucks. Ford didn't really produce a 3/4 ton pickup until the start of the F-series in 1948, however, concentrating, as did Chevy, Dodge and Studebaker on the 1/2 ton variety, but with 1-ton express pickups based on the larger truck chassis of the times, starting with the Model AA in 1928. There was never any difference in tire widths between front and rear in those years either--the tires and wheels were identical front and rear.

The "wide five" wheel and brake drum started in 1936, as a mechanical brake setup, and was converted, in its last year (1939) to hydraulic brakes. The "wide five" setup went away with the end of the 1939 model year, Ford joining the rest of the industry with conventional disc wheels for 1940. While the wide-five lug pattern is cool, most of us forget that this arrangement put a lot of stress on the brake drum--it's pretty hard to find a car with that setup (and I include VW Beetles in that!) without warped or bent brake drums, due to the stresses placed on the drums themselves from hard turns, and the road shocks from chuckholes and such.

It's only nowadays, in more modern times, that Ford wide-fives are seen on street rods, mostly for the look. Back in the 40's through the 60's. anyone building a rod out of a Ford (what else back then?) went to the junkyard, dug out a set of '40-'48 Ford juice brakes, and installed those, along with compatible wheels. Simply put, the Ford brakes introduced for 1940 were the best around at that time, more than enough swept area for any fairly lightweight hot rod, and completely free from being stressed by the placement of the wheel lugs, as those were mounted on a very solid forged wheel hub, the brake drum being completely independent of that hub.

Art

[Jairus]

Your my favorite Poster Art...

[RyanSilva]

The wide 5 was also used til '42 on various 3/4ton trucks in a variety of sizes different from the common '37-9' setup. (ford data says till '47..but Ive never seen them..)Ive seen 16x4's,5's 7's...

There was also special "high clearance" wide fives made for folks living in bad areas (ruts mud etc). These are 18's and over the counter by ford.

There was a 15 inch wide five mad for Marmon Harrington 4x4's in the 40's but those are pretty rare.

[herbert]

These are 36 Ford VW had same bolt pad. The were used on dirt track cars 37 - 40 ford. Some after market is make them

again. Some time they used the VW wheel on left front when tow cars to track. hope this help

[BigGary]

These are 36 Ford VW had same bolt pad. The were used on dirt track cars 37 - 40 ford. Some after market is make them

again. Some time they used the VW wheel on left front when tow cars to track. hope this help

I question the statement that Ford wide 5 and VW had the same bolt pattern. The Ford would have been SAE (Society of Automotive engineers) inch standard and the VW, then in pre-production, would have been metric. They may have been "close enough" to be used in some low stress incidents, but it is unlikely.

Gary

[RyanSilva]

VW wide fives are the same as the Ford Anglia wide fives which is 5x205mm bolt pattern.

Ford American wide fives like those on the 36-39's (and later trucks) was around 10.25"

[supermike]

I dont know what they are. But all i know is that they look cool.