I only know these rims from my truck, but 2 other club members helped me mount 4 tires with the 2 piece, widowmaker Firestone RH-5 rims recently and I took a series of, not how-to, but say, historical re-enactment photos of how these rims go together. Is there a demand out there to see those types of rims mounted? I'll post them if enough people want to see them. I'm not sure if this thread is HAMB appropriate, just putting the info out there in case.
If you are talking split rims I am sure that some of the fellas are still running 'em. Just post the pics and whatever info you deem appropriate and see how it shakes out.
So, call these pictures a historical re-enactment and not a how-to series. I helped another local club member who had recently remounted a rim on his vehicle by himself, plus his attitude is one that I felt comfortable in being around and that I could learn from, so, I felt comfortable helping him mount these rims on tires I bought for a truck I'm restoring. The rims I have are 5 lug, 5"x 8" bolt pattern. These are the 2 piece, no extra lock ring type. This will be a multi-part post. Preparation: We had a sledgehammer, wood block, heavy chain with hooks, heavy pipe clamps, long tire iron (more won't hurt), wheel bearing grease, and 3 good sized individuals and I only recommend doing this with someone who's done these before in a relatively recent time frame, although, if they've done these rims before at some time, it may be okay. When you see how little material is in contact between the rim and the lock ring, it should cause you to realize you have no room for error when attempting to do these. Off we go: Sort your rims and rings. The 3 of us, even though I've done a LOT of reading about these rims, were not aware that there are 2 sizes of rims and rings. After they were blasted and painted, Ralph noticed that two of these rims were wider than the others, and when we looked at the rings there were 2 sizes stamped on them. We matched the wider lock ring with the narrower rim and vice versa to end up with an even wheel width for all four. Next, insert your tubes and tire liners. Be sure to smooth out the tubes and tuck in the liners so they're even and no creases visible. Hold onto the tire and tube and drop them onto the rim, inserting the valve stem in the area in the rim supporting it. You want to get the stem centered in that opening, once the tire is resting on the rim, you can use your hands to move the tire liner and valve stem into place where you want. The rim needs to be set into the tire, so, hold the rim and tire together and flip it over so the rim is up resting on the tire. It took 2 of us standing on the rim walking around it some to drop the rim down into place in the tire. When it's set in the tire, turn it back over, but hold the rim as you do so it doesn't slide back out. Place a thin layer of grease on the inner edge around the wheel rim. Next step:
Firestone 2 Piece Rims. Part 2. Place the locking ring piece onto the upturned wheel rim and be sure to place the notched area of the ring 180* opposite the valve stem. Note, there are 2 large rivets above the notched area of the ring. They'll help orient the ring to the valve stem. The second photo is a completed mount, BUT, note the 2 rivets above the top edge of the wheel rim opposite the valve stem(5 o'clock) and the 2 areas pointed out on the ring section. I was working and watching and didn't get a photograph of it, but where those areas are, are 2 portions of the ring with less metal that hooks onto the edge of the wheel rim. When the ring gets pressed down onto the rim at those points, it allows enough play there to let you complete pulling the ring (at the notched area) completely onto the wheel rim. So, you start lining up the ring around the valve stem. Press down, then 2 of us stood on the ring, while the 3d spotter made sure we pressed down enough and as we pressed the ring onto the rim past the edge of the rim, we walked on one side of the rim to the other, working the ring down to the points of the ring that are narrower. I'm 160# the other guy was 200# or so. It took some pressure. (Best not have personal space issues, and bathing that day is advised when doing this). Then take your tire iron and start levering in the notch and pulling the ring up and over the rim. Hold firm, you'll pull a lot. Go smooth though, the first one we did encourage that last section over with sledge TAPS and the wood block, while someone was pulling on the tire iron. The notch visible in photo #3 will not be visible and you'll see the edge of the ring nest next to the edge of the rim all the way around as you see in photos #2 and #4. The first of the 4 rims went on smoothly. This is something else to be aware of. Smooth surfaces between the ring and the rim will go together fairly easily, these ones are on a 1953 truck and have been together who knows how long. They were blasted, but the edges on the other rims and rings were a little rougher and they didn't go together as smoothly. Next Part...
Firestone RH-5 Rims. Part 3.... The second ring gave us more trouble and Gary who'd done his mounting alone then remembered he'd used large clamps to help hold the ring and rim together, as well as apply pressure he walked around the rim. The important thing to remember, you want to be smooth and strong and not bang or whack on things. You'll see, you don't have much room to connect between the 2 mating surfaces. In the first photo, you see where the ring is being pressed onto the rim towards the beginning (rims 3 and 4 we wised up and used the clamps more). Photo #2 shows two clamps as Gary levered the ring onto the rim. After the ring is onto the rim, run the block of wood and sledge tap around the ring to ensure you've got the ring seated, watch where the 2 rivets are resting as well as the inner upper ring visible in photo #1, which will be visible resting against the edge of the rim as you've place the ring correctly. After the ring is placed on the rim, run a loop (or 2) of chain through the spoke and around the tire. Remember the tire will expand some, so leave some slack in the chain and drape the hook from the chain across both sides of the link, NOT, down into the hole of the link. Now, the final picture is NOT what you want to do. You want to have a secure air fitting that screws onto the valve and a longer hose and trigger so you're head, limbs and carcass is not close to the tire as you air it up. ESPECIALLY, if you don't know or the folks who are with you don't know what you're doing with these rims. THIS segment of the process is where the boom happens, along with depending on what you're doing with these tires, don't air them up any more than necessary. We aired them up to 40psi, Gary who drives a 1.5T truck with these rims only airs his tires up to 50psi, as long as you're not carrying weight, the tires won't flex. These tires are rated up to 110 or 115psi, so be careful and watch and listen to anyone who tells you they can do these. Like I said, this isn't an ideal set of instructions or photos to learn exactly how to do this, but I do feel they're enough information to show people how the process works and what happened for us.
These are the only 2 piece rims I have experience with, but I'm happy to answer any questions, as best as I can.
No questions, but thanks for the write up! I grew up in farm country and heard may horror stories about split rims as they were on every grain truck around...never understood how they worked until now.
Widow makers and what most refer to as slit rims are two different rims. True slit rims, not widow makers are OK to use if the rings aren't badly rusted or cracked and I'd they are the correct ring for the rim. Widow makers are a different story IMO. Lots of good info on the Ford Barn about widow makers.
Thanks for the post LeoH, I have two on the front of a truck I just acquired and have been scared to death just to check the air. First visuals I've seen that make me a little less worried... still cautious.
From my understanding, definitely if they appear decent or in solid shape? You should be okay checking air and even, deflating the tire and/or de-mounting the tire off the rim. When I first asked a truck tire place about mounting new tires, they said, sorry, no! BUT, they didn't balk at removing the old tires for me ($25 ea). I still have 2 original tires on as is condition rims on the rear, along with 2 new tires on cleaned and painted rims and we just towed the beast 90 miles, bouncing on an overloaded trailer, and no issues. If you have tire handling experience, and truck tire tools, or at least a sawzall, as long as you remove the valve core and deflate the tire, there shouldn't be an issue, taking an old tire off these rims. Most of these incidents happen on inflation and the misalignment of the rim pieces, as well as not being fully aware of the dangers and going too fast and rushing things. And no safety chain or measures securing the rim pieces. Your Rims May Vary. I only have 4 new tires on my dually because the tires were $1200 for 4, so I had too many other things to fix to want to buy 2 more tires and tubes right now.
If I can answer it, ask away. If you don't know of it, there's the American Heritage Truck Association? They might have members close to you to help hands on, maybe?
Thanks! a research trip is planned to the museum, will ask for local tire shops they recommend. Your truck looks good!
Brings back memories from 35 years in the truck tire sales and service industry. The last ones we did went well. We put the rim together and inflated it enough to fill out the tube and seat the beads. We bolted the assembly on to the hub and continued the inflation...…………. BOOM!!! Wheel came apart and at least the energy went inboard. Took out all the brake hoses and tore the hell out of the inner fender. And we were trained and certified professionals. Just can't be too cautious. There used to be a wall chart available that gave step by step illustrations like yours, but when these wheels were taken out of the OE and replacement market the charts came down. Most service centers would decline to deal with them because they were clueless as to correct procedures. The industry rule and OSHA reg when I left was ALL multi-piece rims and wheels are to be inflated in a cage and be over inflated by 10% and sit in the cage for 10th minutes. ALL tubeless one piece rims and wheels were to be inflated in the same manner. It got so bad that failure to follow safety procedures resulted in immediate dismissal. .
HotrodA, sounds like what happens. People get complacent and forget or skip steps and stuff happens. I think too, my tires are not fully inflated because they're just to move the truck around, when things get rolling I should invest in a remote air chuck and now that I think about it, I wonder if I brought in a mounted tire, if a truck shop would fill it up in their tire cage? Probably not, but it can't hurt to ask.
After putting these rims together, even if you pay attention to the correct way to orient and put these rims together? It's not a process that you'd want to do in a hurry or think about what you're gonna do after you get the tire done and too many folks are too likely to not be careful every time. I do not take them for granted and will do the last two wheels under adult supervision again AND I have every expectation that my tires will be on this truck for another 70 years before I mess with 'em again!
I've seen enough destroyed safety cages, blown up walls, injured people and heard enough explosions to make me NEVER want to return to the truck tire industry. Just the concussion from a tubeless tire blowing out can stop your heart! Without any wheel parts flying about. BE CAREFUL out there!
Years ago far far away while in the break room as two guys were chancing tires during lunch, BOOM, clang, tink tink tink. The bead was not seating so they decided to hit the rim with a hammer. Ring blew off, hit the roof and crashed to the floor and rolled out the open garage door. We all just sat there for awhile and looked at each other. We knew what just happened, not why. No one wanted to go look either as they are usually, well messy. No one was hurt in the end but their ears were ringing for the rest of that day and they both had to wipe their pants out. They were both being watched by their angle that day.
I put a tubeless 10.00 22.5 in a cage once and it had a regulator as to not overinflate. I set it at 90# which was the recommended value stated on the sidewall and walked away to wait. After about four minutes it blew out the sidewall, bent the cage out of shape, scared everyone and even the local Police came to find out what exploded.
Thank you. I believe it is the only information about mounting them available on the internet. Kind of cool to realize that. What kind of fruit is predominant in Thiel?
I'm a couple years late but I saw a lot of info about RH5s here and I have a question. I'm looking at a 1962 Peterbilt 281 that has some type of split rims on it, my wonder is if they are the 2 piece firestone widowmakers. They look like them but I don't know if they are the exact same ones. I'm not out of highschool yet and likely won't be buying this truck at this time right now, nor will i likely be changing the tires out soon but I ask so I know if i should be concerned, and since there's a lot of people who know more than I, they can probably tell me if these rims look in decent shape
Those look like “Budd” tube type two piece wheels, base with a split lock ring, steel on the rear and aluminum on the front. Easy enough to replace with 22.5 tubeless wheels if they’re 20”. 24.5 if they’re 22”.
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