Should I ditch the Ford wide five drums?

I bought a '36 Ford this summer and am making my list of changes. It currently is stock with hydraulic brakes.

Back in the day, when the brakes got changed to hydraulic, did the wheel bolt pattern usually get changed to the 5 X 5 1/2 pattern? I see several with the smaller bolt pattern these days and wonder if I should go that route. Problem is I want to be with the cool guys so I need to do what they would have done.

If I go with the smaller bolt pattern, I was thinking chrome reverse rims for it. If I stay with the wide pattern, don't have any idea for a wheel/hub cap option.

What do you think?

Neal

 

The hydraulic conversion on the wide fives is really old school. If it were mine I would keep the wide fives unless I was going for a later build style.

Here is a neat trick with the wide fives, you can bolt sprint car wide fives up to those drums. they come on chrome, cold forged aluminum, painted or even magnesium of you find vintage ones and a wide array of widths. they are cheap as dirt new.

Wide fives are cool as hell in my book.

 

A: Not if they're usable. I like wide 5s, too.

 

I did not know about sprint car rims. Will check that out. Thanks.

Neal

 

If my '38 don't sell its running wide fives. They are just right for an older style rod or custom.

There was a roadster on one of my dad's magazines when I was really little that I have never gotten out of my head, it was running wide fives, and bigs 'n' littles. For some reason it just looked right.

 

Wide 5's seem to be coming back. The drums are selling all the time now, I know a guy who can't keep enough of them in stock. I would try using them if you can.

 

Pictures of the car?

 

Keep them they're sick. You can't buy OG out of a catalog!

 

Yes, take them off and box them up, I'll send you the address. Upon receipt I will send you some new stuff that won't look nearly as good.

You're welcome.

 

Not really used on sprint cars, but almost universally run on modifieds. (Beaner, if you know where I can find some of those aluminum or magnesium wide fives cheap, I'd really like to update my vintage mod.)

 

Those '36 fords are a bitch to convert to hydraulics on the front end. They have an odd bearing offset... best to find some later spindles and some '37-39 front drums.

 

If you want to dress up your wide-5s look for some Ford Spider caps. They are stainless and you don't see them that much. I found a set I'm running on my coupe with wide-5s.



Thanks to Dave Derry for the bitchin' shot!

 

Change them.

 

I'd like to find some cheap ones as well.

 

Point of clarification to some above posts,

Wide 5 wheels in steel and aluminum are usually stock car application, they come in all different sizes as well as plain steel and are cheap at the local stock car swap meets. They do though require a special oversize nut to compensate for the 5/8" stud hole.

There is no special bearing offset on a 36 spindle it is the same snout dimension as a 37-48.

 

Yup, like Dick said. You can pick up an old set of wheels at the local dirt track swap meet for around $10 a piece (at least around here). My old man is running them on his 29 Tudor, but he's also running the Modified axles.

 

If I had them I'd keep them. If you want a really sharp look, put on Buick aluminum drums with them. And if you can find a good set, the Safety Racing 2 piece alloy wide five would be bitching, IMO. Just look very closely at the bosses for lug nuts, ovetightening has cracked many of them.

 

Wide five's may look cool, but they were not as common as people think. You were always limited on wheel choice, to stock or widened stockers. You went to the junk yard to buy the hydraulic brakes, and usually the drums were included. Used wheels were about $2.00 each, so 16" 5 on 5 1/2 disc wheels were the hot set up. Stinking SBC's are everywhere because they are so CHEAP and easy to get parts for. Wide fives are rare, because they are very expensive, and very hard to come by.

 

the question is ,were the cool guys changing them out in the old days? the answer is yes they were . they seem to have a certain Geezer appeal today but the trend in the past was to get rid of them not to convert to them...

 

Tubby,
They still sell the aluminum rims new. Last I checked they were going for less that 50 dollars a pop. They are cold forged rims now as opposed to a cast rim.

I have seen the magnesium rims for sale right here in our classifieds. They were not cheap but not nearly as pricey as a magnesium American wheel.

I passed up a deal on some very old Howe hubs. Fronts and rears with rims for less than a grand. It was about 3 years ago and right here in the HAMB Classifieds. I still have a line on an iron quicky with exposed octagon axles on the east coast. Alas I have no liquid assets these days and it will cost a ton to ship it.

The roundy round option is one that we always seem to pass up because it is not as popular with rodders. Comparatively it is cheap and they are normally good stout pieces. I use roundy round pieces all the time when I have an offset problem or a suspension problem to over come.

Black
When you and I were young they were getting changed out for the more modern wheel, but you have to remember that you and I were young later '50s and '60s. Early '50s and '40s styled cars were still using them as they wer available and workable.

If you and I were to build a '40s or early '50s style car (face it we lean toward '60s style cars) the wide 5s would fit right in. The roadster that I mentioned would have been in a later '50s Peterson publication (probably Hot Rod). I say later '50s because that is pretty much where my good memory starts and by the early '60s I had my own magazines comming in because the Ol' Man said I was a big boy now and should have my own magazines subscription.

I should have held out for Play Boy.

 

You could have some 15" wheels built using 36-39 centers. These are some I built,(please overlook the radial tire).

 

A friend of mine used to have an old VW Van that had wide five Ford rims on it...bolted right up...they were skinny 16's.

 

Unless vans are different from beetles, I don't think so.

 

Not US ford Maby Anglia

 

What hoops did you use? I'm trying to find someone/some way to get wider rims and stay wide 5. Every place I have tried doesn't want to mess with new hoops or widening the original narrow hoop.

 

[Kelsey Hayes at one time made 15" wide 5's

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I used new ones, they can be hard to purchase from the wheel manufacturer. The hoops are made with two different inside dimensions, 12.625" and 13.250", I prefer the larger opening, it leaves some of the rounded windows in the center of the wheel.

 

Marty,
How did you blend the spiders onto the hoops (they look really nice!)? High fill primer? Or are you just crazy and body worked every joint? haha

 

Jeem, I tig welded them and had them powder coated, without any filler, they blended in real nice. Here is a shot of them in the lathe and my wheel spinner, you can see how they fit.

 

Wow...came out real clean! Love your work, Marty!