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Technical 1935 wire wheels

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Vern Lee, Jul 21, 2020.

  1. Vern Lee
    Joined: Dec 23, 2019
    Posts: 60

    Vern Lee
    Member

    How or who can true up and balance 1935 Ford wire wheels , Like a fool , I blast and powder coat them , then put new Coker tires on to find out there are out of true a long way , but hey they sure look great .

    Vern
     
  2. alchemy
    Joined: Sep 27, 2002
    Posts: 20,407

    alchemy
    Member

    There is no re-balancing a '35 Ford wire wheel. Maybe straighten a tweak on the edge of the rim, but can't move the rim around to "true" them like an adjustable wire would.
     
  3. Before you give up on them see if theres a rim repair shop in a large city near you.Could be they can tweek them in a press,and get them with in specs.Likely your powder coat is history IF they can be saved.You also might run them on the rear,and see how they ride.If the car tracks straight,and you dont have to fight the car they might be fine.In the end Ford made lots of them so if you need more there still out there.
     
  4. Vern Lee
    Joined: Dec 23, 2019
    Posts: 60

    Vern Lee
    Member

    Well needless to say I'm BUMMED out , but thanks for the info.
     

  5. rusty valley
    Joined: Oct 25, 2014
    Posts: 3,883

    rusty valley
    Member

    how bad are they? i've never seen a perfect one. 1/16- 1/8 run out is pretty normal. 3/16 goes on the back, any more and they are junk. check off the edge where the bead sits, not off the edge of the rim.
     
    irishsteve likes this.
  6. Vern Lee
    Joined: Dec 23, 2019
    Posts: 60

    Vern Lee
    Member

    I'll have to check to see how far out they truly are , when I picked them up from the tire shop today I ask how did they balance , they said we don't know we didn't balance them , I said well lets throw one on and see what we got to work with , it looked really bad , but I was freaked out too , after seeing the wobble , rusty valley , you have given me a ray of hope , now that I have had a chance to calm down ,I'll check to see exactly how far out they are , thanks guys
    Vern
     
  7. Kiwi 4d
    Joined: Sep 16, 2006
    Posts: 3,564

    Kiwi 4d
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    For lack of technical words. Is it vertical or horizontal run out.? More likely horizontal from hitting curbs etc. We had some firestone split rim wires I wanted to save. My hillbilly method to cure 5/16 horizontal run out was to put them on a hub and spin the bad one to find the high spot. Then by butchery ,Using a big sledge and heavy drift ( 1” 1/2 schedule 160 tube) I went at it on the high spot . It took several attempt and test runs on the hub , but came out very close to 1/16 run out , perfect for the rear. They balanced up great, even for 750 x 16 tires.
     
    302GMC and adam401 like this.
  8. Vern Lee
    Joined: Dec 23, 2019
    Posts: 60

    Vern Lee
    Member

    750X16 is the one we tried , so it will be going on the back , 5.50 X 16 0n the front , with the money I have invested now , I don't care if I have to put on a 5 point harness to stay in the seat , I'm running them .
     
  9. alchemy
    Joined: Sep 27, 2002
    Posts: 20,407

    alchemy
    Member

    Make sure you use support rings behind the mounting surface if mounting them on anything but a 28-35 hub. Later hubs don't have the inner support nubs.
     
  10. adam401
    Joined: Dec 27, 2007
    Posts: 2,856

    adam401
    Member

    This may be an unpopular opinion here but Id say bolt them on and run them unbalanced. True confession.... I never have bias ply tires balanced. That rim might look a little crazy but it could be a combination of a little tweaked wheel and a little weird tire. I have nobody I know of that shaves tires to make the bias ply tires round so I dont worry about it. I bet they'll go down the road fine. If not your just in the same boat. So what. Good luck.
     
    ABONES and lothiandon1940 like this.
  11. And the issue could be the Coker tires. There is a good chance they need to be shaved.
     
  12. adam401
    Joined: Dec 27, 2007
    Posts: 2,856

    adam401
    Member

    Yeah I mean my experience with owning a few sets of the Coker Firestone champion deluxe is that they seem slightly out of round sometimes. Specifically the 7.50 16s which is the same size the OP also has (though im not sure what line of tire he purchased) . Thats what caught my attention. I have them on my car right now. They go down the road fine but admittedly my expectation for performance may be lower than some people's.
     
    ABONES likes this.
  13. Vern Lee
    Joined: Dec 23, 2019
    Posts: 60

    Vern Lee
    Member

    Well I paid the big bucks and bought the radials that look like bias tires , the price Coker gets there better not be a problem with them , And I'm putting them on my 31 , 5 window
     
  14. adam401
    Joined: Dec 27, 2007
    Posts: 2,856

    adam401
    Member

    Yeah thats a different ball of wax. Ive never run those tires. Id still bolt them on but thats me. I mean after all what can you really do that doesn't undo the work thats been done? I always run old wheel myself so I feel your pain.
     
    ABONES likes this.
  15. I was about to suggest the method Kiwi 4d offered. I think you might get somewhere using this trick. Might even be able to save the powder coat with an innovative tool.
     
  16. rusty valley
    Joined: Oct 25, 2014
    Posts: 3,883

    rusty valley
    Member

    prolly not relevant, but there is a guy here in the A club who made a very nice machine for straightening wire wheels. very heavy iron, rotating table with jacks mounted above and below to push what ever is needed. on bad ones he will heat individual spokes, which shrink then when cooled. mostly made for A wheels which are quite a bit weaker than the later v8 stuff. time consuming, he does not like doing it !
     
  17. manyolcars
    Joined: Mar 30, 2001
    Posts: 9,176

    manyolcars

    I have heard of something like rusty valley mentioned. Use a manual tire changer and jacks for lateral run out
     
  18. GordonC
    Joined: Mar 6, 2006
    Posts: 3,141

    GordonC
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Vern Lee Coker stands behind their products. I had 2 of their 5:50 16 bias look radials on 34 wire wheels on my A roadster for 4 years before it ever got out of the shop. Probably flat spotted some from sitting but wobbled pretty good when I went to get them road force balanced. Which they insisted I do before returning them. The guys said they couldn't get them to balance. Coker took the tires back and gave me two replacements. Can't argue with that.
     
  19. clem
    Joined: Dec 20, 2006
    Posts: 4,188

    clem
    Member

    We’ve sometimes had success by moving the tyres around on the rim, if the tyre is also out.
    The last one needed 300grams of wheel weights to get it to balance, so we didn’t.
     
    6inarow likes this.
  20. A lot of the early wheels were pushed out of shape by the newer pneumatic tire changing machines. I have straightened some of the '40 style wheels by finding the high side and then turn the wheel over and use a press or large hammer and drift punch or wood block to move the drum mating surface in the necessary direction. I have not checked my '35s yet, could be a surprise.
     
  21. wheelkid
    Joined: May 25, 2006
    Posts: 1,238

    wheelkid
    Alliance Vendor
    from Fresno, CA

    Have you checked with them mounted by the lugs nuts or just on a tire balancer?
     
    clem likes this.
  22. Recently mounted my used Coker bias plys on a set of new wheel vintique wheels. The tire shop said that they were too far out balance, so I mounted them as is. I've since had the car up to about 65 mph with no sign of a shimmy or a shake... moral of this story is try em, they may be fine.
     
    ABONES and clem like this.
  23. Vern Lee
    Joined: Dec 23, 2019
    Posts: 60

    Vern Lee
    Member

    I put the tire and wheel on the back of the car and set a dial indicator up to it . it wobbles .170 thousands , I put the car on jack stands with the tire about an inch off the ground started the car and put it in gear at an idle , standing back and looking it looks more like it is out an inch , but .170 is what it checked , I'm sure the tire is good it is the wheel itself , it run smooth enough but the cosmetics are horrible , I'm still trying to figure a way to fix it .
     
  24. tim troutman
    Joined: Aug 6, 2012
    Posts: 846

    tim troutman
    Member

    breaking down some old tires I thought those are the biggest weights I have ever seen . out of balance tires must be traditional 20201022_184540[2].jpg 20201022_184530[1].jpg
     
  25. I've put on hundreds of weights that big back in the old retread days.
     
  26. clem
    Joined: Dec 20, 2006
    Posts: 4,188

    clem
    Member

    ^^^^^^ I thought that was normal for old ford stuff..........
     

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