Hey all stumbled on Sabre Kelsey hayes 1955 Cadillac aluminum wheels and I immediately wanted them for my 1950 Chevy. But they are 5x5 bolt mine is 5x4.75 Sometimes wheels show up in cars decades apart and work. Example: 1999 Lincoln basketweave wheels look great on early 1990s JDM large cars Is there something similar to the old 55 Cadillac alloys that’s narrow and used 5x4.75 that I should know about? Even if from a much newer car thanks
Shoot that’s Probly a little more precision than I’m set up for… just curious which would be wiser? Guessing the wheels? nevertheless could be worth it. I really like those 55 caddy wheels and they fit the vibe/purpose of my car
Wheels if there is enough meat in them. Our local guy gets $35 to redrill each hub, pretty damn cheap
Aluminum wheels are great until you get them on your car and experience the vibrations and feel them give when turning sharp bends at high speeds. Remember the wheels you want were made in the mid fifties and they are old.. I think the best wheel for a driver is chromed stock steel wheel. Sorry to be a drag but I've been there a couple times. The Kelsey Hayes aluminum wheels are the best out of all the aluminum wheels so you do have that going for you. I've owned a few Pontiacs with the 8 lug wheels and they were strong but Kelsey Hayes made the rims steel and the drum aluminum.. They eventually started shaking, cracking and corrosion between the iron ring and aluminum started..
Here's an informative article: https://1956eldorado.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-cadillac-sabre-wheel.html There is a remarkable amount of commonality over wheel bearing specifications, which will probably make a hub swap/axle-shaft swap to 5x5 feasible. Cadillac bearings should generally be bigger than Chevy bearings, so they can be fitted to Chevy spindles using sleeves, spacers, etc.
Wow! Cool info and yes that’s the one. They are so beautiful and appropriate for a car of my era! Elcohaulic thanks for the warning. I assume you mean vintage aluminum wheel? Our Honda Odyssey has aluminum wheels and so do my tundra. Neither have an easy life / the Honda is off road on unmaintained highway 1,000 miles per year at least and they are true - which leads me back to: perhaps this style made a comeback in the 1980’s or 1990s? I don’t care if they are on a euro or Japanese car as long as they look like the 55 caddy. a Freind got 1999 Lincoln basketweaves and put them on an s130 Toyota crown. You CANNOT tell they aren’t original. Maybe I can get just as lucky and find a set that look like these on some Volvo or something at my local yard? yes I have drums. Upgrades to tapered bearings and my car is generally maintenance free which is a huge blessing for a 72 year old car built as a 60 year old streetrod. the hubs would be worth the effort; $140 is peanuts to have it done correctly. I do think my hubs are “lug centric” so there is that… even if it was $280 and it’s done / not bad. My drums are NOT repops they are the good old ones. Keeping good shoes means my sons will likely be using them in 2060 Eager to hear about similar “modern” ones and/or more info about why the 50’s era ones fail I do like stock wheels in chrome. I don’t hate my stock reproduction wheels (my originals are all behind a shed in the woods - I need to deal with that) they are painted to match the car per stock and I have some 70s hubcaps that seem to work well. But I’m in love with these caddy wheels
The new aluminum wheels are very strong but sometimes start to leak air after 20+ years. Have you ever taken a good look at the Cadillac wheel covers.. The Caddy Spider was a very popular wheel cover.. The 61 Caddy also had some very nice wheels covers but some had the cars color on them..
A Forged aluminum wheel is very strong. not as resistant to road hazards as a steel wheel but still plenty strong. a cast aluminum wheel in most cases is one step up from cheddar cheese in strength.
I hadn’t thought about hubcaps… I think subconsciously my mind has been on the topic of aluminum wheels once I realized how fruitful it is to think outside the box. That friend that sound completely appropriate, era correct wheels for an imported classic car on a domestic car 15 years newer really got me thinking… “Is there something that would look Correct on my Chevy in the junkyard at 20 bucks a wheel?“ Well, this led me to the 55 Cadillac wheel… Not obviously a “yes“ to my aforementioned question, but love is love and I have fallen head over heels for these wheels LOL What I don’t need is an expensive headache. If you guys are saying that these are cast, and therefore very weak, I don’t want 66 year old wheels on my car that were weak when they were new…
I had three cars running at the same time ... a late thirties coupe and two 80's G-body GM cars. Ran the factory rally wheels (steel 14x6) on the G-bodies and 15x7 Z28 rally wheels on the coupe. All cars vibrated at speed. What was I doing wrong that all three cars vibrated? Turns out it was the steel wheels. I built a contraption that allowed me to spin the wheels while using a dial indicator and there it was ... all the steel wheels had brutal runout. I literally threw all the wheels in the garbage and bought aluminum wheels ... problem solved. I am NOT a fan of steel wheels
I had that issue with my original wheels. I mean they are fine for a trailer queen but I drive my car and I like smooth. In fact my current demo from work (we own a small dealership) is a large body v8 Lexus. It behaves at 100mph like a new midsize does at 50. I tried to build some of that into my ‘50. Did a good job but the wheels were a “last mile failure” till I figured it out. Terrible. I wish there were beautiful period looking wheels in the junk yard of something relatively modern that would look ok on the 50 what aluminum did you put on your coupe
Hey, drewl; Consider that they were engineered for Cadillac, which was probably twice as heavy as your Chev. There's a safety margin there from that. Maybe manufactured by an outside vendor, but they still had to meet GM/Cadillac specs. Also consider that GM wasn't buying junk to dress up the cars for more $$Profit. I doubt they'll have a "safety bead", so just be careful when putting tires on, esp if you run radials. Been done in the past & will be done in the future. They are old wheels, so you gotta decide if you're willing to run them. Not junk wheels, but that doesn't mean that some of them weren't abused in the past - like any other wheel. Have them checked over carefully, maybe Zyglo'd iffen you feel the need. Might not be a bad idea to X-ray them too, to look for old inclusions in the wheel material. If you want to go that far for peace of mind, & knowing. I don't know - it's all up to you to determine any risk that you're willing to take. & I'd drill the hubs/axles, that way any value of the wheels to a restorer for resale later isn't destroyed. FWIW. Marcus...
Nrgwizzard good points thank you. You reminded me of something with talk of the safety beads. My front wheels have them my rear don’t. I’ve got replacement wheels for the rear but they’re on my to do list for the last 5 years haha. I’ll ask around. If I love these in person enough I’ll take the plunge I don’t mind my hubs and drums being double drilled. I can move studs based in what wheels I’ll run Elcohaulic that guy sounds absolutely amazing! Very caring in the way he balances. I see most people even with $10,000 machines don’t care to be particularly precise. Personally, I have handtools including a bubble balancer. In the month of July and August, I hand mounted and balanced 18 tires. It was brutal especially with the heat, but I had cara that needed to get to market. some only got two new tires to match two good ones it already had (three cars came to us with 2 new tires. Strange) so there was definitely a handful of cars. I was extremely impressed by the fact only one of them had a vibration that I needed to reevaluate. I had this Camry come in that shock so bad at 45 I was looking for a bent rim or a severely compromised constant velocity axle. Between new brakes and hand mounting and balancing two new front tires, I left my house in immediately went 85, and it was perfect. I was very satisfied with that How does the guy shave rubber? I’ve always been curious about that to undo cupping Your cars are beautiful. I’m surprised to see that one parked out on the street in the winter! My wife and I were just talking last night about this time we went to our local street rod clubs Christmas party, and it was a beautiful dry December day. Rare in Rochester. We do drive our car in the winter as long as it’s dry, even if there’s salt on the road. It’s been years but we’ve done it. Life is short (ask me off line my views on this if you wanna chat) and I have A hose. We did not, however, intend to borrow a snow brush, remove 2” of heavy snow, and drive home while several plows/salters did their thing!
Those are the Z28 wheels I ran on my coupe until I switched to aluminum. Factory not aftermarket. I had numerous sets of painted 14x6 Cutlass rally wheels, one set of 14x6 chrome Cutlass rally wheels and one set of 15x7 painted Cutlass rally wheels as well as the Camaro rally wheels pictured. The runout on ALL of them was just stupid. I tested a set of aluminum S10 wheels and thought my caliper was stuck ... no movement, those suckers were dead straight. I was so disgusted in the condition of ALL of my steel rally wheels that I put them out on garbage day and let the scrappers have them. As far as I am concerned, if a tire needs shaving to true everything up, you have a faulty tire or a faulty wheel or both. With todays tires and a straight wheel, shaving should not be needed. These are the Cutlass wheels ...
You are reminding me of discovering I had A total of seven wheels for my 1950 that had run out. I didn’t scrap them, though, because they have restoration value for some trailer queen I am sure. They are behind the shed at my grandmothers house! No one can see them, but I know they are there. It’s a car guy sickness LOL
They are. But this car doesn’t have power steering. The narrower the tire, the better. I have wished for a 185 100 R 15 but it doesn’t exist, so 205/75R15 is what we run. My wife and I are about to build a 1954 Chevy truck together in a couple years when our youngest child has a healthy sleep routine and some of life‘s current obstacles are behind us. Same issue with that truck. It needs tall, narrow tires. Difficult with radial, and radials are stickier anyway. I read a very long thread about guys talking about using trailer tires. The only good reason I heard why not to is cornering and ride quality. I might actually test it On that truck Not my 1950 sedan though, that car is for automobiling distances. The truck will be for hardware store/garden store etc.
Hello, Any time old school, meaning very old aluminum wheels, whether they are from the factory or cast by manufacturer for the aftermarket services, it is a shaky proposition. The years of use on the roads, the storage methods, and just the normal wear affected from being old, (kind of like most of us here on the HAMB.) are somethings to notice and take precedence for safety. even steel center hubs should not be altered. We never know how many road holes the tire and rims have hit or gone over during the early days up to today. Even the times of parking against curbs, some have seen more action just bumping into the parking space barrier, as well as parallel parking. When looking at used cars, anything with 100,000 miles on it has questionable history and it is a sure sign of staying away from purchase. Despite the low cost. The same reasoning applies to “early aluminum wheels.” Jnaki But, if your mind is set on those wheels, the drilling of the wheels is not the best way to get things done. Perhaps a better way is to re-drill your drums and axles to fit the bolt pattern. At least you are not altering those “old” wheels, possibly making them weaker. Case in point… pristine Buick Skylark wire wheels are steel. Despite the GM association, the bolt pattern was wrong for my 1958 Chevy Impala. But, I had just purchased a set of 5 pristine Buick Skylark wire wheels at a good price and they were not stolen. Thanks, @themoose Being steel, no modification holes could be drilled to mess up the pristine Skylark wheels. So, I had a specialty race shop/machine shop re-drill my hubs and axles to the specific Buick bolt patterns. They were professionally done and without altering the steel wheels. Aluminum /magnesium wheels were just coming out at the time and no one was re-drilling anything on the wheels. It was for fear of weakening them from one solid cast or construction. Of course, if you are set on these specific wheels, then re-drilling the hubs and axles is the way to go. Not the wheels. But, find a good shop for the best balancing the whole tire/wheel combo. Then get a good alignment with new shocks and suspension stuff if needed. Spending the time and effort for converting the wheels should also involve getting the car ready for the new addition. Note: Wouldn’t it be safer to not buy the wheels and find some company that makes a new version of said wheels or at least a similar design? At least, the 66 year old aluminum wheels would not be in the same condition as the new ones. YRMV Note 2: In the late 60s with the proliferation of cheap aluminum wheels, there was the worry that several years of road usage was reason enough to have the used wheels “x-rayed. ” Any defects would show up, prior to buying or not, if someone really wanted the wheels.
Good info. If there is a risk of hurting my car - like if a wheel fractured - not worth it. I doubt anything was made in modern times that looks like those but if so, please let me know!
shoot i really appreciate it but I am going for a less sporty look. I like those a LOT but not for my car. I thought about a 1954 4 door chev daily driver for my then 30,000 mile per year use (summer only so 15k) (WARNING NOT HAMB FRIENDLY) it was going to be nosed decked shaved - all white exterior with a turqoise top and white/turqoise interior - there was talk of all white in and out NOT other color except rose tinted glass - was going to be on a completely custom chassis using S10 channeled into the floor. Custom rear home made 5 link or whatever - lots of suspension travel for a nice ride but rockers about where an modern camaro's would be. was going to be a fuel injected (bolt on) 230cid or 250cid new style straight six with a 6l80e 6 speed auto (i got a hip issue from birth - daily is always auto, love stickshift for occasional use). Was going to have AC and a nice stereo. Pardon the LONG rant, but it was going to have the wheels you just sent! My 1950 in my avatar is built to be a late 50's early 60's cruiser and the wheels i started this topic on SCREAM to be on my car. Seems to not be worth the headache though
Hey, Drew....... First, you dream it, then you do it. That's what hot rod cruising is all about. Any stock wheel used on a two-ton-and-a-half Cadilac is strong enough to roll down the road on a dinky Chevy. Match up the holes however and cruise leaning back with your left elbow sticking out the window, my friend. You be stylin' with the hot rod god giants!
Hey, Drew; Re-read what I wrote. All I was doing, was giving you options to consider, depending on your state of mind; from "All I'll do is visually check the wheels for cracks" to "It's an old wheel & I can't even use it to keep rocks in it on the ground 'cause it might break in 50 years" . I don't know where you are at. I'm in the 1st category ; look at things, consider it's function vs it's visual condition, & do what feels right. A friend had those wheels for one of his caddies - a Brougham, never even considered that they were used/not-new/etc. They went on & are fine. Those things are overkill for the lightweight chev. Again, whatever level of investigative care you need to feel good & safe is the right amount of effort to put in. Take care. Marcus...
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