Hot Rods What's the deal with 40 Ford 16" wheel prices lately?

I traded a guy a set I had for a project. I thought he was crazy, but he explained to me that he could not find them at swaps anymore.

Since then I have seen ads for them with CRAZY prices. Like $1200 for 4 $650 for a pair, etc

????

I know the prices really never go down, but geez. Maybe they got stuck in the Suez Canal

 

They're 81 years old and only of interest to hot roddders and a few restorer's. How many are left? Fewer wheels, fewer swap meets. Supply and demand.

 

They go for 25 to 50 on the average price here but have seen them at 100 for clean original paint ones. In fact my buddy Pat just gave me 2 for free . As @5window said fewer swaps is making old parts hard to find more and more. I think 1200 bucks is nuts and would sell it for half that lol..just crazy...

 

Everything is going up. I lucked out and picked up a set of wheels on a bent front 40 axle that a kid had on the local listing and got it for forty bucks wheels and axle hub to hub. I never really noticed but now that I think about it I can't recall the last time I saw them at a swap meet.

 

I gave away a pair several years ago, probably ought to send the guy a bill...

 

I had two at a swap meet in September, 25 bucks, and no one even looked at them. Some 15" merc smoothies too, no lookers

 

Back in the day we chucked them for 15 inch wheels....For me unless your restoring a car don't need any of them.....Take my Torque Thrusts any day...

 

@flynbrian48 they were put to good use

 

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...wheels-5x5-1-2”-bolt-pattern-hot-rod.1244039/

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...eel-wheels-good-condition-total-of-3.1249208/

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/4-16x5-ford-wheels.1249390/

 

geez i have four REALLY NICE ones, first $1200.00 gets 'em

 

Yeah last swapmeet I passed on a clean set of 4 for 200 as I have a few sets I am sure OP know of the differences in years and widths 3.5,4,4.5 ,5 and 5 .5 or 6 inches as well as the front differences 1940 wheel versus a 1946 wheel.

 

Well, dang. I had no clue.

I have a few stacks. Maybe I should let them fly to pay for some speed parts for the coupe?

 

Asking and getting are two different things but I'd say a lot of jacked up prices are because there are a lot of new to old hotrod guys out there who "just have to have a traditional old hot rod right now" out there who really don't do a lot of homework on prices and haven't walked the aisles of swapmeets for years. Instant gratification and the more you spend the more you can brag. Two years ago those guys were on new Harley Road Kings with every gold plated trinket the Harley shop sold headed to Sturgis and two years before that they were every weekend at the lake on their wake boat and before that they were cruising in a Corvette. Now it is cool to have an old looking hot rod with stuff that was in the 50's little books an 40 wheels were on a lot of those.

Still a 200 buck for a set of 4 price for 4 nice 40 Ford wheels probably pretty well matches the 35.00 each price I was seeing five years ago when I was moving them out of the way to get to the 16 inch 35 wires. .

 

They don't make them any more. So, they are rare, and did I say that they are vintage.

 

I would like to find two V8-60 3-1/2” wheels.

 

I wouldn’t call them rare, they made millions of them.

 

About twenty years ago there was a farm not far from my house that had a huge pile of old tires and rims on the edge of a corn field. One summer day I knocked on the door and asked if I could buy some. They told me for ten bucks a piece. There was a ton of old Ford rims and I lifted the first one up to look at it and the inside the rim was a huge yellow jacket nest. Lucky for me it was a very windy day so when they swarmed off the nest the wind took them away from me down the empty field.

 

Was a time you couldn't give them away....

 

Now those are the rare ones and haven’t seen many of them at the swaps.

 

I actually don't like 40's, I prefer 41's. Until you have ever mounted your own tires, you won't care though.

They are both 4", but the 40 has a square notch on the front and backside of the drop down. The 41 has the taper on the backside, and are soooo much easier to load a tire onto. Still look the same on the outside though.

 

The cheap ones still have their tyres mounted , they,re out behind the barn and full of rain water . Only been laying there since 1960.

 

Yeah that'll be where 2 fools meet. There's 2 in my fire pit that I stack wood in. Yeah they are getting to harder to find, due to the same people scrapping them a few years back, but that doesn't make them expensive. Eventually they'll be worthless, because you can buy other wheels cheaper, so you never sell your prized steel wheels, then you die, all of your stuff is sold for scrap iron, and now, thanks to you being so greedy, original 40 Ford wheels are extinct. See what you did? It's a steel wheel people! If you don't need it, sell it to a guy that does for $50 so that it's getting used, and another hot rod is on the road! Or sit back and complain about guys running aluminum wheels.

 

OK, then, scarce.

 

I started looking for a set of five for my '40 Ford Woodie a couple of years ago. I found a pair for $40 with decent paint and a NOS single for $75. Stille looking for a couple more at a good price.

 

How about a education post detailing the differences?

 

I have 6-8 of the nicest ones you’ll find. PM if interested.

 

Hi, Jim.

 

So people ask, when ya gonna paint that thing? Answer, "I did already"..... Okay, when ya gonna put some fancy wheels on it? Again, "I did already"..... It's amazing how many people turn and walk away...

 

Hi Jeff,

I received the awesome calendar! It's already on the wall in the Hot Rod Grille waiting for 2022. Be on the lookout for a package in the next few days. Merry Christmas, my friend.

Jim

 

Stuff like this is in a very odd spot of supply and demand. They may not sell easily at a swap meet, even at a low price, because there may not be anyone at the swap looking for them. But, they are not easy to find when you do need them, especially if you need them on-demand. Not every builder can afford to poke around for 10 years looking to put together a matching set for $25 each. And with only a few sellers selling nice sets, the prices those sellers can ask is pretty high.

That's how a lot of old car stuff is. People who need to sell quickly have to set cheap prices, people who need to buy quickly have to pay up. People who can buy cheap, advertise, and hold onto items for long periods until the buyer comes along, can make a huge profit.