Technical Early Ford 16" steel wheel specs

To some this info is as common as US thread sizes, but what different widths were available on the 40-48 Ford/Merc/Lincoln 16" wheels? I always thought 4" was the common wheel, 4 1/2 was Lincoln/Mercury, and maybe (maybe not) an odd ball 3 1/2 for the last of the 60HP cars. Then it was brought up that there may be a 5" commercial 16" wheel as well. All of those I mentioned are for the 5 on 5 1/2 bolt circle. I did some searching but got a phone book of topics mostly showing a wheel change on a member's car. With Hershey just a (really long!) week away it would be nice to know what I'm looking at. Also I just shagged 4 for my A pickup but been to busy to bust 2 of the tires off and switch away from the 19" wires. Mine may be 4 1/2, but still it seems 16" Ford wheels are a good thing to hang on to for future endeavors. Thanks in advance...

 

I always understood that the 4'' was made for one year- 1940 -and the 4 1/2" from 1941 onwards so that made the 4" the least common of the two. I also thought that the 3 1/2" was on the v8 60s and are super rare.

 

Yep. And I have had a few 5", a 5.5" or two, and I seem to remember even finding a 6" wide wheel once. All with the inner nubs for hubcaps, not the Lincoln clips.

Edit: I must have just seen the 16x6 at a swap meet, cause I can't find a record of where I bought and/or sold it.

 

Clem and Alchemy have it right. The 5 and 5 1/2 widths are not easy to find. Here's 1 of a pair of 1941 only Merc 16x5's I have on the back of my A Pickup. Safari Wagon asked me the other night, I thought he told you. Here's a good thread:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=115542






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Here's what I've been able to gather, in ascending rarity.
1)16x4.5" Post war Fords-48
2)16x4" 40-prewar Fords
3)16x5 49-52 optional for pickups
4)16x5 prewar merc
5)16x3.5" 40 V8-60
6)16x5.5" Don't know what these came on.

 

Yes he did, however, I thought I'd bring it up here and get a the whole low down since I'm heading to Hershey on Tues. This will keep the info fresh in my head. There's a lotta cobwebs in there so give a brutha a break

Now I can write a small list and keep it handy right along with a small tape measure.

 

the 16x5 are possibly also found on F1 - F100 pickups '50-'56ish .


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Yes but the pre war 16x5's have the inside bumps for the hubcaps, the pickups (and I think some of the Lincoln's) had the 4 metal clips. Mine have the bumps

 

Here are a pair of the 16 x 5 1/2 wide rims. There must have been at least two production runs of this size because one rim has "innie" bolt holes and the other has "outie" bolt holes. Note the tire valley of the rims are tapered to the left and the right of the center. The 16x5 rim tire valleys I have seen are straight to the front and tapered to the rear.

 

Your right, my 16x5's above are that way. The valve stem area on mine are almost 90 degrees to the wheel center. The front side of yours look deeper than mine. I wonder if that's where they put the extra 1/2" in? Thanks for posting pics, I've never seen a pair.

 

These are really cool

 

I need to drag em off the wheel stack to get a pic, but I have a pair of 16s, probably 4" wide, with tabs for caps, and a 4 3/4 bolt circle. Chevy and perhaps some of the bread and butter GM offerings from Pontiac and Olds may have used them. A few months ago someone had the thought that they were ambulance or other light commercial use. Sure will make for an easy wheel set if a 55-7 or up to 62 Vette axle was used in a build, already being 4 3/4. They came of an old home made trailer. Maybe I'll shag some pics tomorrow but I also need to bust the junk tires off.

 

I am running a set of the 16x3 1/2 on my coupe in the front and 16x4 in the rear. The 3 1/2 are really hard to find. I have a extra set as well. Took me about 4 years to find two sets.

 

Got any close up pics of them?

 

Over the years I have collected 4@ 4", 4@ 4 1/2", and 4@ 5"". I run 4"" on the front and 5" on the rear of my coupe. I bought the 5" wheels from an F-100 owner. The wheels have the nibs inside, just like the 4"" and 4 1/2".
Cheers,
Stewart.

 

Yeah
Whats the deal with the innie and outie lug holes?

Iv have a pair of 16 x 6’s that someone long ago made … one center is innie the others outie

 

Could the "innie" be an earlier wheel and the "outie" be a later wheel? I have 1949 16" shoebox wheels on my '50 and the lug hole protrude out.

My '27 T Roadster build:  http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t= 734383

 

Im talkin lug holes not hub cap attachment

 

So am I.

My '27 T Roadster build:  http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t= 734383

 

I sold a set last year off my Coupe, one of the rears had that innie style lug hole.
I questioned it a little but should have tried harder to ID it.
At the time I had worked hard just to get four wheels that I mounted them up and put them on the car that I honestly don't know what width any of them were.

I know have 8 sets of wires and 2.5 sets of steel wheels. I will look at the ten I have and measure. Maybe with the info of this thread I can ID them.

Isn't the 1940 wheel the only wheel were the on the backside the step is "rolled" rather than more 90 degreeish that the others. I think I am referring to the valley of the tire?

Some of mine have the stamping marks in the area by the bolt holes, and some don't.

Is that meaningful as far as identification goes?

 

I have found:
16 x 5 on Sedan Size Lincoln 40-up
16x 5.5 on Large Limo Lincoln 40-up
16 X 5 1941 Mercury
16 X 5.5 F-1 Pickup
16 X 5.5 F-100 55 & 56
16 X 6.0 F-100 55 & 56
I've Got a 1937 SouthWest Wheel Catalog With Art Deco Cover. The Artillery Wheels you could Order Custom Height & Width. In Dallas,Tx
There use to be a Very Old Black Man,
Who for many years was Responsible for Making Custom Wheels. An when I went in with the Catalog. They & Him
Flipped out over it. So, I was able to get
A Snap Shot of what he told me about
Wheels at that time. (late 70's) after he
Retired, they stop making any Custom Type Wheel. The reasons- His Crafts-manship & his Safety. And management
Worried with Insurance Claims. The info
On the Lincoln Wheels was from a Group Of Very Older 75-85 men. Who were a Lincoln Club Group @ Pate Swap Meet. And That 's what they remember. There could very well be Wheels alot Larger. Something else
As, I Work for Texas Instruments From
76-92. (Ti) Predecessor was a Company Called (GSI) Geo-Physical Instruments,
They Invented Oil Exploration in 1930.
They also had Build Custom Pickups &
Big Trucks with Very Large Wheels for the oil Fields of East/West Texas, Louisiana Swamp & Saudi Arabia Sand Box. They had Pictures of 1935 Ford
Marmon-Herrington First 4- Wheel Drive
Trucks. They had FWD Trucks Too, with Custom Wheels. Some other Time,
I'll tell Ya Bout TI & the Ebee's. That's
Outa this World.



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Also, Google Texas Instruments 1937
Field Parties. And there's one Colored
Picture. There should be many more
Out there on the WEB. Halliburton owns
GSI Now. So, check there! BigDTexasKid.


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I thought this was a thread about wheels?

 

Been looking for 2-16 x 5s if anybody has a pair they want to sell call 314-922-0041 thanks John

 

I've been running '40 16x4 wheels all round until just recently. The 4s are fine on the front with the 4:50/4:75 Deluxe Champions but I felt they were pulling the 7:00 tires on the rear inwards a bit much. The tire tread looked quite rounded with this width rim so I ran about 22lb to even the load on the ground a bit. Since going to the 5" wide rim on the rear it's a whole lot better looking and can stand a bit more tire pressure. The 4" rims have innie bolt holes but the later 5" rims have outtie holes and the lug pads are also a slightly different shape. It seems most of the additional width is in the back spacing which brings the wheels a little closer to the car body - and that looks better too.

 

bump for some dang good info

 

Bought a pair of 16" steel wheels at Turlock for $10 the pair...they were 'innies'.
Seller thought the holes were 'wallowed-out'. I said, "I'll fix 'em."
Came home and 'fixed 'em' to my roadster.

 

As I understand it, the first 4" wheels for '40-'41 models had the square bead well, and then they went to the sloping rear well style like the later 4-1/2" ones (presumably to help fitting tyres?).

I had quite a few 4" and 4-1/2" ones and a handful of 5" ones (Ford and Merc) but never new of 5-1/5" ones for early caps. I think the only difference between Ford and Merc 5" ones is the depth of the centre for the mounting face being about 1/4" deeper on the Mercs?

The pics show my set of original '40 wheels (dated 11-39) that have the squared bead well section and also the last one with, from left to right, a 5", a 4-1/2" and an early 4" to show the different profiles.

 

Also, if I understand the "innies" and "outies" bit, those '40 wheels are all "innies"?

This '41 Merc wheel is also an "innie".