Wire wheels vs HP and Torque

I have a '60 Dodge Dart Seneca that had wire wheels when I purchased it. I love the look on this car, but I'm upgrading the motor to a 400+ HP poly and am worried about the wire wheels handling the power.

Should I be concerned???

If the wire wheels have to go, I'm at a loss as to what to put on the car that would look good, and still be relatively correct...

 

I also have a older jag with wire wheels. no they wont hold up to lots of hp or aggressive turning. I chose to just drive it more gingerly and keep my wires. vintage racing car events wont allow wire wheels either. still they look good. main negative of the wires is a major pain to keep clean

 

I disagree,,I can see the old Jaguar wire wheels not being able to take the stress of 400 HP but the wire wheels on a 1960's American built automobile are considerably wider and constructed to carry a much heavier car.

I don't think you will experience any problems. HRP

 

I wouldn't chance it if you want to do some aggressive driving. We often forget how much better tires are today. With bias ply tires you couldn't put too much stress on the wheel before it spun or skidded.

Then there is 50+ years of age and metal fatigue to think about.

Wire wheels are not as strong as steel or mags, but are a lot heavier.

The auto companies stopped offering wire wheels after about 1955 or 56. So they would be built to handle the cars of that time. In the case of Dodge, that would be a 3800 pound car with 300HP.

If I were you I would invest in a set of new wheels, mags or steel to your taste. You can keep the wires and put them on for shows as long as you baby them.

 

HP and torque won't hurt them. Slamming into hard corners on rough roads might, though.

 

After Jag quit offering factory wire wheels (starting with the heavy V12 cars), customer demand for wires caused the dealers to start buying them from Dayton and offering them as 'optional equipment'.... they didn't hold up. Runout/out of round issues are guaranteed if the car is driven with any 'spirit' at all, enough so that Jag issued a service bulletin against wire wheels being installed on any car not originally equipped.

Wire wheels look great, but simply won't take any 'high performance' use on a heavier car....

 

As long ass you use really low performance tyres, with stuff all grip, you should be fine. What you do not want is a decent tyre with some grip as that will put too much strain on the spokes.

Personally, I would get steel rims, the best tyres you can and either fit a wire basket or a decent hubcap.

The Caddy Sobrero is the king of hubcaps, but I dont think I would fit a set to a stock looking Mopar. Its crossdressing at its worst.

 

I had a set on a 62 MGB with a 327 and a glide , and they lasted as long as the tires didn't bite , and even driving them spirited they would loosen up and I would have to relace and retrue them , and one time I spun and went from asphalt to concrete and the rears folded up like a taco when they hit and grabbed . and I would say it was about 275 hp . I finally bought discs as I was sick of spending the weekends trueing them up