Early Artillery Wheels

Hey Guys,

Still in the planning stages of my '29 Model A build, and I find myself at a crossroads having to do with the rear end and rear wheel combo. The attached rendering shows a 17" 5x5.5 artillery wheel (Chrysler?) on my project rod. I'm totally un-educated as to what sizes and bolt patterns are out there in early artillery wheel land, so if someone could give me a little lesson on the subject, I'd be mucho beholdin'.

Thanks

 

Have you seen this thread?
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=134187&highlight=artillary

 

Not until now..........
Thanks for the link. I've got my heart set on at least a 16 in. and preferably 17" wheels though.

 

Personal opinion --- wide 5 wheels would look much better on your project. But your illustration is really cool and looking great.

31acoupe

 

I picked up some 35 Plymouth wheels. They are 16 in by 4 in wide with a 5 hole 41/2 in bolt circle. I think the 34 Plymouth had 17 in wheels in the same style. Chevy had some that looked the same in 35 and 36 but they are 6 hole wheels.

 

You should go with a chevy 6 lug rear end. There is a lot of 17" 6 lug artilleries that would look good.

 

I agree with Wheelkid, a 6 lug rearend allows you to use the Chevy 6 lug artillery wheels which are very nice looking and fairly cheap to get. Lots of 60's and 70's Chevy trucks used 12 bolt rearends with 6 lug hubs that would accept those wheels.

 

Thanks for the advice wheelkid,
I have noticed that 6 lug Chevy artillery wheels, appear to be the most plentiful (especially in the 17" variety).
However, don't Chevy rearends have the third member (and u-joint) pretty far off center of the axle (from left to right)? My channelled A project will have the drive shaft running right between the seats in a pretty narrow cabin, so an off-center drive shaft might present some problems. I sure no expert, but this is what I've understood. Also, what are the rear end re-gearing options for Chevy rear ends. I'd like to end up with around a 4:1 (or high 3's:1) rear end set-up. Thanks again for your advice.

 

Hey Squablow. Take a look at my reply to wheelkid's advice. Any thoughts?

 

Thanks for the compliment on my design effort.

I really love how wide fives look too. For this project however, I'm after a very low slung stance with a towering wheel and tire combo. I'm using Model A 21" spokes up, and at least 17 inchers (maybe artilleries) out back, with the tallest bias ply white walls all around, I can find. This gets the overall diameters close to 33".

I haven't seen wide fives in these bigger wheel diameters, but I would consider them in the rear if they're available. Can you weigh-in on available wide five sizes?

Thanks again for the input.

 

I´m not 100%, but i think -36 chevy had 5 lugs on some model(s)!
Probably hard to find though!

 

Thanks for the photo & info overspray.

Here's a photo off an ebay listing that claims to be a 5x5.5 lug pattern/ 16" diameter wheel. When I scaled the photo in AutoCAD (and assuming the 5x5.5 is correct when measured from lug center to furthest away lug center), it looks like these wheels would really accept 17" tires (based on the estimated bead seat location), not 16" wheels as listed. Can you shed any light on this?

Thanks again.

 

How about a Toyota 4x4 rear end??? 6 lug(same as Chevy) 4.10 gears, '79-'85 are @ 54" wide and '86 and up are @ 56" wide. Very strong and easy/cheap to find. I used a 2wd 'yota rear in mine for the 5 lug pattern.

 

That looks like a 16" to me, I've got a couple sets of those wheels.

 

Hey Nimrod,

What's your lug hole spacing and count (5 or 6 lugs?)?

Don't suppose you would post a dead on shot minus the hub cap for me to compare?

 

Now that's usin' the old bean. Great idea! Thanks a lot, I would have never thought of that.

 

No problem....the little Dodge D-50s, Isuzu and Mitsubishi mini trucks also were 6 lug, even in the 2WD's, not sure of ratios though....but the Toyota's are EASY to get parts with lots of options for lockers and gear ratios. And axle diameter is the SAME as Ford 9".

 

Thanks again Josh,

Looks like I've got a date with the junkyard pretty soon. There ought to be plenty of Mini pickups on the scrap heap out here in East Tennessee!

 

Those five lug artillerys are 16". But they are 17" overall because wheel diameter is measured where the tire mounts, not to the edge of the rim. Maybe that what screwing up your CAD thing.

 

Nope. I was measuring to the bead seat, about an inch in from the rim's edge. I think the lug dimension might have been wrong.

 

This is the only picture I have on my computer without caps. But I'll pretty much guarante that wheel in the ebay posting is the same wheel. 16x4.5 with a 5 on 5.5" bolt pattern stamped "KH" (Kelsey Hayes) on the inside of the rim.

 

I don't recall seeing any wide 5's in larger than 16" but I have heard they made some 18". I planned on 16" wide 5's front and rear on my 31 and using tire sizing to give it a nice rake in the rear. It was a 3" difference using BF Goodrich's. Never followed up though, sold the 31A when I found a 51 Merc so going in a different direction. It is easy to build or buy adaptors for the wide 5's which makes them a good project option and it seems they are getting more popular or at least I am seeing more of them.

Good luck and the project is looking great whatever you find to use.

george
31acoupe

 

Thanks for the wide five info. If I ever run across a pair of 18 inchers, I'll snap them up.

 

here's some pics of various artillerys. The black one is '36 Chevy 17", small 5 lug. The two yellow ones and the one with stripes are 5 x 4.5" bolt pattern (Mopar) the gray one is 4.75" or 5" pattern.

I'll try to get pics of a couple 5 x 5.5" and 6 lug tomorrow.

 

moonglow ...you measure from the center of one hole to the OUTSIDE of the opposite hole

 

Be careful on some of the "small" bolt circle 5 hole rims. They are 4 1/4 in bolt circle. TomH told me that Chevy had a 5 hole artillary wheel in 35 0r 36 but they are scarce.

overspray

 

Nissan too.

 

Many thanks to everyone that's contributed to this thread so far. I've learned a lot.

Thanks again guys.............

 

These are great! Thanks so much. Can't wait to see the other pics.

 

I'm looking at using a modern spare on my truck for the same look.