Hello: I own lots of 60's Era Hot Rod magazines such as S/S Popular Hot Rodding, Car Craft, Hot Rod, ect..... I have always found appeal in both the Single and Tri Rib Rader/Radir/M/T wheels however of concern is the following: In approx 200 issues of 60's based magazine NOT ONCE have I seen evidence of Drag Strip pics of cars using the Rader/Radir/M/T wheels! It seems always the American Racing, Halibrand, Cragar and of course steel rims were the ones being used. Why wasn't the Rader/Radir/M/T wheels used on the Drag Strip? How do the "Modern" Radir wheels differ from the old schools Rader/Radir/M/T wheels? I know the Munster Mobile and Bat Mobile used the Radirs however I am concerned if a Gasser 60's theme based machine would loose Lustre by running wheels that were around but seemingly never used! Please input. Thank You Kindly.
I've seen some pics of early Thunderbolts with Rader's on them. Seems like they were used more on street and custom rod's than anything, along w/ tv cars. Maybe they were quite heavy? I know I always loved them!
I have a set of the original MT radirs on my 57 wagon....love them! Not a drag car but rolls down the freeway fine.
i know the new ones are one piece cast and the old ones had a cast center rivited to a steel outer rim. it never dawned on me that i had'nt seen many (if any) on old drag cars til you mentioned it... i HAVE seen them on a Thunderbolt or two though... perhaps cost was a factor back then?? where they more expensive than the other wheels being used?? not NOW but back in the day when a guy could buy a set of Halibrands, Ansens, Americans, etc. brand new.
Mine do leak like like they've been drinkin though. The two piece design with the rivets requires some kind of seal (better than the duct tape I used) to keep air in your tires.
Thanks for your input guys. In addition, over the years on Ebay and Craigs I have noticed the Original Radirs/M/T's were seemingly limited in sizes. I have never seen the originals in 15x4 skinnies to the 15x10 fatsos. Maybe the size availablility was a factor????
I love mine! They are new Radirs, not originals. As stated earlier, originals were aluminum centers in a steel rim. New ones are all aluminum.
didn't mag wheels have to be approved by the drag racing sanctioning bodies? if you raced NHRA your mag wheels had to be approved by NHRA for safety reasons. i run similarly constructed fenton and hollywood mags, the cast centers of the era just are not that safe compared to OEM wheels or well made forged aluminum wheels. Hurst mag wheels were built in response to the crap that everybody else was selling at the time. if i'm right on the approval by the sanctioning bodies, that doesn't mean that the wheels didn't end up on some race cars, just not cars raced in NHRA events which are more likely to get the mag coverage.