wont go into the boring details but i've been digging around for modern wheels for my 52 lincoln wondering what these lines are that hold together the 80's ford 15x5.5. As compared to the rivet looking thing holding together both the 50's and 80's ford 15x6. the 6" looks a lot stronger. heres a 80's mopar 15x7 but its got the same lines as the ford 5.5 50's 6", same setup as 80's.
Ford wheels are spot welded. I worked for ford in Monroe Michigan where most of the wheels were made,some came from Bud or kelsy hays. The spiders (center part) is mated with the rim and jiged in for alignment (thats the lines or dimples) then 3 spot welds on each of the four spots where the rim&spider join and you got a new wheel. Every wheel is spun and checked to be sure they are true and,Then they are painted with a water based paint,black or silver But ford shut this down too,they don't make there own wheels ,cheaper to buy them Russ
Ford stoped using rivits around 1968-70, thy went to welded wheels,Just checked this out today with another "half-dead" that worked there. russ
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