flipping the center-sections in riveted wheels

[gringeltaube]

............ it looks like flipping the centers on the front wheels and running the rear hubs stock with the outer stock wheel would equal about the same track width. .................
...........

Sorry if this all created some confusion.... it is that sometimes we were comparing distance between hub mounting surfaces i.e. after flipping rear hubs...., then we speak about track width which is the distance between wheel/tire centerlines (like in my last diagram)



See dimensions below and compare the numbers encircled red, hope that answers your Q.

G.

 

[number9]

^ Ah, now I see.

Wheels look great man. Can't wait to see the rears mounted up. I REALLY like the looks of those tires.

.....

 

[gringeltaube]

............ The welds on the backside are bomber........

Hmmmm ..... I think one should NOT weld them on the inside (backside) in this case .... to retain at least some flexibility and reduce residual tensions, IMHO. Also the one seam on the outside surely does cover the full thickness of the center disk if done right. Are you using MIG?

Looks good, I like those tires too!

G.

 

[jesusgatos]

Thanks. Me too!

 

[jesusgatos]

Hmmmm ..... I think one should NOT weld them on the inside (backside) in this case .... to retain at least some flexibility and reduce residual tensions, IMHO. Also the one seam on the outside surely does cover the full thickness of the center disk if done right. Are you using MIG?

Looks good, I like those tires too!

G.

Oh really? Hmmm, let's talk a bit more about that. This is why I built ONE wheel first...

 

[jesusgatos]

Hmmmm ..... I think one should NOT weld them on the inside (backside) in this case .... to retain at least some flexibility and reduce residual tensions, IMHO. Also the one seam on the outside surely does cover the full thickness of the center disk if done right. Are you using MIG?

Looks good, I like those tires too!

G.

Sorry, YES, MIG-welding. I started a thread on pirate to get some more input about welding on the backside of these center-sections. I'd like to weld them front & back, but I'll restrain myself if it's really such a bad idea. I was just thinking that with the way these multi-piece wheels are constructed, I'd like to have the center-sections welded to the shells inside of where the lockring sits. It's also really easy to get a nice, fat, deep weld down in there. Leaves me with no doubts about the strength of the welds. Welding out there on the lip, I'm just not getting the same kind of fusion.

 

[gringeltaube]

I know...., welding up that groove is kind of "tempting" but your weak spot so to speak won't be the weld seam in itself but the area adjacent to it. More or less you create an abrupt change of section width exactly where most of the stress & fatigue of the center disk would be expected. On some very old wheels I have found cracks in that area, but never closer to the center and/or around the mounting holes.

The way it was planned gives you the chance for a nice fillet weld, about 5/16" wide, from the outer edge of the rim to the abutting face of the cut center. That should take care of joining both parts together like one. Just weld it up well, maybe a second round, thick enough, eventually grinding off some high spots later, for better looks.
Don't worry about welding on the outer edge of the rim only; wall thickness is more than sufficient there, reinforced to hold the ring in place, obviously.

Hopefully I can find some literature to back up all this.

G.

 

[gringeltaube]

...... Suggest to read: Stress concentration - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

and related external links

G.

 

[number9]

Where's the rest of the pics man? Looking forward to seeing them.

GRINGELTUAB - can you work up one of them nice diagrams showing how the flipped center wheels would look in relation to the bed width ifthe hubs were stock location but the wheel was mounted with the dish facing out?

 

[gringeltaube]

Maybe this one....?

G.

 

[jesusgatos]

Where's the rest of the pics man? Looking forward to seeing them.

Just finished assembling and welding-up the last four wheels (total of nine). Still have to grind-out the welds on five of them though, and that's the worst part. The four that are done look really nice though. Will probably be at least another week before I have a chance to get them all ground-down and sand-blasted. Then I've still got to paint and assemble them.

Anybody have any extra 11.00 radial tubes?

 

[gimpyrobb]

I know MANY people are looking for 1100 tubes. If anyone has any please let us know.

 

[jesusgatos]

Finished grinding-out the welds on the last of the wheels today. Bought ten, used one as a practice wheel, and one of the center-sections was out-of-round so I scrapped it. So that leaves me a total of eight finished wheels. I need seven for Mah Deuce and two for my trailer though, so I'll need to find one more riveted wheel. These turned out really nice though. Going to take them all down to the sand-blaster's on Friday. Then I just need to paint them and mount all the tires.

Still need tubes. Who's got the best prices on 11.00 radial tubes?

 

[63sierra10]

I am wondering the same thing about the tubes. I priced them at a local tire shop for 28 bucks. Give us pics when you get them blasted.

 

[gimpyrobb]

JG, I can donate a riveted rim for shipping costs if you don't find one close.

 

[jesusgatos]

Thanks man, that's really nice of you to offer.

 

[gimpyrobb]

No prob. Just let me know.

 

[jesusgatos]

Got all of my wheels sandblasted, powdercoated, tires mounted, and installed on Mah Deuce. Was planning on painting the wheels, but I found out that Les Schwab will powdercoat wheels for $25ea. Couldn't say no to that, so I drove up to Fremont and dropped off all my wheels. Picked them up a week later, and had the guys at Les Schwab give me a hand mounting-up my Firestone T831's with new tubes and flaps. Installed them on Mah Deuce and they look TOUGH. Will upload some pics...

 

[jesusgatos]

OK. Got a BUNCH of pics for you guys.

This is how I ended up fitting the center-sections to the shells. Worked out to exactly 6" backspacing, just like G said it would be...

After assembling my 'practice' wheel, I realized that I should be truing the wheels off of the lip where the rings would seat. Worked out much better that way. All the finished wheels run very true.

After tack-welding the center-sections into place and re-checking the fit, I welded 'em up (on the outside of the flange only).

I decided that I wanted to grind-out all the welds, so I went at them with a sanding disc on a 4.5" angle grinder.

Then I went back and filled in the low spots.

This is what they looked like after I finished grinding out all the welds. Not perfect, but then, nothing is on these old trucks.

 

[jesusgatos]

Then I hauled all those wheels down to Agri Trade School in Salinas, where Tom sand-blasted them for me.

I was going to prime/paint them myself, but fortunately, a buddy of mine told me that I could get them powder-coated at Les Schwab for $25 before I bought paint. And that INCLUDES sandblasting. Dangit. Wasted a little bit of money there, but it worked out alright in the end. Dropped my wheels off with the guys at the Les Schwab up in Fremont.

They obviously have to send the wheels out for powder-coating, so it takes about a week. For $25/wheel, I wasn't complaining though. This is what they looked like when I came back to pick them up.

I went ahead and had them order new tubes and flaps for me. I could have mounted them myself, but I was already there and they do a LOT of work on big trucks. Man, they whipped these things out. It was cool to see how it should be done.