New 19 in wheels were available some years ago

[Vic in E-TN]

Some years ago there were new 19 inch wheels available. I think that it was Coker but not sure. I don't remember price or availability. I thought of making new 19 inch wheels with wider rims to accommodate radial tires. I have a set of wheels that I got from someone in Utah some years ago. They have 19 inch centers and the rims from 16 inch wheels welded on. Several decades ago while living in N. Illinois I saw a few cars with 16/19 inch that allegedly came from Wisconsin decades before that. I have not seen any more of these. The ones from Utah have very poorly welded spokes and are gathering dust in my shop.


I thought of trying to get someone to manufacture a run of these 16/19's. I assume that it is possible. I do not know what the previous price was for the new 19 in wheels or who had them available.


If anyone has any information on the new wheels or what you think the market would be for 19/16 wheels, please post your thoughts.


Vic

[Y-Blockhead]

Coker still has new 19" and 21" Model A wheels, not cheap tho https://cokertire.com/wheels/19x3-fo...ded-spoke.html

They used to have adjustable spoke wheels also, but I don't see them listed anymore.

[JayJay]

Snyder’s has 19” and 21” wheels. Same color as Coker’s but quite a bit less expensive (still not trivial, though).

[Brian SATX]

I just scrapped 4 16"/19" wheels that had rusted beyond repair. It was done a lot during WWII because 16' tires were easier to get.

[ronn]

the cokers used to be in the 600. each range. pretty dam expensive.

[BlueSunoco]

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Vic numerous folks have told me the 'new' Model A rims are poorly made.


There are hundreds of thousands of good originals laying about. I would just look for originals and not bother buying the ones from Coker or the parts houses.Those are made in Argentina I believe.

[AzBob]

Originally Posted by BlueSunoco

Vic numerous folks have told me the 'new' Model A rims are poorly made.

There are hundreds of thousands of good originals laying about. I would just look for originals and not bother buying the ones from Coker or the parts houses.Those are made in Argentina I believe.

The 19" and 21" wheels available at Snyders are very good quality. I searched for good original wheels. After 95 years most original wheels have been through a lot. Who wants to fight with rusty beat up bent rims, bent spokes, wallowed out lug nut holes etc. when one can buy a good quality brand new wheel? Out of 5 original 19" wheels I purchased at a swap meet, only 3 were good. Ended up ordering two 19" wheels from Snyders, had all wheels powder coated and placed the new 19" wheels on the front. 4,000+ miles no problems. They run true, spokes perfectly straight and no runout. They are made in Brazil.

[SAXBY2]

The repo wheels spokes are attached differently (different appearance at the rim ) than original wheels, but they work fine.

[AzBob]

Originally Posted by SAXBY2

The repo wheels spokes are attached differently (different appearance at the rim ) than original wheels, but they work fine.

X2. This is true. Unless one knows what to look for, you don't notice them. With the two reproductions on the front and two originals on the rear, no one has noticed unless I point out the difference.


Picture of 4 wheels below. Two reproductions, two original.

[JayJay]

In this video, starting at about 25:25 and going for four minutes, they show how steel spoke wheels were made for Lincolns. Lincoln was purchased by Henry in 1922, so I imagine that the process was similar for Model As. This is a pretty cool video regardless.

[Vic in E-TN]

JayJay -


WOW That is one fantastic film. Thanks for posting it.


Vic

[Bruce of MN]

What strikes me is that the welding machine with its clamps, welding head, etc. is just one small part of the operation. They were probably adapted from an earlier design, but with all the rest of the production line, the way they tooled up for WW2 production is just amazing.

[Tom F OHIO]

I wonder how long it actually took to make one wheel.

[JayJay]

Originally Posted by Tom F OHIO

I wonder how long it actually took to make one wheel.

Depends on how you define it. One wheel, start to finish - low tens of minutes, I’d suspect. But production with multiple jigs, throw out 12/hour that’s 5 minutes per wheel. I have no idea whether those numbers are realistic. But if Model As were rolling off the assembly lines at say 3000/day (we went through that a few days ago in a discussion on engine production) that would require 15,000 wheels/day, or about 10/minute. Staggering!

[Tom F OHIO]

I guess by watching that video it seemed like a long process with all the spokes.

[rotorwrench]

A lot of Lincoln production was done by hand to insure quality. The Model A was massive production so the machines were set up for the fastest production possible. If anything was done by hand, they had a lot of people doing it and keeping pace. The Lincoln cars used the larger balloon tires with larger rims & spokes. Everything had to be close to perfect.

[David in San Antonio]

Vic in E-TN mentions “hybrid” wheels with original centers but wider (from 16” wheel) rims to accommodate wider, radial tires. Any info on these?

[Vic in E-TN]

I went into my shop and measured the 16-19 in wheels. The stock 21 in wheels that I have in the shop awaiting tires are 3 in wide. The 16-19 in hybrid wheels are 4 inch wide. I wanted to interest either Coker or others in producing these wheels but my discussions with friends led me to believe that I would have to order at least a few containers with about 1-2 thousand wheels. I did not have the resources, contacts in Brazil to design and produce or the room to store and the facilities to ship these wheels. Coker has a good price point and Snyder's is a better from my perspective. I would rather spend some money on a Burtz engine.


It is always fun to let your mind wander and worry about where to get ethanol free gasoline. Thanks for your interest and good comments.


Vic

[rotorwrench]

The 1935 Ford wheels were popular for the earlier cars so they could put modern size tires on the car.

[Vic in E-TN]

Re-reading Coker's page says the 19 inch has a rolled edge and the 21 inch has a knife edge. Is this what AzBob says he can see the difference - see post #9?


Vic